Home Insurance in Florida 2024
Our picks for the best home insurance companies in Florida are State Farm, Allstate and Progressive based on how they scored in our rigorous rating methodology.
Due to the significant risk of natural disasters, hikes in property values, and increased costs of materials, homeowners in Florida face unique challenges when trying to find the right home insurance policy. To make your shopping experience easier, we at the Marketwatch Guides team researched the top homeowners insurance companies in Florida and compared coverage, costs and benefits. Your rates will differ based on location, square footage and other factors. If you want a personalized quote, use our free tool below.
How To Choose a Florida Home Insurance Provider
Finding the right home insurance provider in Florida can be a difficult experience because of the many challenges in the state’s dynamic insurance market. To secure ideal coverage, we recommend keeping these factors in mind:
- Look for hurricane and flood coverage: Houses in Florida carry a significant risk of hurricane and flood damage, which makes it important to choose an insurer that protects against both disasters. Consider insurers that provide flood insurance and coverage against hurricane damage or seek out individual policies through the National Flood Insurance Program. Also, assess policy hurricane deductibles, which can be unusually high.
- Assess your insurer’s financial stability: Many insurers have stopped offering homeowners insurance in Florida because the state has faced many recent natural disasters, creating significant losses. Before choosing an insurer, assess its financial stability. You can look at a company’s AM Best rating to determine if it can afford to pay substantial claims.
- Evaluate customer satisfaction and claims history: Homeowners in Florida face high insurance rates, claims-handling delays, constant changes in the market and a lack of competition. When looking for the right insurer, read customer reviews and only consider those with a high customer satisfaction rate.
What Is the Average Cost Of Homeowners Insurance in Florida?
The average cost of home insurance in Florida is $2,490 per year, or about $208 per month, which is slightly lower than the national average of $2,511. The average rates in the state become much more expensive in the southern part of the state due to the increased risk of hurricanes, with premiums averaging closer to $4,000 a year.
The cost of homeowners insurance can vary greatly from person to person, but geographical location plays a large role in determining cost, especially when you live in a state with significant risks. Florida is known for having relatively expensive rates compared to other US states due to the risk of natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, so it is important to shop around and make sure that you are getting the best deal before you make a purchase.
To make sure you get the best deal on a home insurance policy, take a look at the average premium for your city and zip code before getting quotes.
Cheapest Homeowners Insurance in Florida
The cheapest homeowners insurance company in Florida is Travelers offering policies at an average cost of $1,315 annually. Although cost is an important factor in choosing the right home insurance company, make sure you have enough coverage to protect your finances in the event of a loss.
Florida Home Insurance Rate Projections for 2024
There was a significant increase in home insurance rates in 2023, but the situation appears to be stabilizing. Based on an issue brief by the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I), legislative changes, like the elimination of one-way attorney fees and assignment of benefits reform, might reduce insurance costs in 2024. On April 3, 2024, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) issued an update that “eight property and casualty insurers were approved to enter Florida’s insurance market.” These new insurers include:
Why Is Home Insurance in Florida So Expensive?
An issue brief published by Triple-I shows home insurance rates in Florida are nearly three times higher than the average U.S. policy cost. Based on a news report by WFSU Public Media, the state’s insurance costs have increased by 57% since 2015. This increase is primarily because of a high number of litigation issues and natural disasters.
Major hurricanes that caused damage in Florida during the past two decades include Charley, Ivan, Jeanne, Irma, Ian, Michael and Idalia. Starting with Hurricane Andrew in 1992, no fewer than seven domestic insurers and one non-admitted carrier became insolvent. Several insurers, including AIG and Farmers Group, recently stopped insuring homes in the state.
Tips for Insuring a Coastal Home in FL
Coastal homes, or properties near major bodies of water, are often beautiful, idyllic and more prone to risk than their inland counterparts. They’re much more likely to be damaged or destroyed by a variety of natural disasters, from hurricanes to flooding to erosion of the ground they stand on.
Because of this, coastal home insurance offers comprehensive coverage specialized to protect coastal homes from the unique risks they face. It also typically includes individual deductibles for windstorm, hurricane and named storm claims, whereas standard home insurance typically includes a single deductible for most or all claims. These separate deductibles are usually set at 1% to 10% of your dwelling limit.
The Florida Home Insurance Crisis
The Florida home insurance market has been in a state of recent turmoil, with several insurers leaving the market, dropping risky policies and tightening up eligibility requirements.
Other national carriers, such as Allstate, Nationwide and State Farm, write policies in Florida through another resource, according to John Espenschied, owner of Insurance Brokers Group. Those companies are non-admitted carriers, meaning the state does not back a company or the company may not follow state insurance regulations.
Which Insurance Companies Are Pulling Out of Florida
According to News4JAX, 16 property insurance providers have stopped writing new policies in Florida in 2022 and 2024. Among those companies, AIG ceased insuring new properties along Florida’s shoreline, and Farmers Group stopped writing new policies statewide entirely.
According to the Pensacola News Journal, other providers that have withdrawn from or limited property insurance policies in Florida include AAA, Bankers Insurance, Centauri Insurance and Lexington Insurance, a subsidiary of AIG.
As of February 2024, we are unable to request quotes from Liberty Mutual using Florida zip codes, although no official statement has been made by the company.