Florida regulator, advocates spar over insurance market performance

Takeaways:

• Private insurers take policyholders off the rolls of the state's insurer of last resort
• Premium and rate increase amounts disputed
• Extent of claims closed without payment and resulting litigation also in dispute

The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), Florida's insurance regulator, refuted claims by advocacy groups Unlocking America's Future, the Insurance Fairness Project and Florida Watch in a recent report.

Countering the advocates' portrayal of homeowners insurance premium increases and increased unpaid claims lawsuits, OIR press secretary Shiloh Elliott said that the state's property insurance market has improved because of reforms enacted by the state's legislature in 2022.

According to OIR, 17 new property insurers have entered the market, and about 200,000 policies were removed from Citizens, the state's property insurer of last resort, during 2025. Citizens' peak policy count was 1.3 million in early 2024, and a Citizens press release in December 2024 said 428,000 policies were transferred over the course of 2024.

The advocates' report pointed to a 54% increase in premiums since 2019, including a 30% increase since 2021 after four major hurricanes. 

In an email reply responding to the report, OIR's Elliott stated that the report inaccurately portrays premium increases. She acknowledged that Florida's average statewide annual premium rose from $3,773 a year ago to $3,828, but added that premium increases multiply rates by coverage amounts, and add in fees, taxes and surcharges. 

As of November 15, Elliott said, OIR has received 72 filings for rate decreases and 91 filings for 0% rate increases. This shows that underlying rates are decreasing or stabilizing, even if premiums increase due to higher home values, coverage amounts or mandatory fees and taxes.

A recent report by Gallagher Re cited by OIR stated that Florida carriers got a 10.7% price decrease on their reinsurance, which also helped lower rates.

The report also stated that Florida's tort reform led to more than 50% of homeowners' claims being closed without payment. In April, Weiss Ratings said insurers closed 40%, 50% or even 70% of claims without payment during 2024. Later that month, OIR responded that below deductible claim denials due to hurricanes Helene and Milton were a significant number of those closed without payment, distorting Weiss' figures.

Lawsuits for claims closed without payment are a big factor driving litigation against insurers. "Companies are just trying to close those legitimate claims without paying a cent, which is leading people to contact an attorney to get what they are owed," stated Anders Croy, communications director of Florida Watch, in the report.

Elliott said this litigation is now decreasing. Overall, the number of lawsuits against insurers decreased from a high of about 82,300 in 2021 to 50,600 in 2024, according to data collected by the Florida Department of Financial Services. 

In OIR's July 2025 Property Insurance Stability Report [OIR issues these reports every January and July], of 698,742 claims closed in the state during 2024, 60,261 were litigated. These figures come from the Florida Property Claims Lifecycle Report (PCLR), a compilation of reports that property insurers are required to file.

"The market must continue to organically recover, without fear of any major legislative or regulatory disruptions, in order to maximize the benefits of the reforms to Florida's policyholders," the OIR report stated.