Florida's Homeowners Insurance Market in 2026: What to Know in Florida

The Florida homeowners insurance market in 2025 and 2026: what's actually changing

If you've opened a renewal notice lately and felt your stomach drop, you're not alone. The Florida homeowners insurance market in 2025 and 2026 looks very different from what most homeowners were used to just a few years ago. Premiums are up. Carriers have exited the state or gone insolvent. And homeowners with no claims history are still finding non-renewals in their mailbox. This post breaks down why that's happening, what the legislature has done about it, and what you can do right now to protect your home and your budget.

Why premiums are so high right now

Florida has always been expensive to insure. Hurricanes, sinkholes, roof damage, and tropical storms make it genuinely risky. But the cost spike of the past several years goes beyond weather. Three overlapping problems drove premiums to levels that stunned even long-time agents.

Litigation volume

For years, Florida accounted for roughly 8 percent of all homeowners insurance claims in the country but nearly 80 percent of all homeowners insurance lawsuits. That imbalance was driven largely by assignment of benefits (AOB) abuse, where contractors and water remediation companies could step into a homeowner's shoes, file a claim, and then sue the insurer directly, often collecting outsized attorney fee awards. Carriers priced for that exposure, and it showed up in every renewal.

Reinsurance costs

Florida carriers buy reinsurance (insurance for insurers) each year to backstop large losses. After Hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022, reinsurers worldwide tightened terms and raised rates significantly. Those costs flow directly into your premium. When a carrier's reinsurance bill goes up 30 to 40 percent, it has few options other than passing that along.

Carrier insolvencies and exits

Between 2021 and 2024, more than a dozen Florida-specific carriers either went insolvent or withdrew from the state entirely. That left a wave of homeowners scrambling for coverage, often landing on Citizens Property Insurance , Florida's insurer of last resort, which at its peak held more than 1.4 million policies, well above its intended role as a backstop for those who truly cannot find private coverage.

What Florida's 2022 and 2023 reforms actually did

The Florida Legislature passed two significant reform packages, one in a special session in December 2022 and another in 2023. The goal was to reduce litigation costs and attract carriers back to the state. The core changes included:

• Elimination of one-way attorney fees. Historically, if a homeowner (or their assignee) sued a carrier and won even one dollar more than the insurer offered, the insurer paid all of the plaintiff's attorney fees. The reform ended that arrangement, removing a key financial incentive for manufactured lawsuits.
• Assignment of benefits restrictions. Contractors can no longer accept a full assignment of a homeowner's insurance benefits and then litigate independently. This was one of the largest single drivers of litigation volume.
• Roof coverage changes. Carriers can now write policies that pay actual cash value (depreciated value) rather than replacement cost on roofs more than ten years old, unless the homeowner pays an additional premium for replacement cost coverage. This is a meaningful shift that every Lakeland-area homeowner should understand before their next renewal.
• Citizens depopulation program. The state pushed aggressively to move policies out of Citizens and back into the private market. If a private carrier offers a policy within 20 percent of your Citizens premium, you can be involuntarily removed from Citizens. That takeout process has moved hundreds of thousands of policies.

The reforms are working, slowly. Several new carriers have entered or re-entered the Florida market. Rate filings in 2024 and into 2025 have started to show smaller increases and, in some cases, modest reductions for well-maintained properties. The market is not back to where it was in 2018, and it may not get there.

What the market looks like heading into 2026

By mid-2025, conditions are cautiously improving but still complicated. Here is what agents are seeing in Florida right now.

More carrier options, but tighter underwriting

New entrants are writing business in Florida, which is genuinely good news. Their underwriting guidelines are stricter than what older carriers used to accept. Expect scrutiny on:

• Roof age and condition. Many carriers will not write a new policy if the roof is more than 15 years old for shingle, or more than 25 years old for metal or tile. Some draw the line even earlier. An aging roof can limit your options more than any other single factor.
• Four-point inspections. Carriers commonly require a four-point inspection (roof, electrical, plumbing, HVAC) before binding coverage on older homes. Problems found during the inspection can lead to coverage denials or mandatory repairs before the policy activates.
• Wind mitigation credits. Florida law requires carriers to offer premium discounts for verified wind-mitigation features: hip roofs, secondary water resistance, hurricane straps, and impact-resistant windows or shutters. A wind mitigation inspection typically costs $100 to $200 and can reduce your premium by hundreds of dollars per year. If you haven't had one done in the past five years, it's worth revisiting.
• Claims history. Two or more claims in three years can make a property difficult to place in the standard market. Water claims, in particular, raise flags.

Rate trends

Statewide average premiums for Florida homeowners insurance are still among the highest in the country, running $3,000 to $5,000 per year or more for many central Florida homes, depending on location, construction, and coverage limits. Lakeland and Polk County homeowners have seen some relief compared to coastal communities because storm surge exposure is lower, but wind remains a real risk this far inland. Tornado activity and severe thunderstorms also drive claims in the I-4 corridor.

Citizens and the takeout risk

If you are currently with Citizens, watch for any correspondence about takeout offers. When you receive a notice that a private carrier is offering to assume your policy, you have a limited window to respond. If you do nothing and the offer is within the allowable premium threshold, your policy moves. The private carrier may have different coverage terms, so review the replacement policy carefully before assuming it matches what you had.

How to protect yourself in a tough market

There are concrete steps homeowners can take right now, regardless of where their policy sits today.

Get a wind mitigation inspection

This is the highest-return action most Lakeland homeowners can take. If your home was built after 2001, you likely qualify for some credits automatically. If you had an inspection done more than five years ago, a fresh one may capture improvements or correct measurement errors that reduce your premium further.

Understand your deductibles

Florida policies typically carry a separate hurricane deductible expressed as a percentage of your dwelling coverage, commonly 2 percent or 5 percent. On a home insured for $300,000, a 2 percent hurricane deductible means you pay the first $6,000 out of pocket before the carrier covers anything after a named storm. Many homeowners don't fully absorb this until they file a claim. Know your number.

Review your coverage limits annually

Construction costs in Florida have risen significantly since 2020. If your dwelling coverage limit was set several years ago and hasn't been updated, you may be underinsured relative to what it would actually cost to rebuild. Replacement cost estimators have improved, and your agent should be running an updated calculation at each renewal.

Ask about flood separately

Homeowners policies do not cover flood damage, ever. Flood coverage requires a separate policy, either through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or a private flood carrier. Even properties outside designated high-risk zones experience flood losses in Florida. Polk County has had significant flooding from heavy rain events unrelated to named storms. You can learn more about how those options differ in our Florida flood insurance guide.

Look at a personal umbrella

With liability verdicts in Florida running higher than ever, a personal umbrella policy adds a substantial layer of liability protection above your homeowners and auto policies, often for $200 to $400 per year. For the coverage it provides, it remains one of the best values in personal insurance.

Bundle where it makes sense

Bundling your home and auto with the same carrier still produces meaningful discounts in many cases. That said, the best home carrier for your property may not be the best auto carrier, and forcing a bundle can occasionally cost more than it saves. An independent agent can run both combinations and show you the math.

What an independent agent can do that a captive or direct carrier cannot

In a stable market, any reasonably competent agent can place your coverage. In a market as volatile as Florida's right now, the difference between an independent agent and a captive agent (one who represents only one company) is real. An independent agent has access to multiple carriers and can shop your risk across the market every renewal cycle. If one carrier non-renews you, an independent agent can move quickly to find an alternative rather than simply telling you to call someone else.

For a closer look at what that difference means in practice, see our post on what independent insurance agents do differently. If you want to bring your premium down, there are also practical tactics covered in our guide to lowering your homeowners insurance premium in Florida.

Work with Garland Insurance to navigate the market

Garland Insurance is an independent agency based in Lakeland, Florida. We work with multiple carriers so we can compare options and find coverage that fits your home, your budget, and your risk profile. We know the Polk County market, we know the carriers writing business here right now, and we know which ones are worth recommending and which ones to avoid.

If your renewal is coming up, your carrier just non-renewed you, or you simply haven't had your policy reviewed in the past year, reach out to us. You can contact us online at our contact page or call us directly at (863) 683-9334 . There is no obligation, and a second set of eyes on your homeowners policy costs you nothing. The Florida market in 2025 and 2026 rewards homeowners who stay informed and have the right people in their corner.