Common house insurance coverage premiums in Florida elevated by 1.5% over the primary eight months of 2025 — an enchancment over earlier years however not the discount that cost-burdened policyholders have been ready for since reforms had been enacted in 2022 and 2023.
Will costs ever come down? Insurance coverage insiders are divided over the prospect.
Specialists interviewed for this report concur that the potential for significant price decreases is dependent upon what occurs to prices of reinsurance — insurance coverage that insurers purchase — in addition to competitors amongst a rising record of carriers, rebuilding price inflation, and whether or not Mom Nature will stop main storms from hitting the state in coming years.
In line with a South Florida Solar Sentinel evaluation of knowledge launched month-to-month by the Florida Workplace of Insurance coverage Regulation, the typical price to insure a single-family house elevated from $3,691 in January to $3,747 in August.
Amongst 84 corporations that reported knowledge throughout all eight months, common premiums declined for policyholders of solely 17 of them:
They had been American Safety (-25.2%), Clear Blue (-15%), Trusted Useful resource Underwriters Trade (-10.7%), Trident Reciprocal Trade (-8.5%), Centauri Specialty (-5.4%), Protected Harbor (-5.3%), U.S. Coastal Property & Casualty (-4.8%), ASI Most popular (-3.7%), Monarch Nationwide (-2.5%), Florida Household (-2.1%), Safety First (-2.0%), Federal (-1.8%), First Protecting (-1.6%), Edison (-0.9%), Olympus (-0.9%), Ovation (-0.5%), and Kin (-0.1%).
Common premiums elevated by greater than 10% for patrons of 15 corporations, and from 2% to 9.8% for policyholders of 40 corporations.
These averages had been derived from the workplace’s now-monthly Residential Market Share Studies that report knowledge that greater than 90 state-regulated property and casualty insurers are required by legislation to file. Information from surplus strains carriers, not regulated by the workplace, isn’t included.
Common prices had been calculated by dividing premium totals by the variety of policyholders reported by every firm. The statewide averages are decided by dividing the overall of all premiums by the overall variety of policyholders.
And naturally, common prices range extensively relying on the place houses are positioned.
In line with state knowledge final up to date in Might, premiums in inside counties within the northern elements of the state, comparable to Sumter ($2,062) and Marion ($2,210) are usually decrease than the typical whereas coastal and southern counties, together with Broward ($6,077), Miami-Dade ($5,836), Palm Seaside ($6,327), and Monroe ($7,488) exceed the statewide common because of perceived vulnerability to hurricanes, litigation dangers, and better property prices.
Insurance coverage prices in Central Florida counties comparable to Orange ($3,422), Seminole ($3,371) and Hillsborough ($3,369) are usually nearer to the state common.
The 1.5% price enhance by August is proof that premiums have stabilized in Florida in comparison with earlier years relationship to 2022, when the state Legislature enacted a sequence of reforms meant to scale back prices of so-called frivolous claims and lawsuits that insurers stated threatened the survival of the state’s non-public insurance coverage market.
These threats stemmed largely from steep reinsurance prices in 2022 and questions on whether or not all Florida-based insurers would be capable to afford the will increase. Reinsurers stated they raised their prices as a result of litigation and late claims had in the end doubled prices initially projected by some insurers from 2017’s Hurricane Irma.
On the finish of June 2022, Florida’s common premium was $2,798 — up from $1,951 when Irma hit in 2017.
The common premium elevated by 33.9% over the three years after 2022, with yearly will increase tapering down from 17.3% to 4.1% over the 12 months following June 2024.
The Solar Sentinel’s evaluation of the January-to-July knowledge additionally confirmed:
— Premiums to insure non-public rental models elevated by a mean 1.3% between January and August, from $1,756 to $1,779.
— Prices of dwelling/hearth protection, a less expensive and fewer complete type of insurance coverage that’s rising sooner than full home-owner protection, elevated by a mean 2.3%, from $2,659 to $2,722.
— Common prices charged for single-family home-owner protection by the 50 corporations that insure greater than 10,000 of these insurance policies additionally elevated by 1.5%, from $3,611 to $3,664.
— Premiums charged by corporations which have participated within the depopulation of state-owned Residents Property Insurance coverage Corp. since 2023 elevated by a mean .03%, rising by simply $1 from $3,795 to $3,796.
Lowest fee of enhance within the nation
State officers and insurance coverage leaders, in the meantime, proceed to tout filings for decreased or unchanged charges in information releases declaring victory over the price disaster.
On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis informed the American Property and Casualty Insurance coverage Affiliation in Orlando that state insurance coverage regulators acquired 59 fee filings for reductions and 87 for zero fee will increase. Eighteen new corporations have registered with the state to compete out there, Florida’s insurance coverage commissioner has stated.
Mark Friedlander, senior director of media relations for the industry-funded Insurance coverage Info Institute, characterised the low will increase as a win for shoppers.
“The speed-filing pattern stays very optimistic as most Florida residential insurers this 12 months have both filed for a fee lower or flat charges,” Friedlander stated. “For the second consecutive 12 months, we anticipate Florida will rank first within the U.S. with the bottom common fee enhance in addition to the bottom common premium enhance.”
However these low common fee will increase observe years of abnormally excessive fee hikes in a state that Realtor.com decided in September to be amongst 4 with the nation’s highest home-owner insurance coverage prices.
And decrease charges don’t essentially cut back prices for policyholders if they’re assessed towards inflated property values.
Friedlander says that the continued insurance coverage price hikes in Florida, whereas lowest in years, stem from inflation-driven will increase in development prices that trigger insurers to extend house alternative prices. Increased alternative prices can offset fee decreases and trigger premiums to rise, he stated.
Anthony Lopez, CEO of the Miami-based plaintiff agency Your Insurance coverage Lawyer, stated it’s untimely to name a 1.5% enhance “premium aid.”
“If 67 out of 84 corporations nonetheless raised costs throughout this stretch, it means that the reforms are stabilizing the marketplace for insurers — not essentially for householders,” Lopez stated. “The slowdown in fee hikes is an effective signal, however the common policyholder continues to be paying extra, and most haven’t seen a dime in precise financial savings. Aid gained’t be actual till we see extra corporations competing for enterprise and decreasing premiums throughout the board.”
One other Miami-based legal professional, Ligman Martin P.A. managing associate Joe Ligman, stated he has “quite a few home-owner shoppers with vital premium will increase for the previous three years. South Florida is the worst.”
Reinsurance drives the bus
Don Matz, CEO of Orange Insurance coverage Trade, says prices might decline if reinsurance prices proceed to lower, and if Florida can keep away from a “steady string of catastrophes.”
Reinsurance charges, which some insurance coverage officers estimate devour as much as half of each premium greenback, “peaked a number of years in the past and have been slowly reducing since, as reinsurers have posted optimistic underwriting outcomes,” Matz wrote. “How a lot additional they refuse would be the largest driver as to how a lot property charges in Florida will decline.”
He added, “As a result of fee filings are primarily based upon weighted previous losses trended ahead, as every new ‘good’ 12 months of expertise replaces an outdated ‘unhealthy’ 12 months of expertise, charges ought to lower.”
Birny Birnbaum, government director of the nonprofit Middle for Financial Justice, which research insurance coverage affordability points, says he doubts prices will decline until reinsurance prices proceed to drop or the state imposes restrictions on corporations that shift premium {dollars} to affiliated third events whereas persevering with to report “little or no revenue” from their underwriting facet.
“Premiums gained’t be going decrease as a result of danger continues to extend and there’s no effort to drive insurers to ship the protection extra effectively or stop extra income,” he says.
Reductions too early to foretell, some say
However Stacey Giulianti, chief authorized officer at Florida Peninsula, says it’s nonetheless too early to foretell what’s going to occur to premiums over the months and years to return. He famous that latest fee lower requests, together with a few 9.9% discount for his firm’s Elite and Most popular insurance policies, have but to indicate up in state knowledge as a result of they’ll be mirrored in renewals and new insurance policies written over the subsequent 12 months.
Kerrie Ruland, senior vp at Monarch Nationwide Insurance coverage, concurred with Giulianti’s view that it’s too quickly to inform if insurance coverage prices have decreased as a lot as potential.
As well as, Ruland stated, “Losses are down, in quantity and severity. Extreme convective storm occasions” — which embrace damaging tornadoes, hail and straight-line wind occasions that struck northern Florida communities lately — “are the place carriers noticed fraud and litigation bills soar. This 12 months has seen a considerably decrease variety of extreme convective storm occasions than in prior years, however one 12 months doesn’t a pattern make.
“If the pattern continues over a number of years, then sure, shoppers ought to anticipate extra decreases. However they gained’t essentially see it subsequent 12 months.”
Ron Hurtibise covers enterprise and client points for the South Florida Solar Sentinel. He may be reached by cellphone at 954-356-4071 or by electronic mail at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.
