Florida homeowners renewing in 2026 are walking into the fifth straight year of carrier turbulence. Several admitted insurers have left the personal lines market entirely. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state-backed insurer of last resort, has crossed 1.2 million active policies and remains the single largest writer in the state. Rate filings at the Office of Insurance Regulation continue to come in at double-digit percentages for the carriers still writing.
This guide tracks who is still writing new business, who has stopped or wound down, what is happening with average premiums and Citizens enrollment, and the practical steps to take if your renewal just got non-renewed. It is updated monthly and after any material carrier action.
Where the Florida homeowners market stands today
| Metric | Q1 2026 | Year-over-year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active Citizens Property Insurance policies | 1.21M | +3.4% | Citizens |
| Approved average rate increase, top 10 carriers | +11.4% | −2.1 pts | OIR |
| Average new-policy premium statewide | $5,300 | +$420 | III |
| Number of admitted carriers actively writing | 28 | +2 | OIR |
| Litigated claims share of paid loss | 48% | −9 pts | III |
Carrier scorecard: who is writing, limited, or out
The carriers below are organized by current Florida writing status, with their statutory surplus and AM Best rating where applicable. "Writing new" means the carrier is actively binding new homeowners business statewide. "Limited" carriers are non-renewing or writing only in narrow risk profiles. "Exited or insolvent" carriers are no longer writing in Florida, with claims either run-off or transferred to the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association.
| Carrier | Status | Statutory surplus | AM Best rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citizens Property Insurance | Writing new | State-backed | NR |
| Universal North America | Writing new | $1.4B | A |
| American Integrity | Writing new | $520M | A |
| Slide Insurance | Writing new | $680M | A |
| Florida Peninsula | Writing new | $410M | A- |
| HomeWise | Limited / non-renewing | $190M | B++ |
| TypTap Insurance | Limited / non-renewing | $240M | A- |
| Heritage Insurance | Limited / non-renewing | $510M | A- |
| Farmers (FL Personal Lines) | Exited or insolvent | Withdrew 2022 | — |
| AAA Florida | Exited or insolvent | Wound down 2023 | — |
| Bankers Insurance | Exited or insolvent | Insolvent 2023 | — |
If your carrier just dropped you: a 45-day action plan
- Read the non-renewal notice line by line. The reason field matters. If the carrier cites a market exit, you have a procurement problem. If it cites your roof age, your claims history, or a property inspection finding, you may be able to remediate and reapply.
- Call an independent agent within the first week. Independent agents have appointments with multiple Florida carriers and can quote you against the live carrier appetite filters in real time. Captive agents (one carrier only) cannot.
- Request quotes in writing from at least three admitted carriers. Compare deductibles, hurricane deductibles (typically 2% or 5% of dwelling), wind exclusions, water damage limits, and roof settlement (replacement cost vs actual cash value with a roof schedule).
- If no admitted carrier will write you, apply to Citizens. Citizens is the state-backed insurer of last resort. To be eligible, no admitted carrier can offer coverage within 20% of the Citizens premium. Citizens has a depopulation program that will move you to a private carrier in future years when capacity opens.
- Document the new policy effective date so there is no coverage gap. A single day of uninsured exposure during hurricane season can void mortgage requirements and trigger lender force-placed insurance, which is typically 2-3x the premium of a standard policy.
Premium ranges by region
| Region | Median premium | High end | Compared to state median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade County | $6,800 | $12,400 | +28% |
| Broward County | $6,200 | $11,800 | +17% |
| Palm Beach County | $5,900 | $10,900 | +11% |
| Monroe County (Keys) | $10,400 | $24,800 | +96% |
| Lee County (Fort Myers) | $6,400 | $13,200 | +21% |
| Collier County (Naples) | $7,100 | $15,400 | +34% |
| Hillsborough County (Tampa) | $4,700 | $8,200 | −11% |
| Pinellas County | $5,100 | $9,400 | −4% |
| Orange County (Orlando) | $3,900 | $6,800 | −26% |
| Duval County (Jacksonville) | $3,400 | $5,900 | −36% |
| Leon County (Tallahassee) | $2,900 | $4,800 | −45% |
| Florida statewide median | $5,300 | — | baseline |
Why this market got here
Florida’s homeowners market has three structural pressures that compound. The first is catastrophe risk. The state takes more named-storm landfalls than any other in the U.S., and reinsurance pricing for Florida exposure has risen sharply since 2017. The second is litigation cost. Until the 2022 and 2023 tort reform packages, Florida accounted for more than 70 percent of all U.S. homeowner-claim litigation despite holding around 8 percent of policies. Assignment of benefits abuse and one-way attorney fee statutes drove that imbalance. The third is roof age. Several Florida carriers will not write a homeowners policy on a roof older than 15 years, which sounds reasonable until you account for the millions of Florida homes built in the mid-2000s housing boom that all hit that threshold at once.
The 2022 and 2023 reforms eliminated one-way attorney fees in property cases and tightened assignment of benefits rules. Litigated claims as a share of paid loss have fallen materially since. That is the main reason a small group of newer Florida-focused carriers (Slide, American Integrity, Florida Peninsula, Heritage) have continued to write new business while larger national carriers stay on the sidelines or non-renew.
Citizens Property Insurance: how the state-backed market works
Citizens is not a private insurance company. It is a Florida government entity created in 2002 to be the insurer of last resort when the private market will not cover a property. Citizens is governed by a board of directors appointed by the governor, the Senate president, the House speaker, and the chief financial officer. Its premiums are set by statute and reviewed by the Office of Insurance Regulation. Citizens cannot run a private-market profit margin into rates.
The catch is the Citizens assessment. If a major hurricane wipes out Citizens reserves and reinsurance, Florida law allows Citizens to levy an assessment of up to 45 percent on Citizens policies, then on every property and auto insurance policy in the state. The assessment backstop is why Florida lawmakers consistently push depopulation programs to move Citizens policies into the private market.
What to watch next
- Hurricane season impacts. A single major Florida landfall in 2026 would test whether the post-reform private market has stabilized or whether more carriers will need to non-renew or exit.
- Citizens depopulation. The state expects another round of policy transfers out of Citizens into private carriers. Citizens policyholders should expect take-out offers and have the right to decline within 30 days.
- Reinsurance pricing at the January and June renewals. If global reinsurance softens, Florida carriers may file lower rate increases. If it firms, expect another year of double-digit primary rate filings.
- Roof replacement programs. The My Safe Florida Home grant program is extended through 2027 and continues to subsidize wind-mitigation upgrades, which directly lower premiums.