Best homeowners insurance in Florida of June 2024
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BLUEPRINT
Updated 5:36 a.m. UTC June 3, 2024
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State Farm offers the best homeowners insurance in Florida in 2024 because of its below-average rates and very low level of consumer complaints to state insurance departments. Tower Hill also scores 5 stars in our analysis because of its low rates.
Compare the best home insurance quotes
Best home insurance companies in Florida
- State Farm: Best home insurance in Florida.
- Tower Hill: Cheapest home insurance in Florida.
- Chubb: Best home insurance in Florida for high-value houses.
- Universal Property: Good home insurance in Florida for discounts.
- Citizens: Best home insurance in Florida for last-resort coverage.
Why trust our home insurance experts
Our team of home insurance experts has decades of experience as licensed property and casualty experts, insurance editors and consumers. We approach home insurance analysis as if we were shopping for ourselves or our family members, focusing on rates, coverage upgrades and consumer complaints.
Using a data-driven methodology, we evaluate hundreds of home insurance products, analyze thousands of data points and rate each insurer to help you find the best home insurance product for your situation. Advertisers never influence our editorial content. You can read more about our methodology below.
- 88 Florida home insurance rates reviewed.
- 22 home insurance companies evaluated.
- 5 levels of fact-checking.
Compare the best homeowners insurance in Florida
| COMPANY | COMPLAINT LEVEL | AM BEST RATING | LEARN MORE | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tower Hill | High | B (Fair) | Compare Rates Compare rates offered by participating partners | |||||
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| Low | A++ (Superior) | Compare Rates Compare rates offered by participating partners | ||||||
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| Very low | A++ (Superior) | Compare Rates Compare rates offered by participating partners | ||||||
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 Universal Property | High | N/A | Compare Rates Compare rates offered by participating partners | |||||
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 Citizens | Very low | A (Excellent) | Compare Rates Compare rates offered by participating partners | |||||
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How much is homeowners insurance in Florida?
Our analysis of rates determined that the cost of home insurance in Florida is $3,227 per year, based on the average of dwelling coverage limits from $200,000 to $750,000. Mark Frieldander of Triple-I estimates homeowners in Florida are paying much more — an average of $6,000 per year — which is more than triple the average annual premium in the U.S.
Average cost of home insurance in Florida by company
| COMPANY | $200,000 DWELLING COVERAGE | $350,000 DWELLING COVERAGE | $500,000 DWELLING COVERAGE | $750,000 DWELLING COVERAGE | LEARN MORE | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tower Hill | $705 | $1,143 | $1,526 | $2,122 | Compare Rates Compare rates offered by participating partners | |||||||
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| $944 | $1,142 | $1,517 | $2,459 | Compare Rates Compare rates offered by participating partners | ||||||||
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| $893 | $1,545 | $2,179 | $3,345 | Compare Rates Compare rates offered by participating partners | ||||||||
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| Universal Property | $2,112 | $3,890 | $6,168 | $9,646 | Compare Rates Compare rates offered by participating partners | |||||||
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| Citizens | $1,683 | $2,753 | $3,851 | $5,790 | Compare Rates Compare rates offered by participating partners | |||||||
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 Armed Forces Insurance | $1,003 | $1,767 | $2,530 | $3,804 | Compare Rates Compare rates offered by participating partners | |||||||
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 Florida Peninsula Insurance | $1,794 | $2,531 | $3,374 | $4,777 | Compare Rates Compare rates offered by participating partners | |||||||
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Why is homeowners insurance in Florida so expensive?
Many home insurance companies in Florida are going insolvent (essentially going out of business) or leaving the state. Floridians pay some of the highest home insurance in the country — around $6,000 per year on average, according to Friedlander.
Along with the increased number of hurricanes and inflation of construction and labor costs, lawsuit abuse and assignment of benefits have spurred a man-made crisis, said Friedlander.
Hurricanes have added fuel to the fire, with estimated insured losses from Hurricane Ian totaling $60 billion. The combination of these factors has made the Florida market difficult for homeowners to find home insurance, in terms of both options and cost, said Friedlander.
Home insurance in Florida compared to other states
Here’s how much home insurance costs across the U.S. for a policy with $350,000 in dwelling coverage.
How to find the best homeowners insurance in Florida
Affordable Florida home insurance companies do exist, as our analysis demonstrates. Knowing what options are available for getting coverage is the first step in finding ways to save on homeowners insurance.
Here are some additional tips for saving money when researching the best homeowners insurance Florida has to offer.
- Understand your risks. Where you live in Florida may expose you to different types of risk that can affect home insurance costs. The Panhandle and southern coasts, for example, are typically more vulnerable to hurricane-related flooding versus the northern part of the state.
- Calculate the cost to rebuild. It's important to ensure that you have enough coverage to rebuild your house from the ground up if necessary. Checking the costs of rebuilding in your area can help you determine how much dwelling coverage you need. You can get a rough estimate of your home’s rebuild cost by calculating your square footage times the local rebuild cost per square foot in your area.
- Consider coverage add-ons. Add-on coverage can enhance your policy but it's important to choose only what you need in order to keep rates at bay. For example, you might not need additional jewelry coverage if your policy already covers that at a level that's sufficient for what your items are worth. On the other hand, you might benefit from adding on water and sewer backup coverage if you're worried about water damage.
- Raise your deductible. Increasing your deductible is a relatively simple way to reduce home insurance costs. Just keep in mind that your deductible is subtracted from your claim payout.
- Check for discounts. Florida home insurance companies may offer different discounts that could reduce your rates. For example, you might qualify for a new customer discount, new home discount or discounts for installing home security systems, all of which could help you pay less for coverage. If you take steps to fortify your home against hurricane damage, you may receive a discount or credit as well.
- Shop around. Comparison shopping can be the most effective way to find affordable home insurance companies in Florida. Getting multiple quotes can help you see what you might pay at different coverage levels.
Hurricane damage and Florida homeowners insurance
Most home insurance policies in Florida cover wind or rain damage associated with hurricanes. However, this coverage typically does not extend to damage caused by storm surges or flooding during or after a hurricane. You'll need to purchase separate flood insurance for that.
It's also important to note that Florida is one of a handful of states that requires a separate hurricane deductible. The deductible only applies if your home sustains hurricane damage from a named storm.
Florida home insurance companies are required to offer four hurricane deductible options:
- $500.
- 2% of policy structure or dwelling limits.
- 5% of policy structure or dwelling limits.
- 10% of policy structure or dwelling limits.
There are some exceptions. For example, if your home is valued at $250,000 or more your insurer isn't required to offer the $500 deductible.
Is your house ready? How to prepare for hurricane season
How to save on home insurance in Florida
You can reduce home insurance costs by taking steps to mitigate hurricane risk. Florida has a Hurricane Loss Mitigation Program and My Safe Florida Home, which help you minimize damage to your home from hurricanes. If you take the proper steps to fortify your home against hurricane damage, you may be eligible for a grant and could save on home insurance.
Some requirements include:
- Installing a secondary water resistance layer to your roof.
- Upgrading your roof covering.
- Improving the strength of roof deck attachments.
- Upgrading your garage and exterior doors.
- Updating your windows.
Once you apply and make the updates, you’ll need to pass a wind mitigation inspection to qualify. You should then submit the mitigation inspection report to your insurer to see if you qualify for discounts on your home insurance.
Home insurance discounts in Florida
All of the best Florida home insurance companies in our analysis offer discounts, such as those for:
- Bundling your home insurance with another insurance product, like car insurance.
- Burglar and fire alarms.
- Claims free.
- Wind mitigation efforts.
What to do if you can’t get home insurance in Florida
If you’re struggling to find home insurance coverage in Florida — whether it’s because of your home’s location and risk or your claims history — there are options:
- Shop around and compare home insurance quotes. Just because one insurer denies you home insurance doesn’t mean all companies will.
- Consider purchasing home insurance through Florida’s FAIR Plan. Florida’s FAIR Plan is sold by Citizens Insurance. Because home insurance companies are leaving the state, Citizens has become the largest home insurer in Florida, with over 1.2 million customers.
Citizens Insurance flood insurance requirements in Florida
The Florida legislature passed Senate Bill 2-A in December 2022 which requires Citizens Insurance to mandate its policyholders purchase flood insurance.
Citizens' flood insurance deadlines
From Jan. 1, 2024 to Jan. 1, 2027, it doesn’t matter if you live in a flood zone or not, you’ll be required to purchase flood insurance if you have a home insurance policy that includes wind coverage through Citizens Insurance.
Here are the deadlines for Citizens’ flood insurance requirements.
- January 1, 2024: Current and new customers with homes insured for $600,000 or more will need flood insurance by their policy’s renewal date.
- January 1, 2025: Current and new customers with homes insured for $500,000 or more will need flood insurance by their policy’s renewal date.
- January 1, 2026: Current and new customers with homes insured for $400,000 or more will need flood insurance by their policy’s renewal date.
- January 1, 2027: All properties, regardless of value, will need flood insurance.
Methodology
Our insurance experts evaluated 22 insurers to determine the best homeowners insurance companies in Florida based on the availability of new policies and reinsurance, average home insurance rates for Floridians and consumer complaints against each company using the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Complaint Index. Each category was assigned a different weight, adding to a score of 100.
- Rates: 75 points. Our home insurance experts analyzed home insurance rates from Quadrant Information Services. The average rates are based on policies with dwelling coverage of $200,000, $350,000, $500,000 and $750,000. The homeowner profile was a 40-year-old female with a good credit score and no claims history.
- Personal property coverage: 50% of dwelling coverage limit.
- Other structures coverage: 10% of dwelling coverage limit.
- Loss of use coverage: 10% of dwelling coverage limit.
- $500 deductible.
- Liability insurance: $100,000.
- Medical payments coverage: $1,000.
- Consumer complaints: 25 points. We collected complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), which shows the volume of home insurance consumer complaints against each company to state insurance departments.
Why some companies didn’t make the cut
Insurance companies that had significantly higher rates. If an insurance company stopped selling home insurance or renewing its home insurance policies to residents of Florida, or if it was deemed insolvent in Florida, they didn’t make the cut. We didn’t include any companies that received lower than a 2.5-star rating.
Best homeowners insurance in Florida FAQs
Florida law does not require you to have home insurance. However, going without coverage could leave you open to significant financial losses if your home is damaged due to a natural disaster, fire or another type of peril that would be included in a standard homeowners policy.
Your mortgage company may also require you to have a homeowners policy in place.
Historically, Florida has not mandated flood insurance for homeowners. In 2022, Florida lawmakers successfully passed a measure requiring homeowners to obtain flood insurance. If signed into law, the bill would require homeowners to secure flood insurance before the decade is out, with deadlines for doing so set according to the value of the property to be insured.
Tower Hill and State Farm offer the most affordable home insurance in Florida. For a home insurance policy with $350,000 in dwelling coverage you may pay an average of $1,143 per year with Tower Hill or $1,142 per year with State Farm, according to our analysis of rates.
The largest home insurance company in Florida is Citizens Insurance. In Florida, Citizens is the state-backed insurer of last resort. Many home insurance companies have stopped selling or gone insolvent in Florida, which has pushed more and more homeowners to get coverage through Citizens.
The state of Florida may not require you to purchase special homeowners insurance coverage, but your mortgage lender likely will. Home insurance policies include coverage for wind and hail damage, but it may be excluded if you live in a high-risk area of Florida. If that’s the case, you’ll need to add wind coverage to your home insurance policy.
In Florida, if your property is damaged by a named storm, a separate deductible will be subtracted from your claim payout. Hurricane deductibles are typically set at a percentage of your dwelling coverage limit, like 10%.
Home insurance excludes coverage for flood damage, so you may need to purchase flood insurance in order to be properly insured against any hurricane or storm flooding.
No, earthquake insurance is not required in Florida, but home insurance excludes coverage for earthquake damage. If you want to be insured against potential earthquake damage, you’ll need to purchase earthquake insurance.
No, the state of Florida does not require you to purchase wind insurance, but if it’s excluded from your homeowners insurance policy, your mortgage lender or insurer may require you to purchase a wind coverage add-on or wind insurance policy.
Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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