TALLAHASSEE — After ten years of ever-increasing, excessive, and often frivolous property insurance lawsuits that inflated consumer policy costs, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) reports a startling reversal in Florida property insurance litigation.
The latest Property Insurance Stability Report, published twice a year by OIR, shows a dramatic decrease in the ratio of Florida’s share of national homeowners insurance claims vs. homeowners claims lawsuits.
In 2025, Florida had under 5% of national claims and just over 41% of nationwide homeowners lawsuits. That’s down by nearly half from the 9% and 79% respectively in 2020. It was that mismatch that prompted the Florida Legislature to pass significant consumer insurance and litigation reforms in 2022 and 2023.
Source: Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, Property Insurance Stability Report, July 2026
As a result, property insurance rates in Florida continue to decrease, noted the OIR report.
“Since 2024, 44 companies requested a rate decrease, and 48 companies requested a 0% rate,” wrote OIR.
The regulator’s continually updated Florida Property Insurance Market Stats, Data, and Facts webpage shows the 30-Day Average Request for Homeowners’ Rates filed by insurance companies is -6.9% (a 6.9% decrease), a stark contrast to the double-digit rate increases prior to the legislative reforms.
“The legislative reforms, among other things, eliminated the guaranteed one-way attorney fees for plaintiffs that provided a gross incentive to sue, with fees in some cases that were five or six times greater than the claim amount itself. We’ve all been paying for the excessive and often frivolous litigation that resulted,” said Lisa Miller, former Florida deputy insurance commissioner who is a recognized disaster insurance and recovery expert and consultant. “I applaud the legislature and the Governor for protecting Florida consumers’ interests and helping ensure a stable property insurance marketplace.”
According to past OIR research, claims with lawsuits cost almost five times more than those without and yet, only about 8% of the average litigated claim dollar reaches homeowners who file claims.
“Most of the rest of the money goes to the lawyers,” added Miller, who said that cost is reflected in the insurance carrier’s reported defense costs and containment expenses, also outlined in this OIR report, which in turn, are figured into the cost of a homeowners insurance policy.
The OIR report also contains a list of average premiums charged for homeowners and condominium unit owners in each of Florida’s 67 counties. In 51 counties, premiums have decreased since OIR’s January 2026 report.
The average homeowners premium in Florida, including wind coverage, is currently $3,757 — not the $5,800 to $9,400 figures generated by the various dot-com aggregation websites that have permeated the news media in recent months.
Harvey Bennett
850-510-7185
Harvey@TeleDirections.com
Date Posted: July 22, 2026
