Homeowners Insurance in Florida

Your first big question is likely, “How much is homeowners insurance in Florida?”. The first thing to know is that rates can vary drastically across the state and even within cities. Factors for calculating price include the risk level of your neighbourhood, the age of your home, the quality of its construction, your credit score, and many more things. However, a general location is a good place to start. Unfortunately, Florida is ranked the 3rd most expensive state in the country for homeowners insurance. Florida’s property insurance legislation, high occurrence of hurricanes and other disasters, as well as increasing rates of insurance fraud have all contributed to Floridians having to overpay for insurance. The average cost of homeowners insurance in Florida is $X.XX per month, or $X.XX per year. Gainesville has the cheapest average rates at $X.XX per month, or $X.XX per year. Hialeah is the priciest city, with a significantly more expensive $X.XX per month or $X.XX annually. In Florida, 41% of those earning a mid-level income are considered cost-burdened because they spend more than 30% of their earnings on rent and utilities. The numbers jump up to 70% for low-income earners and only continue to climb as income decreases. Adding homeowners insurance premiums to the mix might be difficult to consider, but the cost of rebuilding your home, replacing your valuables, or paying for medical and legal expenses for incidents involving others would be much worse. It pays to plan ahead.

Next, we’ll take a look at what homeowners insurance covers in Florida. Standard homeowners insurance policies cover four categories: the structures of your home, your personal property, additional living expenses, and your liability. Coverage for your home may extend to detached structures like gazebos, porches, and fences. Your personal property is also covered. Most policies provide actual cash value replacement, which reimburses you for the current worth of your item. Replacement cost coverage is an optional add-on that will pay you enough to replace your damaged item with a brand-new version (it does not factor in depreciation) up to policy limits. You may want to purchase extra coverage for high-value items like jewelry. Loss of use coverage reimburses you for some additional living expenses incurred from temporary relocation if your home becomes uninhabitable due to a covered loss. Finally, personal liability coverage comes into play if you or your family are found responsible for damaging someone else’s property or if a guest is injured on your property. This coverage can help pay for repair or replacement costs, medical bills, and even legal fees if you are sued over these situations. Add-ons and separate policies are available for other risks and uncovered perils, such as floods.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, you might be wondering how you find the best homeowners insurance providers in Florida. We’ve provided a table listing the top insurance provider companies in Florida and how they fare for JD Power ratings and NAIC complaint index ratings. State Farm scored a 4 out of 5 from JD Power, indicating above-average performance on key indicators of customer satisfaction, including interaction, policy offerings, price, the billing process, and claims. They scored an NAIC complaint ratio of [X.XX], where 1 is the expected or average number of complaints. The best homeowners insurance company in Florida by JD Power’s measure is [COMPANY1], with a rating of [X] out of 5. The lowest complaint ratio in Florida goes to [COMPANY2], with a score of [X.XX]. [COMPANY3] has the lowest JD Power score with an [X] out of 5, and [COMPANY4] has the highest (and thus the worst) NAIC rating at [X.XX]. When looking up providers, other ratings to consider are their AM Best score, which indicates financial strength, and Fitch Ratings, which also looks at a company’s credit quality. Reading customer reviews is also a good avenue, though it may be difficult to decide which ones to listen to.