Florida Homeowners See Promising Signs as Insurance Market Stabilizes

by Adam Miller

Florida Homeowners See Promising Signs as Insurance Market Stabilizes

After years of soaring insurance premiums and shrinking coverage options, Florida homeowners are finally seeing some positive developments. A newly approved insurer is entering the state's market, and a strategic partnership between two private companies aims to help policyholders save on premiums.

These moves suggest that Florida’s property insurance market—long in crisis—may be on the path to stabilization, potentially making homeownership more affordable across the state.

Why It Matters

In recent years, major insurers have either scaled back operations in Florida or left the state entirely, citing skyrocketing costs and increasing exposure to catastrophic weather events. The crisis was fueled by:

Excessive litigation and legal system abuse
Widespread claims fraud
Rising risks from more frequent and severe natural disasters

To combat these issues, Florida lawmakers passed key regulatory reforms in 2022 and 2023 aimed at reducing litigation and attracting insurers back to the market. Now, those efforts appear to be yielding results.

Key Developments

A New Insurer Joins the Market: Florida’s Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky announced that Mangrove, a newly approved property and casualty insurer, will begin operations in the state.
Strengthening Private Coverage: Mangrove is set to assume tens of thousands of policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Florida’s state-backed insurer of last resort, helping to reduce the number of policies held by Citizens.
An Industry Partnership to Cut Costs: Embark MGA and Security First Insurance are launching a new program that integrates insurance quotes into the homebuying and mortgage qualification process. This initiative is expected to make it easier for buyers of newly built homes to secure more affordable insurance coverage.

The Embark-Security First program is exclusive to buyers of newly constructed homes built by select national and regional homebuilders. Industry leaders anticipate that this will streamline the insurance process and offer cost savings for new homeowners.

Encouraging Trends in 2024

Florida’s property insurance market made significant strides in 2024 due to recent legislative changes. According to Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I):

The market has stabilized, with declining lawsuits against insurers.
New insurers are entering, increasing competition and options.
National insurers are expanding their presence in Florida.
Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has reduced its policy count, with more homeowners transitioning to private insurers.

Additionally, Florida’s insurance industry successfully navigated an active 2024 hurricane season, which saw three landfalls—Debby, Helene, and Milton—without a major financial collapse in the market.

Industry Leaders Weigh In

Brian Crumbaker, Embark's Executive VP: The new program will provide better pricing and broader coverage for buyers of newly constructed homes.
Melissa Burt DeVriese, President of Security First: Homebuyers could see savings of 20-30% compared to standard homeowner policies.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky: Florida is actively recruiting more insurers, and the market is seeing real growth, with domestic companies reporting $389 million in net income as of September 2024.

What’s Next?

With more insurers entering the market, increased competition is expected to drive improvements in:

✅ More affordable premiums
✅ Expanded coverage options
✅ Improved customer service

Looking ahead, no major legislative changes are expected in 2025. Experts believe that consumers will start benefiting from a healthier and more competitive private insurance marketplace. However, any attempts to undo recent legal reforms could harm the state’s progress.