Florida Home Insurance Premiums Dip in 51 of 67 Counties

A modest drop that both sides are using

Florida's property insurance market now has data that both sides of the reform debate can use. The Office of Insurance Regulation's (OIR) twice-yearly Property Insurance Stability Report, released in July 2026, found that the average homeowners premium for traditional policies that include wind coverage fell in 51 of the state's 67 counties compared with the January report.20 State officials and Republican lawmakers called the result proof that the 2022–2023 legal overhaul is working. Seminole County Rep. David Smith pointed to insurers cutting rates and new companies starting to write policies.19

The declines are small, though. In the five Palm Beach-area counties that WPTV and WFLX tracked, average premiums fell between 0.6% and 2.7%. Palm Beach County went from $6,412 to $6,323. Martin County went from $5,993 to $5,899. Indian River fell 2.7%, from $4,453 to $4,334.16 A separate comparison of March 2025 with March 2026 also found declines in 51 counties. Lee County was down 1.5% and Charlotte 1.3%, while Collier rose 0.2%.18 Even after the drop, the statewide average in the July report was about $3,757, and Miami-Dade's was near $5,975.11

The fairest reading is that Florida's home insurance market has stabilized at a very expensive level. It has not become affordable.

Where the reporting disagrees

Coverage of the 51-county figure is not consistent. Some outlets mix up two different measures, and readers should treat the larger numbers with care.

The OIR figure tracks average premiums across the whole market, county by county.20 Separately, Citizens Property Insurance, the state-backed insurer of last resort, filed its own rate proposal. One analysis describes it as a recommended statewide average cut of about 2.6%, the first since 2015 and still awaiting approval. The proposal included much deeper county cuts: Broward −14.1%, Miami-Dade −14.0%, Palm Beach −11.9% and Monroe −11.3%.13 Some real-estate coverage presented the Miami-Dade figure as an average 14% reduction for homeowners in general and tied it to an 8.8% statewide Citizens cut.12 Other reports put the approved Citizens decrease at 8.7%.238

The OIR county data does not show double-digit market-wide declines anywhere in the reported examples. The 14% figures belong to Citizens' rate proposal, not the market as a whole. Homeowners comparing their renewal notices to headlines should keep that difference in mind.

The market's makeup has also changed a lot. Citizens had 293,465 policies in force as of June 2026, down from about 1.2 million at the end of 2022.11 One count of Citizens' April 2026 county data found 228,964 policies, an 84% drop from the peak, with most of those homes moved back to private insurers.13 About 20 or 21 new insurers have been approved to write residential property policies since the reforms.2037 Since 2024, 44 insurers have filed for rate decreases and another 48 have filed for no change.14

Why rates are easing: lawsuits, not weather

The official explanation centers on lawsuits. The 2022–2023 laws ended one-way attorney fees, which regulators say encouraged weak claims, and restricted assignment-of-benefits arrangements.146 Florida's share of the nation's homeowners insurance lawsuits fell from 79% in 2020 to 41% in 2025. Filings in early 2026 were down another 25% from the same period a year earlier.11 Beinsure also cites cheaper reinsurance and the shrinking Citizens book as factors.14 One investor-focused analysis notes that no hurricane made direct landfall in Florida in 2025.12

That last point matters more than official statements suggest. A quiet storm season helps insurers' balance sheets no matter what the law says. One major hurricane could change the 2027 outlook quickly. OIR expects more rate reductions through the rest of 2026 and into 2027.18 Regulators themselves describe the trend as stabilization, not a promise of continued cuts.11

Auto insurance falls faster

Auto insurance has improved more clearly than home insurance. In March, OIR said Florida's five largest auto groups were indicating an average rate change of −8% for 2026. Those groups are Progressive, GEICO, State Farm, Allstate and USAA, together covering about 78% of the market. The top five had requested −7.4% in 2025.1 By this fall, OIR put the top five's combined indicated change at −12.6%, now covering 81% of the market.84 The trend is sharper when compared with 2023, when the same group's average change was reported as +31.7%.7

Some of the relief has come as refunds rather than rate cuts. Progressive reported nearly $1 billion in policyholder credits. State Farm announced a dividend of about $533 million, averaging $173 per vehicle.1 This week, regulators approved USAA reductions averaging 7% across more than 498,000 policies, with individual programs ranging from −0.4% to −11.2%.8 Between December 2025 and July 2026, USAA returned nearly $1 billion through rate cuts and a $500 million dividend.4

The financial numbers explain why. Florida's personal auto liability loss ratio, which measures claims paid against premiums earned, was 52.5% in 2025. That was the lowest of any state and Florida's lowest in 15 years.1 Losses on vehicle damage claims fell from 112% in 2022 to 49.5% in 2025.3 Ratios that low show insurers are paying out far less per premium dollar. That supports the rate cuts, but it also supports critics who argue the reforms mostly moved money from claimants to carriers.

Claims payouts: the other side of the reforms

The strongest criticism concerns claims. Bloomberg reporting published by Claims Journal found that claims closed without payment at Florida's private home insurers rose five percentage points between 2022 and 2024, reaching 40.3%. That was the highest share of any state that year.31 Weiss Ratings found at least 11 Florida property insurers closed more claims without payment in 2025 than in 2023.31 Current and former employees of Universal, the state's largest private insurer, described pressure to make settlement offers they considered too low. Universal said its denial rates have significantly declined and that the reforms have produced faster claims handling and fewer complaints.31

Public opinion has not followed the state's account. A University of North Florida survey of 1,511 homeowners, done with the Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel, found 55% saw no improvement and 26% said things were getting worse.3732 Among respondents who had filed a claim in the past five years, 45% said it was initially denied.32 Most respondents, Democrats and Republicans alike, said the overhaul mainly helped the insurance industry.37

Lawmakers have started addressing claims handling directly. House Bill 459 replaced voluntary mediation with a mandatory dispute process run by the state Division of Administrative Hearings. Critics note that process has no juries and allows less discovery than a court.3638 House Bill 527 would require a qualified human to sign off on any claim denial or reduction that uses artificial intelligence.3639

Health insurance costs are moving the other way

Any argument that Florida households are getting overall relief on insurance runs into health coverage. OIR expected Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace premiums to rise 34.1% in 2026. The weighted average went from $648 to $867 a month.24 That increase followed Congress letting the enhanced federal premium tax credits expire at the end of 2025. For many enrollees, that meant premiums doubling or tripling.28 Florida has the nation's largest marketplace, with about 4.7 million enrollees.24 According to reporting cited by WLRN, the state lost about 450,000 ACA enrollees in 2026.28

Plans for 2027 will cost another 10.4% more on average. UnitedHealthcare of Florida's increase is 25%, after a 32% rise this year.22 Open enrollment begins Nov. 1, two days before the election, and advocates are pushing candidates to respond.2228

What it adds up to

The 51-county figure is real, but the declines are small. For a homeowner paying $6,300 a year, a 1.4% cut saves less than $90.15 The auto market has turned more convincingly, backed by loss ratios that justify cuts in the double digits. Those same numbers, together with higher non-payment rates on home claims, support the critics' view that much of the reforms' savings came from policyholders who file claims. Health premiums, meanwhile, are rising enough to cancel out what many households save on car and home coverage.

Tallahassee can fairly say the property market no longer looks close to collapse. It cannot fairly say Floridians are paying less for insurance overall. The bigger risk is that the state treats 2026 as a finished recovery, when it depends on one quiet hurricane season and on homeowners accepting less when they file claims.