of U.S. homeowners lawsuits
Florida’s reported share in 2020, compared with 8.8% of claims.
FLORIDA PROPERTY INSURANCE / BUYER BRIEFING
The market changed.
The property still matters.
Florida’s insurance market is showing measurable signs of stabilization after years of steep increases, insurer failures, storm losses, and unusually heavy litigation. For buyers, the evidence is encouraging—and still property-specific.
See what the numbers show01 / THE PLAIN-LANGUAGE VIEW
Florida is moving from crisis toward a more competitive market.
Two widely cited pressures were Florida’s hurricane exposure and unusually high litigation and claims costs. The Office of Insurance Regulation and Citizens attribute part of the recent improvement to legal reforms, while also pointing to actual losses below prior projections, lower reinsurance costs and reduced Citizens exposure. Storm risk has not disappeared.
OIR reports that more carriers are entering the state, litigation has fallen, Citizens’ policy count has declined sharply, and a growing number of insurers have filed for rate decreases or no increase. Those statewide trends do not guarantee a lower quote for every home.
property lawsuit filings
Reported change from 2023 to 2024 after the reforms.
new homeowners carriers
Approved to enter Florida since the legislative changes.
Citizens policies
Decline from the 2023 peak to 395,337 policies in force on December 31, 2025.
02 / WHAT CHANGED
A sequence of reforms changed the cost structure.
These laws did not remove hurricane exposure. They changed the legal and operating environment surrounding property-insurance claims.
The property-insurance rules changed
Special sessions addressed roof claims, assignment of benefits, attorney fees and insurer stability. The December 2022 reforms ended one-way attorney fees in residential and commercial property-insurance cases.
Broader litigation reforms followed
Additional legislation changed attorney-fee and bad-faith rules, while Florida continued programs intended to strengthen homes and insurer capacity.
Implementation and oversight continued
The state refined consumer-protection, claims-handling and regulatory provisions as the earlier reforms moved through the market.
03 / WHAT 2026 RATES SHOW
Rate relief is real, but it is not uniform.
Florida regulators reported that 33 companies had submitted rate-decrease filings by late 2025. The examples below are market indicators, not quotes for a specific home.
Approved Citizens HO-3 county averages
Approved 2026 multiperil homeowners averages across the policy counts shown.
| Selected market | Average change |
|---|---|
| Citizens HO-3 — Broward CountyApproved average · 26,675 policies | −14.1% |
| Citizens HO-3 — Miami-Dade CountyApproved average · 42,386 policies | −14.0% |
| Citizens HO-3 — Palm Beach CountyApproved average · 26,036 policies | −11.9% |
Private-market reductions reported by OIR
Recent customer reductions cited by OIR; policy forms, locations and averaging methods may differ.
| Carrier | Reported reduction |
|---|---|
| Florida PeninsulaOIR-reported recent customer reduction | −8.2% |
| Security FirstOIR-reported recent customer reduction | −8.0% |
| Universal Property & CasualtyOIR-reported recent customer reduction | −5.1% |
Requested private-carrier change
A reported filing or plan is not an approved rate and may change during regulatory review.
| Carrier | Requested change |
|---|---|
| Patriot SelectPlanned reduction reported December 2025 | −11.3% |
IMPORTANT CONTEXT
The figures above are not direct comparisons: they cover different insurers, products, locations, policy groups, approval statuses and averaging methods. Percentage change alone does not show which policy has the lower total cost.
04 / WHAT BUYERS SHOULD DO
Make insurance part of the property decision.
The market is healthier, but insurability and cost still vary from home to home. Get the facts while your contract protections are still available.
- ✓01
Start the insurance quote before the inspection period expires.
- ✓02
Give the agent the address, roof age, construction details and available wind-mitigation report.
- ✓03
Compare the total premium, deductibles, exclusions and coverage limits—not just the percentage change.
- ✓04
Ask whether private-market coverage is available before relying on Citizens.
- ✓05
Budget for flood coverage separately; standard homeowners policies do not cover flooding.
05 / PRIMARY SOURCES
Read the underlying reports.
Florida Office of Insurance Regulation — January 2026 market update
Florida OIR — July 2024 Insurance Stability Unit report
Florida OIR — July 2025 Insurance Stability Unit report
Citizens — policies in force on December 31, 2025
Citizens — 2026 approved rate changes by county
Citizens — 2026 multiperil rates announcement
Florida Senate — 2022A property-insurance reforms
Florida Senate — 2023 civil-remedies reform summary
Florida Senate — 2023 insurer accountability summary
Florida Senate — 2024 consumer-protection changes
Florida Senate — 2024 insurance changes
FEMA — homeowners insurance and flood coverage
Spectrum News — private-carrier rate filings
Sources checked and page last reviewed: September 14, 2026. Prepared for general educational use. Rates, coverage and eligibility depend on the insurer, the property and the policy selected. Figures reflect the cited reports and filings available when this page was reviewed.
CLEAR INFORMATION. PROPERTY-SPECIFIC ADVICE.