Best Homeowners Insurance in Florida (2024)

Key Takeaways:

The best homeowners insurance in Florida will vary by person depending on your coverage needs and budget, but it will likely come from Universal Property & Casualty, American Platinum, Citizens, Tower Hill, or a handful of other companies still prevalent in the state. As we’ll explain, Florida is a difficult place for companies to write homeowners insurance policies in, leaving residents frustrated with few options.

To help you find coverage, we’ve provided brief descriptions of the seven best homeowners insurance companies in Florida below.

Why You Can Trust Us: We’re a licensed Florida insurance agency established in 2018 and headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. This is our home, so it’s our job to understand the insurance landscape here as best as possible.

We partner with most national lending institutions and top homeowners insurance companies in Florida to help you find and maintain coverage. Plus, if you choose Clovered, you’re working with fellow state residents who make up your neighborhood and community and have a stake in your financial well-being.

To generate our Florida homeowners insurance ratings, we gauged their Demotech grades. Demotech is an independent rating agency that analyzes the financial health of insurance companies. A carrier’s Demotech rating indicates the company’s ability to withstand economic and underwriting downturns.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners complaint index compares a firm’s performance in terms of consumer complaints to other companies in the market. The default NAIC complaint index number is 1.0. This means a company with a complaint index of 2.0 has a complaint index that is twice as high as expected.

Average premiums are determined using data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, which oversees and regulates Florida homeowners insurance carriers.

Average homeowners insurance rates in Florida range from $3,325 to $8,644, on average, for most people. Many factors affect a company’s average rates, with a primary consideration being home value.

Companies utilize your home’s replacement cost — the cost to rebuild your house based on construction and labor expenses — to determine your needed coverage amounts. 

Larger, more extravagant houses cost more to construct and, thus, more to insure. To demonstrate the effect, the table below breaks down Florida homeowners insurance rates from the above companies at three typical house price levels.

As you can see, Florida home insurance costs vary considerably by company, but always climb as home value increases. Increased demand for new homes combined with supply chain shortages that hit the construction industry around 2020 during the pandemic caused building costs to rise in Florida, which contributed to insurance rates also rising. 

Another factor critical to Florida home insurance rates is wind mitigation. Successful wind mitigation on a home can save you thousands of dollars per year. 

Wind Mitigation is any protection on your home that helps decrease the damage caused by strong winds like a hurricane. This can include certain roof attachments and coverings, extra water-resistant seals, and impact-resistant doors and windows (to learn more about Florida’s wind mitigation features, see Form OIR-B1-1655).

With hurricane-force winds being such a threat throughout the state, you can imagine why Florida home insurance companies place such an emphasis on it. Insurers are keen to reduce the risk of hurricane damage to their covered properties. Also, Florida law requires carriers to reduce rates for homeowners who implement wind mitigation features.

Look how premiums can differ both with and without wind mitigation, first on older homes, which are often more prone to wind damage due to their aging components and outdated construction. Florida revamped its building codes in the wake of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which eventually led to new state construction regulations enacted in 2002 to strengthen houses’ abilities to stand up to high winds from hurricanes.

The sample home insurance rates below are for a home built before 2001 with a $500 non-hurricane deductible, a 2% hurricane deductible, and no claims in the past three years.

Residents with older homes will often have the most difficult time finding coverage. Nearly every Florida homeowners insurance company is skeptical of covering older houses due to their higher likelihood of suffering damage. Some exceptionally old properties won’t qualify for a standard policy, known as the HO3 form, and will instead need an HO8 insurance policy specifically designed for old houses.

Newer homes have less wear and tear for insurers to worry about and newer components that are built with hurricane protection in mind. Note how premiums for house insurance in Florida get significantly lower on newly constructed homes below.

State Farm proved affordable again, while Tower Hill and Citizens remained just behind. However, you won’t know which company has the cheapest rates for your situation until you shop around. Finding cheap home insurance in Florida is nearly impossible without comparing several quotes.

The average cost of homeowners insurance in Florida is about $462 monthly, with rates ranging from $277 to $720 for most people. However, you may encounter lower or higher rates based on where you live in Florida, in addition to several other prominent variables like your home’s value and wind mitigation features.

Homes closer to the ocean on either of Florida’s coasts usually have higher premiums because the risk of wind and flood damage is greater as you approach the water. Additionally, the highest premiums tend to be in Southeast Florida, where hurricane risk is the most significant and property values are the highest.

The table below lists average premiums in many of Florida’s largest cities by population.

In addition to natural disaster susceptibility, rates vary by location due to crime rates, carrier strategy, and other factors. Read on for a county-by-county breakdown of home insurance for Florida.

The most expensive counties for homeowners insurance in Florida are Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach. Their coastal location increases the likelihood of hurricane damage, which, coupled with older homes and higher construction costs, creates costly property insurance for residents.

The following table depicts average home insurance rates in Florida’s most expensive counties, which are all concentrated in South Florida.

You’ll notice how the average Florida home insurance cost for older homes with no wind mitigation in the leftmost column are extremely high. Most companies won’t even insure especially old homes in South Florida without wind mitigation and wouldn’t offer such a policy, so they don’t reflect actual premiums but rather what rates would be given the conditions.

Monroe County, which consists of the Florida Keys, has the most expensive home insurance rates in Florida. The small islands are extremely prone to wind and water damage.

The rest of the state’s most costly areas lie along the southeast coast, from Homestead and Florida City up to Jensen Beach along the Gold and Treasure Coasts. It will be hard to find cheap homeowners insurance in Florida in this region, especially if you have an older house.

Older dwellings cost more to insure than newer ones because many of the components in older homes, such as the roofing, pipes, and wiring, become compromised with age and are more likely to fail due to wear and tear or a severe weather event. 

Also, in the early 2000s, Florida adopted some of the nation’s strictest building codes (which are still tweaked from time to time) to combat hurricane damage. Houses built before these ordinances are less likely to withstand strong winds.

The cheapest homeowners insurance in Florida is found near the north and center of the state, notably around Gainesville and Palatka, or in the interior of the Panhandle, where insurance premiums average $2,787 to $2,987 per year for newer homes.

Look at the table below, which shows where you can find the most affordable homeowners insurance in Florida. Average rates are almost four times lower than in the costly counties of South Florida.

Alachua, Clay, Columbia, and Putnam counties all connect in the northern central part of the state and don’t have any coastline. Leon County is in Florida’s Panhandle and touches the Georgia border. It also doesn’t reach the coast and, notably, contains Florida’s capital, Tallahassee.

If you’re seeking cheap house insurance in Florida, you’ll have to move away from the coast. You must weigh if the cost of missing out on the beaches is worth the savings on home insurance.

It’s so hard to find affordable homeowners insurance in Florida because of high property values, obfuscating legislation, and the possibility of natural disasters. The homeowners insurance market is much more costly for companies, which makes it more expensive for residents.

The Florida market’s downturn started when rates steadily began to rise in the wake of the pandemic around 2020 as construction costs increased due to supply chain issues.

Then, nearly a dozen insurers went out of business by the end of 2022, citing issues with litigation, reinsurance, and coping with the impending hurricanes. Additionally, several well-known home insurance providers in Florida, such as Allstate and Progressive, withdrew or non-renewed hundreds of thousands of policies in the state.

At the time of writing in early 2024, the number of home insurance companies currently writing new policies has diminished greatly, especially in South Florida, where property values are generally the highest and hurricane risk is the greatest. Citizens, the publicly run insurer of last resort, has grown to have the most policyholders of any company in the state.

While there are some signs of optimism in the market in 2024, it’s still tricky for most people to find a solid provider with affordable rates. 

The average homeowners insurance in Florida is around $5,550 yearly, although many factors affect this cost. We’ve mentioned how location, home value, and wind mitigation are critical to Florida homeowners insurance rates, but several more significant variables affect premiums.

Claims History: Florida insurance carriers view people with extensive claims histories as higher-risk policyholders because the company believes they’re more likely to file another claim than someone who never has before. A person who has filed several claims in the recent past will likely pay more for coverage.

Home Age: As mentioned earlier, insurers examine the overall age of your home and many of its components, from the roof to the foundation. Older elements mean higher premiums. Even the best home insurance companies in Florida may not insure a house with a roof that is over 15 to 20 years old.

Hurricane Activity: Hurricane risk throughout the state is one of the primary reasons Florida home insurance premiums are among the highest in the country. Coastal properties are more susceptible to their damage and typically see higher rates.

However, Central Florida isn’t immune to damage, as evidenced by the heavy winds and flooding that Hurricanes Ian and Nicole brought to Osceola County and the Orlando area.

Also, when a named storm is approaching the state, companies typically refrain from writing new policies, so be sure to have your coverage in place before storm season, which runs from June 1 until November 30.

Sinkholes: Yet another environmental risk in Florida, sinkholes are depressions or pits that open up on the surface when the group collapses from water erosion beneath the surface. Sinkholes are common in Florida because porous limestone and dolostone make up much of the substrate.

Water permeates the rock and can destabilize certain areas and cause it to collapse. Sinkholes are most common in central and northern Florida, although they can happen anywhere in the state.

Coverage Amounts: The coverage amounts within your policy directly affect premiums. Opting for higher limits increases insurance costs. Adding optional endorsements will also raise rates. You must find a balance between hunting for cheap homeowners insurance in Florida and optimizing your coverage to suit your needs.

Homeowners insurance policies protect your property and personal liability in several ways. Plans protect from several possible damage sources, officially called perils. In Florida, the most common covered perils include hurricanes, fires, and theft. Your liability coverages also protect you financially in case of a lawsuit. Home insurance policies include six distinct coverage areas: 

Coverage A: Dwelling – Dwelling coverage accounts for your home’s physical structure and components, including the walls, roof, countertops, flooring, pipes, and more. Your policy’s dwelling coverage limit should be close to your home’s replacement cost.

Coverage B: Other Structures – Other structures coverage protects fixtures on your property unattached to the main house, such as fences, detached garages, sheds, carports, and in-ground pools. Your other structures limit is typically 10% of your dwelling coverage limit.

Coverage C: Personal Belongings – Personal property coverage guards your belongings in and around your property from theft and other peril damage. Covered items include furniture, electronics, jewelry, clothing, art, tools, bicycles, and more.

Coverage D: Loss of Use – Loss of use coverage helps pay for living expenses if your home gets damaged by a covered peril and you must move out temporarily. Through loss of use coverage, your insurer can cover lodging, groceries, and more while you’re displaced. 

Coverage E: Personal Liability – Liability coverage safeguards you financially if you’re found legally liable for someone’s injuries or property damage, such as a dog bite or a tree falling on your neighbor’s property. Your insurer can help cover legal fees, medical bills, and more.

Coverage F: Medical Payments – Medical payments coverage covers minor medical expenses if someone gets injured on your property, regardless of fault. Policies typically have liability limits in the hundreds of thousands and medical payments limits between $1,000 and $5,000.

Homeowners insurance isn’t required by law in Florida, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need it. Most people still need coverage because mortgage lenders mandate it for the life of a loan.

Lenders mandate property insurance in Florida to protect their investments. If your house gets destroyed by a covered peril, the insurance company will pay out the homeowner (you) and the lender during a claim, ideally making all parties whole again.

Even if you don’t have a mortgage and paid off your house in full, going without homeowners insurance in Florida is typically unwise, as a proper policy is a quality financial safety net that guards against Mother Nature and other unexpected events in several ways.

Homeowners insurance is also referred to as home insurance, property insurance, and hazard insurance in Florida, so don’t get confused if these terms are used interchangeably, such as in mortgage documents. 

Technically, there are a few different types of property insurance in Florida you can get for your house. The most common type of homeowners insurance, and the form we’ve been describing in-depth here, is the HO3 special form. Despite the “special” in the plan’s name, it’s the most commonly bound type of policy. 

You can also purchase HO1 and HO2 policies, which are simpler, as their names imply. They include fewer coverages, protect against fewer perils, and may only cover property losses at actual cash value. Lenders typically require homeowners to have an HO3 policy with dwelling limits that meet the home’s value.

Another notable aspect of Florida home insurance is the hurricane deductible. All plans have deductibles, which is the amount of money you must pay when filing a claim before your provider covers the rest of the damage bill. The standard, all-other-perils (AOP) deductible in your policy typically ranges from $500 to $2,000 and applies for all claims except hurricanes.

Most policies in Florida, especially for properties near the coast, will have a separate hurricane deductible that applies to windstorm damage claims (such as hurricanes and tropical storms). The hurricane deductible is not a fixed number across all policies but rather a percentage of your dwelling coverage, often between 2% and 10% of the amount.

So, for example, if you have $300,000 in dwelling coverage and opt for a 5% hurricane deductible, your hurricane deductible would be $15,000.

Your hurricane deductible is almost always higher than your AOP deductible, meaning you need to incur more significant levels of hurricane damage before you can file a claim. This method limits the provider’s risk in wind-prone areas. 

When shopping for the best Florida homeowners insurance, note hurricane deductibles in Florida and how they affect your policy and rates.

With home insurance rates in Florida being so high, you’re likely looking for any way possible to save money on premiums. You should keep an eye out for discounts, tweak your coverage limits to suit your needs, and always shop around to find the best deal.

Qualifying for discounts: Be sure to ask about available discounts when quoting. From security systems to wind mitigation, the top home insurance companies in Florida offer an array of discounts from security systems to wind mitigation. Discount type and extent vary by carrier, but some common ones include:

Adjusting Coverage Amounts: Ensure your coverage amounts meet your property needs, but be wary to not opt for excess coverage you don’t need. For example, we recommend conducting a home inventory to value your belongings and determine the precise amount of personal property coverage you need. 

Additionally, you should revisit your coverage amounts periodically to adjust as needed if you make changes around your home, like a renovation that increases your dwelling coverage need.

Comparing Multiple Florida Homeowners Insurance Quotes Online: The most proven way to save money on homeowners insurance is by comparing multiple quotes before you buy, so you ensure you find the best deal. Many companies offer ways to quote entirely online. Other times, you may have to get in touch with a company representative to complete the quote. 

Working with an independent agent who partners with several carriers is often the best route to finding possible savings while meeting coverage needs. An agent’s job is to present you with the available options and find the optimal match, increasing your odds of finding the best home insurance in Florida.

Your best bet to find affordable coverage in the Sunshine State is to gather several homeowners insurance quotes in Florida and compare rates, coverages, discounts, and more. You won’t know you’re getting the best deal until you assess your options.

Our team at Clovered, an independent insurance agency, tries to make the home insurance shopping process as easy as possible. You can use our online quoting tool to compare rates from some of the top-rated homeowners insurance companies in Florida online in minutes.

Or, you can call one of our licensed agents during business hours at 833-255-4117 for a Florida home insurance quote over the phone. We’re happy to help you however we can.