Despite Calm Hurricane Seasons, Florida Ranks 1st in Highest Home Insurance Rates

Despite a near ten-year lapse since the last hurricane, Floridians are still paying the highest homeowner insurance rates in the United States, according to a national report released this year. The report by The  National Association of Insurance Commissioners shows that the average home insurance premium paid by Florida homeowners is $1,933 per year, which is roughly double the national average premium of $978. Among the top six states with the highest home insurance rates, five are located on the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana had the second-highest premiums after Florida, followed by Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Alabama.

The report is based on rate data from 2011 and includes rates from first-time premium costs paid by customers of Citizens Property Insurance. Citizens is a state-owned company – as well as Florida’s largest insurer with over a million policyholders.

Rates in the Sunshine State have been increasing for several years, despite the fact that the state has not seen a hurricane since 2005. Since 2005, state regulators have continued its trend of approving rate increases, yet the report shows that there may be some relief from increases on the horizon in the form of rate stabilization.

Florida’s top insurance regulator has been pressured to give a detailed report about why the vast majority of insurers in the state are not lowering their rates in the face of declining reinsurance costs — one of the biggest expenses for companies.

Kevin McCarty, Florida’s Insurance Commissioner, was scheduled to deliver the report earlier in the year, but has delayed the report until mid-January, 2014. Some within Florida’s insurance industry claim current Florida homeowner’s insurance rates accurately reflect market pressures and are not artificially high.