As of May 2026, you have more Florida homeowners insurance companies to choose from than at any point since 2019. Seventeen new property and casualty insurers have been approved by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR) since 2023 reforms, the Citizens depopulation program moved roughly 546,000 policies into the private market in 2025 alone, and average rate filings dropped from a 21.8% increase two years ago to under 1% today. The names you actually want to look at fall into four buckets: national carriers (State Farm, Allstate via Castle Key, Progressive/ASI, Liberty Mutual), Florida specialists (Tower Hill, American Integrity, Heritage, Universal Property and Casualty, Edison, Slide, Kin, People's Trust), the new admitted entrants (Trident Reciprocal, Orange Insurance Exchange, Mangrove, Condo Owners Reciprocal Exchange, Stand, Praxis), and HNW carriers (Chubb, AIG Private Client, PURE, Cincinnati).
This page is the carrier-by-carrier rundown. If you want the broader market overview, average rates, or the eight things that actually drive a Florida home insurance quote, start with our Florida homeowners insurance pillar.
Key Takeaways
- 17 new property and casualty insurers have been approved by FLOIR since post-reform 2023, including Slide, Trident Reciprocal, Orange Insurance Exchange, Mangrove, Condo Owners Reciprocal, Stand Insurance Exchange and Praxis Reciprocal Exchange.
- Citizens Property Insurance went from a 1.42M policy peak in October 2023 to roughly 385,000 by the end of 2025, a 73% reduction.
- State Farm still writes the most Florida home policies of any single carrier (over 640,000), but most national brands either restrict new business in coastal counties or write only auto in Florida.
- Florida specialists like Tower Hill, American Integrity, Heritage and Universal are typically rated by Demotech (FSR "A" or better), not A.M. Best, which matters for your mortgage lender and your risk of insolvency exposure.
- When a Florida carrier goes insolvent, the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) pays covered claims up to $300,000, plus an additional $200,000 for structure and contents on homeowner claims.
- Recent Florida insolvencies (UPC/United, Avatar, FedNat, Lighthouse, Southern Fidelity, St. Johns, Weston) all hit FIGA, and the assessment to pay those claims is being phased out two years early in 2026.
- The fastest way to compare 25+ carriers in one shot is through an independent broker, not by quoting one captive at a time.
The 2024 to 2026 Florida market reset, in one paragraph
After Hurricane Ian and a wave of insolvencies, the Florida legislature passed SB 2A in December 2022, eliminating one-way attorney fees and assignment of benefits (AOB) for property claims. That reform did three things at once. It pulled litigation costs out of the loss ratio, which let reinsurers price Florida more aggressively. It cleared the runway for new admitted carriers (FLOIR has approved 17 since the reforms, per the FLOIR commissioner's January 2025 announcement and the September 2025 update on Stand and Praxis). And it pushed Citizens depopulation into a higher gear, moving 428,000 policies to private carriers in 2024 and another 546,000 in 2025, according to Citizens' own data and reporting from Florida Realtors. Average homeowners rate filings have dropped from a 21.8% increase two years ago to about 1% today. None of this means Florida is cheap. It means the market is functional again. For real-time tracking of each new carrier approval, depopulation round, and rate filing, see our Florida homeowners insurance market news tracker.
National carriers: what they actually write in Florida in 2026
The household-name brands are still here, but each one writes a narrower slice of Florida than they do in, say, Ohio.
State Farm. Still the single largest home insurer in Florida by policy count, with more than 640,000 home policies in force. State Farm writes through its captive agent channel only (no broker access), and as U.S. News reported in its 2026 review, coverage options in Florida are limited and most homeowners need to speak with an agent rather than getting an online quote. For the full eligibility map, rate filings, and current appetite by county, see our State Farm homeowners Florida deep dive.
Allstate. Allstate writes Florida homeowners insurance through a Florida-only subsidiary called Castle Key Insurance Company (and a sister entity, Castle Key Indemnity Company). The Allstate-branded national policy you'd buy in Georgia is not the same product Floridians get. Castle Key restricts new business in many coastal ZIP codes, and Allstate-branded agents in Florida often sell auto only, placing the homeowners portion with Castle Key or a partner carrier.
Progressive / ASI. Progressive's home product in Florida is underwritten by American Strategic Insurance (ASI), which Progressive acquired in 2015. ASI is Florida-domiciled and is treated by most lenders as a Florida specialist, not a national carrier. Available through the Progressive agent network and many independent brokers.
Farmers. Farmers writes limited new homeowners business in Florida, primarily inland counties. Its Foremost subsidiary handles mobile home and dwelling-fire risks. Florida is not a focus state for the Farmers brand.
Liberty Mutual / Safeco. Liberty writes Florida homeowners through Safeco, its independent-agency brand. Availability varies by county and by wind exposure; new business in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe is highly restricted.
Travelers. Limited writing in Florida, mostly for HNW homes through its private-client unit and bundled with auto for inland customers.
The headline: if you want a "national brand" homeowners policy in Florida, you are almost certainly buying it from a Florida-specific subsidiary or program that doesn't price like the national book.
Florida specialists (the Demotech-rated mid-market)
These are the carriers that actually write the bulk of Florida's residential property market. Most are rated by Demotech rather than A.M. Best, which is fine for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages but is worth understanding (more on that in the rating section below).
Tower Hill. One of the oldest Florida-domiciled specialists, with roots back to 1972. Tower Hill Insurance Exchange writes preferred homeowners across most of Florida and is widely available through independent agents. Strong reputation for claims handling and post-Ian solvency.
American Integrity Insurance. Florida-domiciled, Tampa-based, writes a large book of HO-3 and HO-6 policies. Available through independent agents only.
Heritage Property and Casualty. Publicly traded parent (Heritage Insurance Holdings), writes in coastal markets where many competitors won't go. Strong reinsurance program.
Universal Property and Casualty. Currently the largest private homeowners insurer in Florida by some 2024 measures, behind Citizens. Writes broadly across the state.
Slide Insurance. Founded in 2021 by former Heritage executives. Slide has been the most aggressive Citizens take-out carrier of the new generation, approved to assume up to 100,000 Citizens policies in early 2025 and authorized to assume up to 455,900 policies in 2025 total. Available through the independent agent channel.
Kin Insurance. Direct-to-consumer (no agents). Florida-domiciled, uses public data to pre-fill the application. Useful price point in some markets, but the lack of an independent agent in the middle means you handle claims and policy questions directly.
Edison Insurance. Florida-domiciled, mid-size, available through independent agents. Stable underwriter, generally writes preferred and standard risks.
People's Trust. Florida-only carrier with an unusual model: in exchange for a lower premium, you agree that People's Trust's affiliated contractor (Rapid Response Team) gets the right of first refusal on repair work after a covered loss. Works well for some homeowners, frustrating for those who want to choose their own contractor.
FedNat. Insolvent. Ordered into liquidation September 27, 2022, per FIGA's insolvency list. If you had a FedNat policy and a pending claim, it's now a FIGA claim subject to the $300,000 / $500,000 caps. Mentioned here because the name still appears in some old comparison articles.
UPC / United Property and Casualty. Insolvent (2023 liquidation). Same FIGA treatment as FedNat.
The point of this list is to show you the universe. The carrier you actually qualify with depends on your county, your roof age, your distance to the coast, your prior claims, and whether the carrier is open to new business in your ZIP that month.
The new admitted entrants approved 2024 to 2026
These are the carriers FLOIR has stood up since the post-reform window opened. Many were created specifically to absorb Citizens policies and to take advantage of the cleaner litigation environment.
Slide Insurance Co. Already covered above. The largest new entrant by Citizens take-out volume in 2024 and 2025.
Trident Reciprocal Exchange. Approved by FLOIR in 2024, authorized to assume up to 25,440 Citizens policies in its first round. Reciprocal structure (policyholders are subscribers, not shareholders).
Orange Insurance Exchange. Approved 2024. Reciprocal exchange model. Writes residential property statewide.
Mangrove Property Insurance Company. St. Petersburg-based. Approved 2024, rated Financial Stability A by Demotech per Demotech's carrier announcement. Writes through independent agents in all 67 Florida counties.
Condo Owners Reciprocal Exchange. Approved by FLOIR via consent order in 2024. Focused specifically on HO-6 (condo unit owner) coverage, which had been a thin segment of the Florida market.
Stand Insurance Exchange. Tallahassee-based, approved September 2025 per the FLOIR commissioner's announcement. Authorized to write fire, homeowners multiperil, allied lines, inland marine and other liability. Plans to take out 25,000 Citizens policies in its first wave.
Praxis Reciprocal Exchange. Tampa-based, approved September 2025 alongside Stand. Same coverage scope plus boiler and machinery. Leadership team has 75+ years of combined Florida market experience.
Plus several smaller entrants from the 2024 to 2025 wave: Manatee Insurance Exchange, Ovation Home Insurance Exchange, Tailrow Insurance Exchange, Florida Peninsula's growth program, and Insurance Business reported in its September 2025 coverage that the 17 post-reform approvals already on the books represent the largest new-entrant wave in Florida in over a decade.
Brand new carriers carry execution risk. They are typically Demotech-rated rather than A.M. Best, they have shallower reinsurance towers than the established Florida specialists, and they have not been stress-tested by a major hurricane yet. They also often offer the best price. That tradeoff is worth understanding before you bind. For a current quote across the new entrants and the established carriers in one pass, see our Florida home insurance quotes page.
Citizens Property Insurance: the insurer of last resort
Citizens is not a private company. It's a state-chartered, tax-exempt entity created in 2002 to be the insurer of last resort for Florida homeowners who can't get coverage in the admitted private market. Three things you need to know:
The 20% rule. Florida statute requires that if a private insurer offers you a renewal or take-out policy with a premium within 20% of your Citizens premium, you must accept the private offer. You can't simply prefer Citizens because it's cheaper. Citizens, the Krapf Legal summary and Insurance Resources both walk through how the 20% test runs.
The depopulation glidepath. Citizens hit 1.42 million policies in October 2023. By the end of 2025 it was at roughly 385,000, a 73% drop in just over two years, per Florida Realtors and WUSF reporting. FLOIR's stated goal is to keep depopulating Citizens until the private market is doing the heavy lifting again.
The assessment risk. If Citizens ever runs out of money after a major storm, every Florida property insurance policyholder (Citizens or not) can be assessed a surcharge on their premium to cover the shortfall. This is a real, statutorily authorized backstop and one reason private-market depopulation matters politically.
For the 2026 cycle, Citizens has actually recommended rate decreases for most policyholders, per its own December 2025 announcement. That is a first in years and reflects how much pressure the private market is taking off the residual.
How to evaluate any Florida homeowners insurance company
There's no shortcut here. Five things actually matter, in roughly this order.
Financial Stability Rating. Most Florida-domiciled specialists are rated by Demotech, not A.M. Best. A Demotech "A" (Exceptional) is the working equivalent of an A.M. Best "B+" for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage purposes. That said, the rigor of Demotech ratings has been challenged. A Harvard study covered by Insurance Journal found nearly 20% of Demotech-rated Florida insurers became insolvent while holding an A rating between 2009 and 2022, and a Senate inquiry in December 2025 is currently pressing the GSEs on whether they should keep accepting Demotech ratings at all. The practical takeaway is that a Demotech A is necessary but not sufficient. You also want to know the carrier's surplus, reinsurance program, and book concentration.
FIGA membership. Every admitted Florida property insurer is automatically a FIGA member. That's the consumer safety net if your carrier goes insolvent. Non-admitted (surplus lines) carriers are not FIGA-protected, which is a meaningful difference if you're being pitched a surplus-lines homeowners policy because no admitted carrier will write you.
Complaint ratio. The NAIC publishes a complaint index for every state-licensed insurer (1.0 = average, lower is better). The Florida Department of Financial Services also publishes consumer complaint data. Look at three years of trend, not just a single year.
Claims-paying speed. Florida had a serious claims-handling problem before the SB 2A reforms. The reformed environment has improved this materially, but it varies by carrier. Ask your agent specifically how long the carrier's average claim from First Notice of Loss to final payment has been over the last 24 months.
Surplus and reinsurance. A Florida carrier's reinsurance program is the thing that actually pays your claim after a major hurricane. The most stable Florida specialists buy reinsurance from multiple layers of the global market and demonstrate that they can pay out a 1-in-100 year storm without going insolvent. Newer entrants typically have thinner programs.
If you want to translate all five of those into one number, the cleanest version is to compare quotes across multiple carriers on the same property, on the same coverage limits, with the same deductible. That comparison is what the Florida best homeowners insurance page walks through, and our head-to-head ranking of best and worst Florida homeowners insurance companies breaks down claim-pay ratios, complaint volume, and red flags by carrier.
Recent Florida insolvencies and what FIGA actually does
The 2022 to 2023 Florida insurer insolvency wave is well documented. The big ones, with liquidation dates per FIGA and contemporaneous reporting:
- St. Johns Insurance Company. Liquidated February 2022.
- Avatar Property and Casualty Insurance Company. Liquidated April 2022.
- Lighthouse Property Insurance Corp. Liquidated April 2022.
- Southern Fidelity Insurance Company. Policies cancelled effective 12:01 a.m. July 15, 2022.
- Weston Property and Casualty Insurance Company. Liquidated August 2022.
- FedNat Insurance Company. Liquidated September 27, 2022.
- UPC / United Property and Casualty Insurance Company. Liquidated February 2023.
- Centauri Specialty Insurance Company. Receivership 2023.
What FIGA does: when a member carrier is liquidated, FIGA absorbs the in-force policies (typically with a 30-day notice to find replacement coverage) and pays out covered claims up to $300,000 in policy benefits, with an additional $200,000 available for structure and contents on homeowners claims. So the practical FIGA cap for most homeowners is $500,000. There's a $100 deductible on every FIGA claim. Condominium and homeowners association claims are capped at the lesser of policy limits or $200,000 multiplied by the number of units.
FIGA funds those claims via assessments on every Florida property insurance policy. The 1% emergency assessment levied to cover the 2022 to 2023 insolvencies is being phased out two years early in 2026, per Insurance Journal, because the wave is now fully funded.
If your carrier is currently solvent and FIGA-protected, you have a real safety net. If your carrier is non-admitted (surplus lines), you do not. That distinction is one of the most important things a broker can flag for you before you bind.
High-net-worth carriers writing Florida homes
If your home's rebuild cost is north of roughly $1 million, you don't want a standard Florida specialist policy. You want a private-client market carrier. The major players writing in Florida:
Chubb Personal Risk Services. The benchmark HNW carrier in Florida. A.M. Best A++ rated. Available through independent agents and Chubb-appointed brokers. Strong claims reputation, broad guaranteed-replacement-cost terms, includes amenities like cash-out option (take the check instead of rebuilding) that lower-end carriers don't offer.
AIG Private Client Group. Now operating as Private Client Select after AIG's restructuring. Strong appetite for coastal Florida, hurricane-exposed homes, large rebuild values. Bundles with auto, excess liability, valuables, and watercraft.
PURE Insurance. Reciprocal exchange model (members own the company). Aggressive in HNW Florida. Generally requires a referral and a minimum dwelling value (typically $1M+ rebuild).
Cincinnati Insurance. The Executive Capstone program is Cincinnati's HNW product. Lower-profile than Chubb and PURE but well-regarded for service and depth of coverage. Available through Cincinnati-appointed independent agents.
Vault and Berkley One. Smaller specialty HNW carriers that compete on price for select segments.
The HNW market in Florida is broker-driven. None of these carriers sell direct.
What to ask any Florida carrier before binding
Before you sign anything, get these eight answers in writing:
- 1.Is the policy admitted or surplus lines (E&S)?
- 2.What is the carrier's current Demotech FSR or A.M. Best rating, with date of last review?
- 3.Is the carrier a FIGA member?
- 4.What is the wind / hurricane deductible expressed as both a percentage and a dollar amount?
- 5.Is roof coverage on replacement cost, actual cash value, or a roof matrix? At what roof age does it drop?
- 6.What is the named-storm deductible vs. all-other-perils deductible?
- 7.Is there a separate flood policy in place (it is not in the homeowners policy)?
- 8.Is law and ordinance coverage included, and at what limit?
A short, plain-language version of those questions is the screening interview every Florida homeowner should do before binding. If the agent on the other end can't answer all eight in five minutes, that's a tell.
The broker advantage in Florida
The most important structural fact about the Florida market in 2026 is that no single carrier writes every county, every roof age, and every coverage level competitively. State Farm prices well in some inland markets and won't quote you in others. Slide can be aggressive on Citizens take-outs but doesn't compete well on $2M coastal homes. Chubb is the right answer for HNW but a waste of money for a $400K inland house. The Florida specialists each have a different appetite this month than they had three months ago, and that changes again every renewal cycle.
That fragmentation is the case for an independent brokerage. Latent Insurance Services holds appointments with 25+ carriers writing Florida homeowners insurance, including the established specialists, the post-reform new entrants, the HNW private-client market, and select national programs. We run one application against the full market and bring you the three or four best fits with a side-by-side comparison. That's how you actually find the right carrier without quoting five companies yourself.
If you're shopping mid-renewal because a Citizens depopulation offer just hit, or because your current carrier non-renewed you, the non-renewal page walks through your options, and our national companion guide on what to do after being dropped by your homeowners insurance covers the broader recovery sequence. If you're trying to bring premium down, the cheap Florida home insurance page covers the structural levers, and the Florida home insurance cost page breaks down what drives premium statewide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many homeowners insurance companies write in Florida in 2026?
There are roughly 60+ admitted property insurers licensed to write residential homeowners coverage in Florida, plus another 25+ surplus lines carriers writing non-admitted policies. The active market that brokers regularly quote is closer to 25 to 35 carriers, depending on county and risk profile. FLOIR has approved 17 new admitted insurers since the 2022 to 2023 legislative reforms.
Is Citizens Property Insurance a good option in 2026?
Citizens is the insurer of last resort, not a preferred choice. You're eligible for Citizens only if the private market won't quote you within 20% of the Citizens premium. Citizens did file for rate decreases for most policyholders in late 2025, so for some risk classes it has become genuinely cheaper. The catch is that you're exposed to a statewide assessment if Citizens runs out of money after a storm, and the depopulation program will continually push you toward private-market offers.
What is the difference between a Demotech rating and an A.M. Best rating?
A.M. Best is the global insurance rating agency used by national carriers and is required by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for mortgage purposes at the B+ level or higher. Demotech is a smaller agency that specializes in Florida-domiciled carriers and rates them on a Financial Stability Rating scale, where "A" (Exceptional) is treated as the working equivalent of an A.M. Best B+ for mortgage purposes. Both ratings are accepted by lenders. The methodology gap is real and has been challenged in academic research and Senate inquiries in 2024 to 2025.
What happens if my Florida homeowners insurance company goes insolvent?
The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) takes over your policy and gives you 30 days to find replacement coverage. FIGA pays out covered claims up to $300,000 in policy benefits, with an additional $200,000 available for structure and contents on a homeowners claim (for a practical $500,000 cap). There's a $100 deductible on every FIGA claim. If you had a claim pending when the carrier was liquidated, FIGA picks it up. If you have a surplus-lines (non-admitted) policy, FIGA does not cover you.
Who is the largest Florida homeowners insurance company by policy count?
State Farm is the largest single private homeowners insurer in Florida with more than 640,000 policies, followed by Universal Property and Casualty, Tower Hill, American Integrity, Heritage, Citizens (which is the insurer of last resort, not a private carrier), and the newer entrants led by Slide. Most private Florida specialists file their detailed policy counts as trade secrets.
Are the new Florida insurance carriers safe?
The 17 new admitted carriers approved since 2023 are all subject to the same FLOIR financial scrutiny, are FIGA members, and carry Demotech (or in some cases A.M. Best) financial stability ratings. They have not yet been stress-tested by a major hurricane post-formation, which is the principal execution risk. Established Florida specialists with 20-plus years of operating history and seasoned reinsurance programs are objectively lower-risk than brand-new entrants, even if the brand-new entrants often offer better pricing.
Can I get homeowners insurance directly from a Florida insurance company without a broker?
Some carriers (State Farm, Allstate, Kin) sell direct or through captive agents. Most Florida specialists (Tower Hill, American Integrity, Heritage, Universal, Edison, Slide, the new admitted entrants, Chubb, PURE, Cincinnati) sell exclusively through independent agents and brokers. Going direct means you only see one carrier's pricing and underwriting appetite. Going through an independent broker means you see 25+ in a single application.
How Latent Insurance Services Helps
Latent Insurance Services is a licensed independent brokerage (NPN #20972791) writing Florida homeowners coverage across 25+ admitted carriers, including the established Florida specialists, the new post-reform entrants, the HNW private-client market, and select national programs. We run one application against the full market, surface the three or four best fits with FIGA status, rating, and coverage gaps flagged, and bind the policy that actually matches your home, your county, and your budget. We don't earn more for selling you a particular carrier and we don't have a captive book to defend.
If you want a real-market comparison instead of a one-carrier quote, book a 30-minute call and we'll have a quote in your inbox within 48 hours.