Ask any family in Apollo Beach, Riverview, Sun City Center, or Brandon what their biggest financial concern is right now. Somewhere in the first three answers — often the first — you will hear some version of: homeowners insurance.
- The policy that cost $2,200 per year in 2020 now costs $4,800.
- The policy that covered the family for 15 years was non-renewed without warning. It was replaced by a Citizens Property Insurance policy at 40% higher premium.
- The retirement budget that worked perfectly on paper three years ago has been disrupted by insurance increases that nobody projected and that no one can stop.
Florida’s homeowners insurance crisis is not a talking point or a campaign issue manufactured for political effect. It is a documented, ongoing market failure. It is making homeownership increasingly unaffordable in a state where owning a home has been a cornerstone of middle-class life for generations.
It is displacing retirees from homes they own outright. It is pricing first-time buyers out of the market. It is threatening the property values that underpin the entire FL-14 community economy. And it is an issue where Congress — not just Tallahassee — has meaningful tools to help.
Where the Market Stands in 2026: The Verified Numbers
The 2026 picture is genuinely two-sided, and FL-14 homeowners deserve both halves:
The good news is real. Four data points show the turn:
- As of May 2026, Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation reported more than 190 residential rate filings for decreases or zero increases. Recent average homeowners filings are running about -1.2%.
- Citizens is cutting rates for the first time since 2015. Regulators approved an average decrease of roughly 8.7% for personal lines (8.8% for homeowners multiperil, 5.5% wind-only), effective July 1, 2026 and at renewal.
- Per OIR, 20 new property and casualty insurers have entered Florida since the 2022–2023 legal reforms. They have brought more than $850 million in new capital.
- Despite three 2024 landfalls, private carriers did not respond with widespread rate-increase filings. Hurricane Milton alone generated 385,000+ claims and about $5.6 billion in insured losses reported to OIR.
The bill in your mailbox is the other half. Insurify’s 2026 national report found Florida’s average annual home insurance cost hit $8,292 in 2025 — an 18% jump and the highest of any state. The same report projects it near $8,458 by the end of 2026. Filed rates stabilizing is not the same as premiums falling back to what Hillsborough families were paying in 2020. Nobody should claim otherwise.
Stabilization is progress. Affordability is the unfinished fight — and part of it runs through Congress.
Why Florida’s Insurance Market Is in Crisis
The Florida homeowners insurance market has been deteriorating for years. Several factors compound each other. Understanding them clearly is the first step toward knowing what can be fixed — and how.
Hurricane losses. Florida has experienced a historically active and destructive hurricane sequence in recent years. Hurricane Ian (2022) produced over $60 billion in insured losses — one of the costliest single storm events in American history. Hurricanes Idalia (2023), Helene (2024), and Milton (2024) added tens of billions more.
Each major loss event depletes insurer reserves and triggers reinsurance recoveries. Reinsurance then costs more in the years that follow. The global reinsurance market — the market through which Florida’s primary insurers purchase their own risk protection — has responded to these losses by dramatically increasing rates. Those increases flow directly through to the retail insurance premium that FL-14 homeowners pay.
Reinsurance costs. Most Florida homeowners insurance companies are relatively small, regional carriers. They purchase reinsurance from global markets — Lloyd’s of London, Bermuda-based reinsurers, and large international insurance groups. When global reinsurance capacity tightens and rates rise after major loss events, Florida’s primary insurers face dramatically higher input costs. Those costs must be reflected in the premiums they charge or absorbed through reduced capacity. Florida experienced both outcomes: premium increases and carrier exits.
Litigation abuse. For years, Florida’s insurance litigation environment was structured in ways that incentivized inflated and fraudulent claims. Roof damage claims were the clearest example, driven by a cottage industry of contractors and attorneys working assignment-of-benefits arrangements. Florida’s legislature made significant reforms to this system in 2022 and 2023. But the legacy losses from the pre-reform period continue to affect market pricing.
Insurance company exits. Major national carriers including Farmers Insurance, several regional carriers, and numerous smaller Florida-specific insurers have either exited the state or dramatically reduced their exposure. When private market competitors leave, the remaining carriers face less competitive pressure to keep rates down. Citizens Property Insurance, the state’s insurer of last resort, then becomes the default option for an increasing share of the market.
Citizens Property Insurance: What FL-14 Homeowners Need to Know
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation was created by the Florida Legislature to provide coverage to homeowners who cannot obtain insurance in the private market. It is not a federal program — it is a Florida state-chartered entity. But understanding it is essential for FL-14 homeowners navigating the current market.
Citizens’ trajectory tells the story of the whole market:
- October 2023: about 1.4 million policies at the height of the crisis.
- 2025: more than 546,000 policies transferred to OIR-approved private insurers in that year alone.
- December 2025: the policy count fell below 400,000.
- June 2026: 278,662 policies — an all-time low, per Citizens’ own leadership.
- July 1, 2026: Citizens’ first rate decrease since 2015 takes effect, averaging roughly 8.7% across personal lines.
Its mandate remains last-resort coverage, not competing with private insurers.
The critical federal dimension of Citizens is this: Citizens does not have the unlimited backstop of the federal government. Its reserve capacity is limited. If a catastrophic hurricane season depletes its reserves, Citizens has the authority to levy emergency assessments to cover its losses. Those assessments fall on all Florida insurance policyholders — not just Citizens customers.
That assessment mechanism makes the financial health of Citizens a statewide concern. And the adequacy of federal disaster relief funding directly affects how much of the hurricane recovery burden falls on Florida’s insurance system versus federal programs.
Flood Insurance: The Federal Program FL-14 Coastal Homeowners Depend On
Standard homeowners insurance does not cover flooding — the storm surge, rising water, and rain-driven flooding that causes the majority of hurricane damage in Florida. Flood insurance is a separate policy. For the vast majority of Florida coastal and near-coastal homeowners, the only available source is the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), reached through FEMA’s official FloodSmart flood insurance portal.
The NFIP covers properties in communities that meet federal floodplain management standards. It is the primary flood coverage option for Hillsborough County’s Tampa Bay coastal communities — Apollo Beach, Ruskin, and the Tampa Bay-facing waterfront neighborhoods of southern Hillsborough. The same is true for properties along the Alafia River through Riverview, the Hillsborough River, and the tidal wetlands throughout the district.
Homeowners with federally backed mortgages in FEMA-designated Special Flood Hazard Areas are required by law to carry NFIP flood coverage.
The NFIP has been chronically underfunded relative to its losses. It carries over $20 billion in debt to the U.S. Treasury, accumulated after major storm seasons. Congress has repeatedly extended the NFIP under short-term continuing resolutions rather than enacting a long-term reauthorization. That cycle creates uncertainty for lenders, homeowners, and the real estate market. The NFIP’s Risk Rating 2.0 pricing system, implemented in 2021, has produced significant premium increases for many Florida coastal property owners as rates shift toward actuarial soundness.
John Peters will fight for a long-term NFIP reauthorization that achieves financial sustainability. It must not produce the kind of premium shock that makes flood insurance effectively unaffordable for middle-income Florida coastal homeowners. The goal must be a program that can pay its claims without ongoing Treasury bailouts. At the same time, it must preserve the coverage access that communities like Apollo Beach and the Alafia River corridor have no viable alternative to.
The Federal Role: What Congress Can Actually Do
Florida’s insurance crisis is primarily a state policy issue. Insurance regulation is a state function, and the Florida Legislature and Office of Insurance Regulation are the primary authorities responsible for market structure. But Congress has several meaningful levers:
- Federal catastrophe reinsurance. The most discussed federal option is a backstop for catastrophic hurricane losses. Such a program would provide reinsurance to state-level pools, like Florida’s Citizens and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. The rates would help stabilize the market without crowding out private capital. Multiple versions of this proposal have been introduced in Congress over the years. Done well, federal cat reinsurance could reduce the volatility that drives private insurers out of the market. It could also moderate the reinsurance cost spikes that flow through to consumer premiums.
- NFIP long-term reauthorization. Congress can end the cycle of short-term NFIP extensions. A long-term reauthorization would provide market stability, preserve coverage access, and put the program on a financially sustainable path. That is a direct congressional responsibility, and John Peters will make it a priority.
- Resilience investment. Federal disaster mitigation funding helps communities and individual homeowners make structural improvements that reduce hurricane vulnerability. It flows through programs like FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. A homeowner who hardens their roof, installs storm shutters, and elevates their electrical systems is a better insurance risk. Federal mitigation funding can help make those improvements financially accessible. FEMA reform and resilience investment are complementary to insurance market stabilization.
- Building code standards. Federal building codes for federally funded and insured structures set a floor that influences state and local standards. Stronger building codes produce more resilient structures that produce fewer and smaller insurance claims — reducing the loss ratio that drives premium increases. Congress can incentivize higher building code standards through federal program requirements tied to disaster funding eligibility.
What John Peters Will Fight For
The families of Apollo Beach, Riverview, Sun City Center, FishHawk, Brandon, and every other community in Florida’s 14th Congressional District deserve better. They deserve a representative who treats the homeowners insurance crisis as the genuine emergency it is. It is not a talking point to deploy at election time and ignore until the next campaign.
After nine terms — eighteen years in Washington — Kathy Castor has voted consistently with her caucus. But the federal levers that could stabilize Florida’s insurance market — catastrophe reinsurance legislation, NFIP long-term reauthorization, resilience investment — have not been delivered. The premiums in Hillsborough County keep climbing, and the federal response has not matched the scale of the problem.
John Peters will push for federal catastrophe reinsurance legislation that stabilizes the Florida market and reduces the premium volatility that is pricing families out of homeownership. He will work for long-term NFIP reauthorization that preserves flood coverage access for coastal FL-14 communities. He will support resilience investment that makes FL-14 homes more storm-resistant and better insurance risks. And he will make sure the Florida delegation is functioning as a unified advocate for these priorities.
This issue touches every Florida policyholder — from the hundreds of thousands still with Citizens to the millions in the returning private market. It demands a coordinated response.
The broader cost-of-living crisis in FL-14 is worsened significantly by insurance premiums that have doubled and tripled. The Tampa Bay communities of this district cannot sustain their character and their property values if homeownership becomes uninsurable at any reasonable cost. This is an issue John Peters will work on every day in Congress — not just when a camera is present.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why have Florida homeowners insurance premiums tripled?
Florida’s premium increases reflect multiple compounding factors. Catastrophic hurricane losses lead the list — Hurricane Ian alone drove $60+ billion in insured losses. Reinsurance costs rose sharply in global markets. Legacy claims from Florida’s pre-reform litigation environment added to losses. And major insurers exited the state. When private competitors leave, the remaining carriers face less competitive pressure to keep rates down.
Are Florida homeowners insurance rates going down in 2026?
Filed rates are flat to falling. As of May 2026, Florida’s OIR reported over 190 residential filings for decreases or zero increases. Citizens’ first decrease since 2015 takes effect July 1, 2026. And 20 new insurers have entered since the 2022–2023 reforms. But actual costs remain the nation’s highest — Insurify’s 2026 report puts Florida’s average annual premium at $8,292. Stabilization has not yet become affordability.
What is Citizens Property Insurance?
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is a Florida state-chartered insurer of last resort. The Florida Legislature created it to provide coverage to homeowners who cannot obtain insurance in the private market. It swelled to about 1.4 million policies at the October 2023 peak of the crisis.
Depopulation to returning private insurers then brought it to an all-time low of 278,662 policies by June 2026. Regulators also approved its first rate decrease since 2015 (roughly 8.7% average for personal lines, effective July 1, 2026). If a catastrophic season depletes Citizens reserves, it has the authority to levy emergency assessments on all Florida insurance policyholders — not just Citizens customers.
Does standard homeowners insurance cover flooding in Florida?
No. Standard homeowners insurance does not cover flooding — the storm surge and water inundation that causes the majority of hurricane damage. Flood coverage requires a separate policy. It almost always comes through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), reached via FEMA’s official FloodSmart flood insurance portal. Homeowners with federally backed mortgages in FEMA-designated Special Flood Hazard Areas are required by law to carry NFIP flood coverage.
What can Congress do about Florida’s insurance crisis?
Congress has four main levers. It can pass federal catastrophe reinsurance legislation to stabilize state insurance markets after major loss events. It can enact a long-term NFIP reauthorization to end the cycle of short-term extensions and put the flood program on a sustainable financial path. It can fund federal resilience investment through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and BRIC. And it can tie stronger building code standards to federal disaster funding eligibility.
How does this crisis affect FL-14 specifically?
FL-14 covers Hillsborough County, including the Tampa Bay coastal communities of Apollo Beach and Ruskin and the Alafia River corridor through Riverview. Coastal and near-coastal homeowners face the highest premium pressure. Sun City Center retirees on fixed incomes face premium increases of $3,000–$5,000 per year that disrupt long-planned retirement budgets. Brandon and Riverview families are seeing the same pressure. Federal action that stabilizes Florida’s market would deliver immediate, measurable relief to FL-14.
Stand for affordable insurance in FL-14
Insurance reform is not optional. It is the cost-of-living issue most directly affecting middle-class FL-14 homeowners.
Donate to John Peters’ campaign or contact the campaign to get involved. See John’s full plan on insurance costs and the issues that matter most to FL-14. Related reading: Sun City Center: FL-14’s premier retirement community.