Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will reduce rates by an average of 5.6% statewide in 2025, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The governor said the state had the lowest average increase in homeowners insurance rates nationwide over the past year.
The reduction follows Citizens’ previous request for a 13.5% average rate increase across personal and commercial lines, which the company argued would still fall short of actuarially sound rates or make its policies noncompetitive with the private market.
In August, Citizens said that rates would need to increase by 92.8% to meet the state-mandated requirement of remaining noncompetitive with private insurers.
Statewide, homeowners insurance rates increased by 1% in 2024 and are projected to rise by 0.5% in 2025, DeSantis said, according to a report from AM Best. He added that 75% of Miami-Dade County homeowners would see rate reductions, along with half of homeowners in Broward County and 19% of homeowners in Palm Beach County.
In December, the market saw some positive shifts as Citizens announced that it has reduced its policy count below 1 million as the Florida property insurance market shows signs of recovery.
As of Nov. 29, the state-backed insurer reported 987,650 policies, a decrease largely attributed to the success of its depopulation efforts.
The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) attributed the rate reductions to recent legislative reforms. The governor cited measures addressing assignment of benefits, attorney fees, and the establishment of a home-hardening program, as well as a $2 billion reinsurance initiative for policyholders.
The APCIA noted that the Florida insurance market has begun to stabilize, with 11 new insurers entering the state and private insurers filing for rate decreases or only minor adjustments.
Logan McFaddin, vice president of state government relations for the APCIA, said that the market conditions in 2024 and 2025 contrast sharply with those of two years ago, when average rate increases were in the double digits.
In addition to lower homeowners insurance rates, auto insurance premiums are also declining. The governor said major carriers have filed for rate reductions, including an 8.1% decrease by Progressive Insurance Corp., a 6% reduction by State Farm, and a 10.5% cut by Geico.
Legislative reforms have also impacted auto glass litigation, with the number of related lawsuits dropping from 24,720 in the second quarter of 2023 to 2,613 in the same period of 2024.
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