Despite efforts to stabilize Florida’s tempestuous property insurance market, homeowners in the state are still railing against “out of control” premiums, and hard-hit residents have told Newsweek of their dire situations.

Florida homeowners are currently struggling with skyrocketing premiums after several private insurers either cut coverage in some of the state’s most vulnerable areas or withdrew from the state entirely in the past few years, citing the increased risk posed by more frequent and more severe weather events.

“People are hurting,” wrote Chris M. in an email to Newsweek. “No one wants to pay that much money for insurance. I live on a fixed income. I can’t sell my house, and I can’t refinance. If things don’t change I might have to walk away.”

“It’s out of control. It’s completely off the charts,” homeowner Jennifer Fehrs told Fort Myers’ WINK News. “It’s gone up, went up immediately after the hurricane [Ian, in 2023], and it hasn’t gone back down. That’s for sure,” said another based in Fort Myers, Seth Ford.

But the growing risk posed by climate change is only one of the factors contributing to Florida’s property insurance sector’s perfect storm.

“Over the last two decades, the Florida homeowner’s insurance market has suffered from a convergence of natural, financial and regulatory disasters that set it apart from most other states,” Martin D. Weiss, founder of rating agency Weiss Ratings, told Newsweek.

“Rising levels of storm damage, the highest failure rate in the U.S., the departure of larger national companies, plus a regulatory environment and severely biased insurance company rating that obscured the weaknesses,” he said.

“The insurance situation in Florida is a nightmare,” Ann S., a Michigan resident who owns a mobile home in Sarasota County, Florida, wrote Newsweek. “Many people are leaving the state. Our Michigan neighbors had a second home in Florida, on Pine Island, and their insurance went up to over $18,000 for one year this year after [Hurricane] Ian. They sold the house and left Florida.”

Her family owns a 1994 mobile home that’s currently insured with Citizens, Florida’s insurer of last resort. “No other insurer will even take into account that the unit has been totally updated,” she wrote.

“Because we are not Florida residents, this year Citizens added a 40 percent surcharge for non-Florida residents to our policy. We now pay $1,000 more for our insurance on the park model in Florida than we do for 2 houses insured for 5 times the amount of our park model in Michigan.”

But the Florida homeowner insurance crisis might not go as deep as initially thought by experts.

Last year, the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) estimated that Florida homeowners were paying an average annual premium of $6,000—the highest in the country. This estimate has recently been revised by the institute, which found that Florida homeowners paid about 80 percent—for an average statewide premium of $3,340 in 2023.

“Triple-I’s researchers noted the significant difference was due to the positive impacts of legislative reform that addressed rampant legal system abuse and claim fraud that led to the state’s risk crisis,” Triple-I director Mark Friedlander told Newsweek. “These reforms were not anticipated when Triple-I’s premium estimate was made.”

Earlier this year, Florida approved eight new insurance companies for doing business in the state. Their presence is expected to decrease pressure on Citizens and offer more options to the state’s homeowners.

Even with Triple-I’s revision for 2023, insurance premiums remain high in the Sunshine State. As of July, the average cost of homeowners insurance in Florida is $5,533 per year for a $300,000 dwelling coverage policy, according to Bankrate data. That’s about 148 percent more than the national average premium of $2,230 per year for the same amount of coverage.

Are you a Florida homeowner struggling to keep up with rising property insurance premiums? Contact g.carbonaro@newsweek.com to share your experience.