MIAMI, Florida — On February 5, 2025 in Miami, Governor Ron DeSantis provided an update on Florida’s insurance market, highlighting significant progress in stabilizing rates, expanding consumer protections, and fostering a competitive environment. DeSantis announced rate decreases, Florida’s 2024 record of lowest-in-the-nation average rate increases, and several new insurers entering the market, with many Floridians in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties seeing relief on their premiums.
“Today I announced that Citizens Property Insurance will be instituting homeowners’ insurance premium decreases for three-quarters of Miami Dade, and statewide decreases averaging 5.6%. I also was pleased to announce significant reductions in auto insurance rates in Florida for companies like GEICO (10.5% decrease), State Farm (6% decrease) and Progressive (8.1% decrease),” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “For the last four years, inflation... active hurricane seasons, and unchecked litigation in Florida made for an environment that caused turbulence in insurance markets and steep increases in premiums. There are a lot of factors involved in insurance rates, and Florida’s property and auto markets are challenging—but in addition to the decreases I announced, data suggests that in 2024, Florida had the lowest average homeowners’ premium increases in the nation, and the overall market has stabilized with 11 new companies having entered the market over the past two years."
Since 2019, Florida has passed five landmark laws—three on tort reform and two on consumer protection—reversing years of insurance market instability. Key reforms include HB 7065 (2019), which curbed abusive litigation tied to Assignment of Benefits (AOBs); SB 76 (2021), which tightened claim deadlines and encouraged dispute resolution over lawsuits; and SB 2D (2022), eliminating one-way attorney fees for AOBs, limiting roofing scams, and creating a $2 billion Reinsurance to Assist Policyholders (RAP) program. SB 2A (2022) further reduced frivolous litigation, strengthened insurer accountability, and protected consumers. In 2023, additional reforms eliminated subsidies for out-of-state vacation homes, expanded home hardening programs, and enhanced oversight of insurers.
Governor DeSantis announced that Florida now has 7.58 million active insurance policies, marking an increase of over 130,000 in the past year. This growth is bolstered by the entry or expansion of 11 insurance companies in the Florida market, reflecting renewed confidence in Florida. Additionally, the Governor announced that Florida has the lowest average premium rate increase in the nation, with an average statewide rate hike of just 1%, a stark contrast to other states where premiums have surged by more than 20%.
Governor DeSantis highlighted how recent insurance reforms are delivering real savings for Floridians. Among the state’s top 10 insurance carriers, 60% have expanded their business, and 40% have filed for rate decreases. The average rate increase has dropped significantly, from over 21% in 2023 to a projected 0.2% for 2025. Citizens Property Insurance, which had been rapidly expanding due to a strained private market, is now shrinking, with over 20% of policyholders experiencing rate decreases averaging -5.6% statewide. In Miami-Dade, nearly 75% of homeowners are seeing rate reductions, while over 50% in Broward and nearly 19% in Palm Beach are benefiting from lower premiums. Since 2022, more than 477,000 policies have returned to the private market—up from just 16,408 in 2022—signaling increased competition and better options for consumers.
Reforms are also driving down auto insurance costs across Florida. Major companies such as GEICO, Progressive, and State Farm have filed for rate reductions of -10.5%, -8.1%, and -6%, respectively. Additionally, litigation related to auto glass repairs has seen a dramatic decline, dropping from 24,720 lawsuits in the second quarter of 2023 to just 2,613 in the same period of 2024. This significant reduction follows the repeal of assignment of benefits and one-way attorney fees, contributing to greater stability and cost savings for Florida drivers.
Full Florida Insurance Reform History
Over the past three years, Florida has passed five transformative bills; three focused on tort reform and two on consumer protection. In 2019, the legislature passed, and the Governor signed HB 7065, which addressed unrestrained litigation incentivized by out-of-control attorney fees and unrestricted use of Assignment of Benefits (AOBs) to allow third parties to collect insurance benefits during a claim period. In 2021, Governor DeSantis signed SB 76, which:
- Tightened citizens’ eligibility requirements and eased its statutory cap on rate increases;
- Required plaintiffs to notify an insurer before a lawsuit is filed, allowing insurers to offer mediation or other alternatives to dispute resolution; and,
- Tightened the deadline to file insurance claims from three to two years from the date of loss.
In early 2022, Governor DeSantis called a special session to address ongoing insurance issues ahead of the 2022 hurricane season and mid-year reinsurance renewal periods. This resulted in SB 2D, which contained several provisions that again altered insurance regulation and tort reform by:
- Eliminating one-way attorney fees related to AOBs, thus eliminating the incentive for attorneys to mislead claimants.
- Prohibiting roofers from paying or absorbing insurance deductibles.
- Creating a temporary Reinsurance to Assist Policyholders (RAP) program to soften insurance rate increases, providing up to $2 billion in coverage from the state’s general revenue funds to pass savings on to policyholders and buy time for the market to stabilize.
After the 2022 elections, the Governor again called the legislature back into another special session to enact reforms necessary to address the root causes of the state’s decades-long property insurance issues. This resulted in SB 2A, which:
- Eliminated one-way attorney fees from all of statutes, cutting off the single greatest driver of frivolous and excessive litigation which incentivized attorneys to sue first and ask questions later.
- Clarified what constitutes an insurer acting in “bad faith,” allowing insurers to more clearly understand their obligations to clients and preserving consumers’ ability to appropriately penalize bad actors.
- Tightened Citizens eligibility by steering potential and existing policyholders to private carriers if a comparable policy was available, ensuring the longevity of the program and therefore the predictability of Florida’s insurance market.
- Required insurance companies to be more responsive to their customers by reducing the amount of time they have to inspect, pay, deny, or respond to customers’ claims.
- Expanded the Office of Insurance Regulation’s ability to penalize insurance companies for various violations.
In 2023, the Governor built upon the landmark reforms of SB 2A by passing bills which further shored up and enhanced Florida’s insurance market. This included:
- Lifting the Citizens rate cap on all non-primary residences and other specified properties, eliminating insurance subsidies for “Vacation homes” of our-of-staters;
- Establishing limits on bad faith claims and repealing even more one-way attorney fees.
- Expanding eligibility for the My Safe Florida Home program to harden homes.
- Defining the circumstances for when a hurricane deductible would apply and tightening the window of time an insurance company has to cancel a policy.
- Allowing OIR to further examine insurance companies’ compliance, enhancing punitive capabilities, increasing reporting requirements, and prohibiting executives of impaired or insolvent companies from receiving bonuses of other “golden parachutes.”
In 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill (HB) 837, legislation that enacted significant and wide-ranging changes to civil litigation practices, including revamping the bad faith framework for negligence suits, eliminating exorbitant attorney’s fees, and expanding immunity for property owners defending against criminals injured on their property. The bill also cracked down on frivolous lawsuits by strengthening negligence standards and providing stronger defense to those targeted by malicious lawsuits. |
|
|
|
|
|
