TAMPA, Fla. — If you're a homeowner in Florida, you're likely no stranger to the ongoing home insurance crisis in the Sunshine State. In fact, most homeowners reported they were affected by changes in insurance coverage or rising costs, according to a recent survey from Redfin.
The company commissioned the survey, which polled nearly 3,000 homeowners and renters across the U.S. The results showed just over 70 percent of homeowners in Florida said either they or the area they lived in was affected by rising property insurance costs or had to change coverage after being dropped from their policy.
It's the highest percentage of homeowners experiencing insurance woes, with California — the other epicenter of the crisis — only reporting 51 percent of homeowners seeing changes. Overall across the country, only 45 percent of homeowners experienced changes, Redfin reports.
Since 2017, 11 property and casualty companies offering homeowners insurance in Florida have liquidated, the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS) reported. More than half liquidated within the past two years. Five companies went under in 2022 and two in 2023.
The reason: Florida has seen a much larger risk in recent years for disastrous flooding and damage from storms, particularly during hurricane season.
One result of so many companies pulling out of Florida is that 12 percent of Florida homeowners reported that their company stopped offering coverage, Redfin said. That percentage is much higher than the 8.3 percent of other respondents.
“Homeowners living in areas where insurance premiums are surging are at risk of seeing their properties gain less value than homeowners in areas with stable premiums—and in some cases, they may even lose money,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a statement. “Homes with low disaster risk and low insurance costs will likely become increasingly popular, and thus more valuable, as the dangers of climate change intensify.”