I’ve had over 20 years experience in the insurance industry from marketing, producer and agency owner in the South Florida area.
It’s a combination of a lot of factors but the two biggest are reinsurance for wind and the legal climate in Florida.
Reinsurers have had several bad years in a row with catastrophic events such as hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, and unusual freezing events. Hopefully this is an aberration and reinsurance costs will return to normal over the next few years.
Florida has about 8% of the national market for homeowners insurance but about 80% of all the lawsuits filed nationwide against homeowners insurance companies are filed in Florida. The legislature has addressed these loopholes twice in the last few months and hopefully Florida can return to a more normal legal climate soon.