Recent improvement in Florida’s insurance market – fostered by legislation targeting legal system abuse – is threatened by several bills proposed in the state’s 2025 legislative session.
Florida’s property insurance market has stabilized thanks to reforms introduced in 2022 and 2023 aimed at reducing excessive litigation and inflated claims. As a result of these reforms, the number of insurers writing business in the state has rebounded after a multi-year exodus. This competition has allowed policyholders to leave Citizens Property Insurance Corp. – the state-run insurer of last resort – to obtain coverage at rates that were previously unavailable.
According to the Florida Chamber of Commerce, key bills threatening policyholders’ savings include:
- H.B. 451/SB 554, which would reintroduce litigation incentives;
- H.B. 947/SB 1520, which would eliminate transparency requirements for medical costs in court;
- H.B. 1437/SB 1840, which would reinstate attorney fee awards in auto insurance cases; and
- H.B. 1551/SB 426, which would bring back attorney fees for property insurance lawsuits that were eliminated in 2022.
Before recent reforms, Florida homeowners paid premiums up to three times the national average. Since the reforms, 60 percent of the top 10 national insurers writing homeowners insurance in Florida have expanded their business over the past year, and 40 percent of all insurers operating in the state filed for rate decreases in 2024, according to Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworksy.
As Triple-I CEO Sean Kevelighan recently put it, “Citizens of the Sunshine State are now clearly seeing the benefits of a more stable and affordable insurance marketplace.”
The new legislation would reduce or even reverse that progress.
Learn More:
Florida Reforms Bear Fruit as Premium Rates Stabilize
Florida’s Progress in Legal Reform: A Model for 2025
How Georgia Might Learn From Florida Reforms
Resilience Investments Paid Off in Florida During Hurricane Milton
Florida Homeowners Premium Growth Slows as Reforms Take Hold, Inflation Cools
Louisiana’s Insurance Woes Worsen as Florida Works to Fix Its Problems
