If you own a home in Florida, you have likely experienced it firsthand: your insurance company dropped you, your premium doubled, or both. Florida is in the middle of a homeowners insurance crisis that is reshaping the real estate market, driving out residents, and leaving coastal homeowners with few good options.
This is not a temporary blip. It is a structural shift.
Since 2020, more than a dozen insurance companies have either left Florida entirely or gone insolvent:
Each exit pushes more homeowners toward Citizens Property Insurance Corporation — Florida's insurer of last resort — which now insures over 1.3 million policies. Citizens was designed to be a backstop, not the primary market. When Citizens pays major claims, it can assess surcharges to all Florida policyholders, including those with private carriers.
Hurricanes Ian (2022), Nicole (2022), Idalia (2023), Helene (2024), and Milton (2024) produced billions in losses in a short period. Reinsurance costs — the insurance that insurance companies buy — skyrocketed after Ian alone. For a small Florida-focused carrier, a single major storm can exceed their entire annual premium pool.
Florida has historically accounted for roughly 8% of U.S. homeowners insurance claims but over 70% of U.S. homeowners insurance lawsuits. Assignment of Benefits (AOB) arrangements, where contractors took over a homeowner's insurance claim, created a litigation industry that drove up costs for everyone. The Legislature addressed this in 2022 and 2023, but the damage to carrier confidence was already done.
A large percentage of Florida's coastal homes were built before modern hurricane code standards — pre-2002 Florida Building Code, and many pre-1992. Older construction was not engineered to withstand modern storm loads. Insuring these homes is not profitable for carriers at any reasonable price.
Southwest Florida took the worst of Ian, Helene, and Milton in rapid succession. Many carriers have specifically identified Charlotte County and Lee County as areas where they are no longer writing new policies or are non-renewing coastal policies.
Homeowners in these areas are facing:
This is the single most controllable factor in your insurance claim outcome.
When you file a wind or hurricane damage claim, your adjuster will look at your permit history. If you had a roof replaced without a permit, your claim may be denied. If you had post-storm repairs done without permits, the insurer may argue the damage was worsened by unpermitted work.
A clean permit record — every roof, every HVAC, every window replacement properly permitted and closed — documents that your home was maintained to code. It protects your claim.
A licensed wind mitigation inspector documents your roof shape, deck attachment, cover type, opening protection, and roof-to-wall connection. A strong wind mitigation report can reduce your premium by 20–40%. It costs $150–$300 and is valid for 5 years.
If your home is near coastal water or in a FEMA flood zone, an elevation certificate documents your home's height relative to Base Flood Elevation. Each foot of elevation above BFE reduces your flood insurance premium. It also clarifies your position if a substantial damage determination is made after a storm.
Citizens is better than no insurance, but coverage is capped (recently raised to $700,000 for personal lines), Citizens can levy post-storm assessments on all Florida policyholders, and Citizens is actively moving policies to private carriers through depopulation — sometimes without much notice.
Before storm season every year, photograph every room, document every major system, and keep a record of every permit pulled. This documentation is essential when filing claims.
Most Florida homeowners do not realize: your permit history is a documented record of your home's code compliance and maintenance.
When you sell, buyers' attorneys and lenders pull permit history. When you file a claim, adjusters consider it. When you apply for FEMA assistance, permit records matter.
A complete, closed permit record says: this home was maintained by licensed contractors to Florida Building Code standards.
Permits Automated is developing a blockchain-based Property Improvement Record (PIR) system that creates a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of each completed permit. This record survives county office changes, paper document loss, and transfers with the property at sale.
The insurance crisis in Florida is not resolving quickly. Carriers will continue reassessing coastal exposure, rates will remain high, and Citizens will remain the backstop for hundreds of thousands of homes.
What you can control: keeping your home properly permitted, well-documented, and maintained to code. That is the foundation of both insurability and claim success.
Start your permit packet for Charlotte County or Punta Gorda →