After years of turmoil, recent reforms have steadied Florida’s property insurance market, drawing in new insurers and driving up reinsurer appetite.

As of August, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has approved 15 carriers to write business in the Sunshine State since legislative reforms were passed in 2022 and 2023.

Several of the new carriers were set up as reciprocals, including Apex Star Reciprocal Exchange, Trident Reciprocal Exchange, Ovation Home Insurance Exchange, Manatee Insurance Exchange, Condo Owners Reciprocal Exchange, Orange Insurance Exchange and Tailrow Insurance Exchange.

Their arrival marks a sharp shift from just a few years ago, when rising litigation and heavy storm losses had driven carriers out and made it hard to find affordable protection.

The calmer tone was also evident during this summer’s reinsurance renewals.

Reinsurance pricing at the mid-year 2025 renewals was the most favourable for buyers in recent years, amid increased competition from capacity providers, including insurance-linked securities investors, AM Best said in a report last month.

According to a report from Aon, this year’s “orderly” renewal reflected the underlying Florida market’s improved health, with the sector having stabilised after several challenging years following legislative reforms and premium increases on the original business.

“Having stabilised at renewals in 2024, conditions at the mid-year renewals were broadly favourable, with moderate price reductions and more flexible terms,” Aon said.

Executives at RenaissanceRe said on the firm’s second-quarter earnings call that the pricing environment, terms and conditions, and tort reform had helped stabilise the Florida market. At the same time, growth in demand created an opportunity for RenRe to deploy “significant” capital at private terms as buyers looked to secure increased capacity.

“We have been underweight in Florida, but our position as a market leader enabled us to grow with rates roughly flat. We also grew in California, where most businesses had been impacted by the catastrophic LA wildfires last quarter,” RenRe’s chief underwriting officer David Marra said last month.

Florida carriers pointed to the improving landscape during quarterly earnings calls.

Heritage Insurance Holdings CEO Ernesto Garateix said the state has become a “standout market” after measures to reduce frivolous lawsuits boosted the economics of writing new business. Heritage has reopened 90% to 95% of its Florida territories and expects policy count growth in the third quarter, following declines that have levelled off.

The Florida regulator’s latest Property Insurance Stability Report, released in July, highlights these improvements, including a significant decrease in litigation-related expenses, with average defence costs per claim dropping from $992.89 in 2022 to $817.64 in 2024.

Additionally, the percentage of claims going to litigation decreased to 8.62% in 2024 from 9.73% in 2023.

What’s more, depopulation efforts by the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corporation have reduced its share of homeowners policies.

Citizens ballooned to more than 1.4 million policies at the height of the crisis but has since shrunk as private carriers have taken policies back.

For example, HCI Group COO Karin Coleman said Florida’s market is “healthy” but already competitive, citing recent Citizens takeouts. HCI secured more takeout policies than expected in 2023 and 2024, with lower attrition and loss ratios.