Florida's homeowners market has been through years of insurer exits and rising premiums. We shop private carriers and Citizens alternatives to find you real coverage at a fair price — in English or Spanish.
Florida's homeowners market has been under real strain for years. Hurricane risk, rising reinsurance costs, and a wave of litigation drove several carriers to leave the state or become insolvent — which shrank the pool of insurers willing to write coverage here and pushed rates up across the board, especially in coastal and South Florida counties.
One detail catches almost everyone off guard: most Florida homeowners policies carry two separate deductibles. Your regular deductible is a flat dollar amount. Your hurricane deductible is usually a percentage of your dwelling coverage — commonly 2% to 5% — and applies specifically once a storm is officially declared a hurricane. On a $400,000 dwelling, a 5% hurricane deductible is $20,000 out of pocket before coverage kicks in.
About Citizens: Citizens Property Insurance is Florida's state-run insurer of last resort — often the only option when private carriers won't write a property. It isn't inherently bad, but coverage terms differ from private policies, and Citizens runs periodic "depopulation" programs that shift policies back to private carriers. It's worth checking every renewal whether a private option now fits better.
A homeowners policy is really four coverages bundled together. Here's what each one does:
Rebuilds the structure of your home itself if it's damaged by a covered peril like wind or fire — the core of the policy.
Covers detached structures on your property — fences, sheds, a detached garage — usually as a percentage of your dwelling limit.
Covers your belongings — furniture, electronics, clothing — both inside the home and, to a lesser extent, away from it.
Liability protects you if someone is injured on your property; loss of use pays for temporary housing if your home becomes unlivable after a covered claim.
The single biggest gap in a standard homeowners policy: flood damage is excluded entirely, no matter the cause. In South Florida, that's not a technicality — it's the coverage gap that catches the most homeowners by surprise after a storm. We cover this in depth on our flood insurance page, and we always price it alongside your homeowners policy so nothing falls through the cracks.
Other common gaps worth checking: mold coverage is often capped at a low sub-limit, sewer/drain backup usually isn't included unless added as an endorsement, and older roofs can trigger actual cash value (depreciated) payouts instead of full replacement cost.
Homeowners pricing here depends on more than just your home's value. As an independent agency, we compare carriers that weigh these factors differently — which is exactly where the savings usually are.
One of the single biggest underwriting factors in Florida — an aging roof can mean higher premiums or outright non-renewal.
Impact windows, roof-to-wall strapping, and a newer roof can unlock significant discounts once documented with an inspection.
Block construction, roof shape, and build year all factor into how a home is expected to perform in high winds.
Past claims on the property — even from a previous owner — show up in a CLUE report and affect the rates carriers offer.
South Florida's homeowners market varies a lot by county — both in pricing and in which carriers are actively writing new policies.
Coastal wind zones and higher rebuild costs make this one of the most expensive counties in the state for homeowners coverage — also where shopping multiple carriers tends to matter most.
Similar wind exposure to Miami-Dade, with a mix of older and newer construction that creates a wide range of pricing on the same block.
Rates trend somewhat lower than Miami-Dade and Broward, but wind mitigation features still make a meaningful difference here too.
According to Florida's Office of Insurance Regulation, the steepest homeowners rate increases statewide between March 2022 and September 2024 actually hit southwest Florida and the Keys harder than South Florida — Lee County, struck directly by Hurricane Ian, saw the widest swing in the state. Click a county to see the numbers.
Source: Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, average annual homeowners premium by county, March 2022 to September 2024. Map is stylized and not to geographic scale.
Both cover your home, but the fine print — and the price — can look very different.
Whether you're currently on Citizens or with a private carrier, the only way to know if you're getting the better deal is to actually compare — which is exactly what we do for you, at no cost.
Florida's homeowners market has been shaped by hurricane risk, rising reinsurance costs, and years of litigation and insurer insolvencies. Several private carriers have left the state or gone under, shrinking the pool of available insurers and pushing rates up statewide — especially in coastal and South Florida counties.
Most Florida homeowners policies carry two separate deductibles. Your regular deductible is a flat dollar amount for most claims. Your hurricane deductible is usually a percentage of your dwelling coverage (commonly 2% to 5%) and applies specifically to storms officially declared hurricanes — which can mean a much larger out-of-pocket amount than homeowners expect.
Not necessarily — Citizens is Florida's state-run insurer of last resort, and it's often the only option if private carriers won't write your property. But Citizens can carry different coverage terms and is subject to depopulation programs that shift policies back to private carriers. It's worth checking periodically whether a private option now fits your property better.
No. Standard homeowners policies in Florida exclude flood damage entirely, regardless of the cause. Flood coverage has to be purchased separately through the NFIP or a private flood carrier.
A wind mitigation inspection is the single biggest lever — documenting things like a newer roof, impact windows, or roof-to-wall strapping can unlock significant discounts. Raising your hurricane deductible, bundling with auto, and — as always — shopping multiple carriers instead of auto-renewing also make a real difference.
Tell us about your property — we'll shop private carriers and Citizens alternatives and come back with real numbers, in English or Spanish.
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