There’s been a lot of noise around Florida’s property insurance market lately, and much of it leans heavily on frustration without fully acknowledging what’s actually changing beneath the surface. A recent column by Scott Maxwell is a good example. It captures the emotion, but it misses the broader context and, more importantly, the data.
Let’s start with something measurable.
Citizens Property Insurance, the state’s insurer of last resort, hit a peak of about 1.41 million policies in 2023. Today, that number has dropped to somewhere between 330,000 and 360,000. That is roughly a 75 percent reduction in a very short window. Markets do not shift like that unless private insurers are stepping back in and taking on risk. That kind of movement is not theoretical. It is a clear signal that capital is returning and confidence is improving.
At the same time, about 15 new insurance companies have entered the Florida market since the legislative reforms were passed. These companies have brought in more than 500 million dollars in new surplus. That means more capacity, more competition, and a healthier distribution of risk. This is exactly what needed to happen to begin stabilizing the system.
Another major factor that often gets overlooked is litigation. For years, excessive legal activity was one of the biggest cost drivers in Florida’s insurance crisis. That has now dropped significantly, somewhere in the range of 40 to 60 percent depending on the dataset. The shift to requiring each party to pay their own attorney’s fees brought Florida in line with nearly every other state. It was not about limiting access. It was about correcting a system that had become financially unsustainable.
Context matters here too.
Florida had an active hurricane season in 2024 with multiple landfalls and significant claims. Then in 2025, there were no landfalls at all. That kind of contrast matters. Insurance markets are heavily influenced by loss cycles. A quieter year provides breathing room for carriers to rebuild reserves and adjust pricing models. It does not fix everything overnight, but it creates the conditions for improvement.
Now layer in replacement costs.
From 2022 through 2026, the cost to rebuild homes in Florida jumped roughly 30 to 40 percent. That increase was driven by inflation, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, tariffs, and rising material costs. While those costs are starting to level off, they have not gone backwards. Florida is also still one of the most catastrophe exposed regions in the country, averaging about 1.8 named storms per year. That baseline risk has not changed.
So expecting premiums to suddenly drop does not line up with how insurance actually works. Pricing is based on long term risk, past losses, and future uncertainty. It does not respond instantly to policy changes or political pressure.
What the recent reforms have done is stop the bleeding.
Reinsurance costs, which make up about 40 percent of premiums, are beginning to ease. New carriers are entering the market. Citizens is shrinking quickly. Rate filings are stabilizing and in some cases starting to come down. These are not headlines that grab attention, but they are real indicators of progress.
This problem did not develop overnight. It built up over more than five years. It is going to take time to fully unwind.
You cannot spend years heading in the wrong direction and expect an immediate turnaround. But for the first time in a long time, the trajectory has changed.
It is not perfect. Not even close.
But it is progress.
