JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida homeowners are more concerned about property insurance than property taxes, and most say they see no signs that the state’s insurance market is improving, according to a new University of North Florida poll.
The poll found 63% of respondents were more concerned about property insurance, compared with 36% who were more concerned about property taxes. Insurance was the top concern among major political groups and across regions of the state.
Recommended Videos
“Most of the respondents we surveyed consider property insurance to be of greater concern in Florida than property taxes,” said Sean Freeder, faculty director of UNF’s Public Opinion Research Lab and an associate professor of political science.
The poll was conducted by the Public Opinion Research Lab, or PORL, for the Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel. It surveyed 1,511 Florida homeowners with property insurance online from July 16 through July 31.
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.18 percentage points.
Homeowners report insurer changes, higher premiums
More than half of respondents, 54%, said they had changed their primary insurer at least once in the past five years. About one-third said they had changed insurers twice or more.
Among those who changed insurers, 47% said they did so because they were dropped by an insurer or Citizens Property Insurance, or because their previous company no longer operated in Florida.
Overall, 25% of respondents said they had been dropped from their insurance at least once during the past five years.
Higher premiums were also common.
Among homeowners who had lived in their residence for at least five years, 47% said their annual premium had increased by at least 50% during that period. Nineteen percent said their premium had increased by at least 50% in the past year.
The report said that figure compared with 2% nationwide in a 2024 Consumer Reports survey.
Of the 261 respondents who had filed a homeowners insurance claim in the past five years, 45% said their claim was initially denied.
Half said their most recent claim involved a hurricane or tropical storm, while 21% said it involved another weather or natural event.
Most see little improvement in insurance market
When asked about changes to Florida’s property insurance market, 55% said they saw no signs the market was improving. Another 26% said they believed the market was getting worse, while 18% said the market was improving and rates were likely to come down.
The poll found relatively little variation based on region, insurer market or home characteristics.
Republicans were more likely than Democrats or independent voters to believe the market was improving, but most Republicans still said they saw no signs of improvement.
Among respondents whose premiums had increased by at least 100% in the past five years, 41% said they believed the market was getting worse.
Respondents were also asked who benefited most from property insurance reforms passed by the governor and Legislature in 2022 and 2023.
Sixty-nine percent said the insurance industry benefited the most, compared with 16% who said consumers and 9% who said trial lawyers.
“Florida homeowners are overwhelmingly negative in their assessment of not just the property insurance market, but also government efforts to overhaul it,” Freeder said.
Sixty-one percent of respondents said their current insurer operates primarily or solely in Florida. That percentage was higher among homeowners with older homes and those living in coastal counties.
The report said 75% of respondents were at least somewhat confident their insurer could cover necessary repairs if their home were severely damaged. Twenty-four percent said they were not very or not at all confident.
The survey was weighted by education, age, race and ethnicity, sex, geography and partisan registration to reflect Florida homeowners. PORL reported an overall response rate of 1.2%.
