S&P study shows Florida had nominal increase in homeowners insurance rates

Homeowners insurance rates are rising across the nation, but despite more hurricanes striking the state, Florida remains relatively stable regarding rate hikes.

S&P Global just released an analysis of homeowners insurance rates across America, and while there were stiff increases for many states, Florida fared well in comparison. The S&P report found Florida to have one of the smallest increases in homeowners insurance in the country as of December 2024 since 2019. But there was an increase.

“The states with the lowest calculated weighted average increase in 2024 were Nevada at 4.3%, Texas at 3.4% and Florida at 1%,” the S&P analysis concluded. “Overall, the Florida homeowners market has seen improvement following legal reforms in 2023.”

S&P used rate information sourced from owner-occupied rate filings submitted to the Federal Insurance Office and each state’s largest homeowner insurance underwriters. That does not include state-backed insurance organizations such as Citizens Property Insurance Corp., run by the state of Florida.

While Florida recorded a nominal increase in homeowner insurance rates in the past year, S&P analysts warned that the full brunt and impact of hurricanes that hit the Sunshine State in 2024 have yet to be factored in.

“Back-to-back costly hurricanes this past year may impede the recovery. According to information collected by the state’s regulator, estimated insured losses so far on residential properties are $2.39 billion from Hurricane Milton and $496.8 million for Hurricane Helene, with total insured losses (in Florida) equaling $3.62 billion for Milton and $2.08 billion for Helene,” the S&P study found.

Still, Florida’s rate increases for homeowners are well below those in other states, some of which had rate increases that were 20 times the Sunshine State’s.

“Five other states reflected premiums rising by more than 20% in 2024: Montana, Iowa, Minnesota, Utah and Washington,” S&P analysts said.

Indeed, Florida appears to be an outlier, as most states saw at least double-digit rate increases for homeowners insurance.

“The national calculated weighted average effective rate increase for homeowners insurance was 10.4% last year. That uptick followed a 12.7% rise in the previous year. In total, 33 states had double-digit calculated effective rate increases in 2024, with the largest calculated increase occurring in Nebraska at 22.7%,” the S&P report concluded.