Florida insurance rates are falling. But the decrease will not reach you automatically.

If you have owned a home in Florida for the past five years, you have probably stopped expecting good news about insurance. Premiums climbed every year, carriers pulled out of the state, and renewal letters arrived with numbers that made no sense.

That has changed. Not completely, and not for everyone — but the direction has genuinely reversed.

More than 330,000 Citizens policyholders across all 67 counties are seeing reductions. In South Florida, where litigation costs hit hardest, the cuts are steeper still: around 14% in both Broward and Miami-Dade.

And it is not just Citizens. Private carriers have been filing decreases too — Florida Peninsula at 8.2%, Security First at 8%, Universal Property & Casualty at 5.1%.

Why rates are falling

Three things happened at roughly the same time.

The legal reforms finally showed up in the numbers

In December 2022, Senate Bill 2A eliminated one-way attorney fees and banned post-loss assignment of benefits. Those two mechanisms had made Florida a national outlier for insurance litigation — a small share of national claims, an enormous share of national lawsuits.

The effects took a couple of years to surface. Personal insurance litigation filings fell by roughly a quarter in 2024, and by roughly a quarter again in 2025. Carriers paying less to lawyers can charge less in premium.

2025 had no major hurricane landfall

Florida went a full season without a direct major hurricane hit. That gave carriers a year to rebuild reserves and repair their balance sheets rather than paying out claims. It is the kind of luck that cannot be legislated, and it mattered.

Competition came back

Roughly 20 new insurance carriers have entered the Florida market since 2022. Citizens depopulation moved about 546,000 policies back into the private market during 2025 alone.

More carriers competing for the same homeowners is the most reliable way rates come down. It is also the part most likely to keep working.

The part most homeowners miss

Here is the thing that catches people out: a rate decrease does not arrive in the post.

Rate filings are statewide averages. Your individual premium depends on your roof age, your wind mitigation report, your county, your claims history and your coverage limits. Two houses on the same street can move in opposite directions.

More importantly, the decreases are staggered. Some carriers filed reductions that took effect in January, others in April or May, and more are landing through the rest of the year. Whether you benefit depends on which carrier you are with and when your policy renews.

If you stay where you are and do nothing, you get whatever your current carrier decides. If you shop, you get to see what the whole market is offering.

What is still not improving

It would be dishonest to present this as fixed. Several things have not changed:

• Florida premiums remain among the highest in the country. A single-digit decrease on a $6,000 premium is still a $6,000 premium.
• Roof age is scrutinised harder than ever. Many carriers will not write a roof over 15 to 20 years old, regardless of condition.
• Rebuild and labour costs keep climbing. That puts upward pressure on premiums no reform can offset.
• Coastal wind exposure is what it is. No statute changes where your house sits.

Nobody should expect 2019 prices to return. What has changed is that the automatic annual increase appears to be winding down.

Roughly what Florida homeowners are paying

County	Average annual premium
Miami-Dade	Around $6,045
Broward	Around $6,290
Palm Beach	Around $6,614
Statewide average	Around $3,815

Coastal counties pay considerably more than inland and North Florida. If your premium is well above the figure for your area, that is worth investigating rather than accepting.

What to actually do about it

Four things, in order of how much they are worth:

• Get a wind mitigation inspection if you do not have a current one. Florida Statute 627.0629 requires insurers to give premium credits for wind-resistant features — roof shape, roof-to-wall attachments, roof deck nailing and opening protection. These credits are often the single largest saving available, and plenty of homeowners are simply not claiming them.
• Shop before your renewal, not after. Because decreases are staggered across carriers, the market may look quite different from when you last checked. Waiting for your renewal notice means you are reacting rather than comparing.
• Ask specifically about your hurricane deductible in dollars. Not the percentage — the actual figure. A 2% deductible on a $500,000 home is $10,000, and that is what you would pay before coverage begins.
• Compare like with like. A cheaper premium with a higher deductible, actual cash value on the roof rather than replacement cost, or lower coverage limits is not actually cheaper. It is a different policy.

On auto insurance

The same pattern is showing up on the auto side. The top five auto insurance groups in Florida are averaging around an 8% rate decrease for 2026, continuing a trend that started in mid-2025.

There is also a proposal in the Legislature to move Florida away from no-fault PIP coverage toward mandatory bodily injury liability minimums. That is not law yet, but it would be a significant change to how auto insurance works in this state if it passes.