Palm Beach County homeowners are paying more for less coverage every year. We're launching an independent P&C insurance agency built to shop the entire Florida market on your behalf — not sell you one company's products.
We'll reach out as soon as Palm Beach Coverage is live with coverage options for your area. In the meantime, explore our Florida insurance guides below.
Florida's property insurance market is in a state that most homeowners don't fully understand until it's too late. Here's what's actually happening and why it matters for your coverage.
Windstorm premiums in coastal Palm Beach County have surged year over year. Most homeowners don't realize they carry a separate hurricane deductible — typically 2-10% of their home's insured value. On a $500,000 home with a 5% deductible, that's $25,000 out of pocket before any coverage applies. These deductibles are disclosed in policy documents but rarely explained at the time of sale.
A common and costly misconception: standard homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage in Florida. Period. Palm Beach County contains dozens of FEMA-designated flood zones, and properties outside those zones still flood regularly. NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program) policies and private flood insurance are separate purchases. Without one, a single storm surge or heavy rain event can mean six figures in uninsured damage.
Florida carriers have increasingly strict underwriting rules around roof age. If your roof is older than 15 years, many insurers will decline to write a new policy. Others require an inspection or four-point assessment before binding coverage. Some will only cover the roof on an actual cash value basis rather than replacement cost, which means you'd receive a depreciated payout if damage occurs. This is one of the most common reasons homeowners end up on Citizens.
Florida leads the nation in homeowners insurance rate increases. According to the Insurance Information Institute, the average Florida homeowner is paying more than double the national average. The causes are compounding: increased hurricane frequency and severity, litigation abuse that drove up insurer costs for years, reinsurance price spikes, and the insolvencies of multiple Florida-based carriers. Legislative reforms in 2022 and 2023 are beginning to take effect, but meaningful rate relief has been slow.
More than a dozen property insurance companies have either left Florida or gone insolvent since 2020. When your carrier exits, you don't automatically transfer to another insurer — you lose your policy. That typically forces a scramble to find replacement coverage, often at significantly higher rates and with less favorable terms. Homeowners insured by smaller Florida-domiciled carriers are most exposed to this risk.
Citizens is Florida's state-run insurer of last resort. It exists to provide coverage when the private market won't, but it was never designed to be the best or cheapest option. Citizens rates are set by statute and can lag the private market in both directions. Coverage limits tend to be more restrictive, and if Citizens runs a deficit after a catastrophic hurricane season, all Florida policyholders — including those with private insurance — can be assessed a surcharge. If you're on Citizens, it's worth checking the private market periodically.
Property and casualty insurance in Florida is more complex than most states. Here's what each major coverage type does and why it matters for Palm Beach County property owners.
The standard homeowners policy in Florida covers your dwelling, other structures, personal property, liability, and loss of use if your home becomes uninhabitable. Key Florida-specific factors that affect your rate include construction type, roof age and material, distance from the coast, flood zone designation, and whether you have hurricane shutters or impact windows. An HO-3 is open-peril on the dwelling and named-peril on personal property.
Available through NFIP or private carriers. NFIP policies are backed by the federal government with standardized terms: up to $250,000 dwelling coverage and $100,000 contents for residential properties. Private flood policies can offer higher limits, replacement cost coverage, and sometimes lower premiums depending on your risk profile. In Palm Beach County, even properties outside high-risk zones are vulnerable — over 25% of NFIP claims nationwide come from low-to-moderate risk areas.
In Florida, windstorm coverage may be included in your homeowners policy or excluded and purchased separately. Coastal Palm Beach County properties often require a separate windstorm policy. Hurricane deductibles are the critical detail: they're percentage-based (typically 2%, 5%, or 10% of your dwelling coverage) and only apply during a named storm. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation requires carriers to offer multiple deductible options. Choosing between a 2% and 5% deductible can mean tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket exposure.
Florida is a no-fault state, requiring Personal Injury Protection (PIP) at minimum $10,000 and Property Damage Liability (PDL) at minimum $10,000. Florida does not require bodily injury liability coverage by law, but carrying it is strongly recommended — without it, you're personally liable for injuries you cause. Uninsured motorist coverage is also critical: Florida has one of the highest rates of uninsured drivers in the country. Bundling auto with homeowners through the same carrier typically saves 15-25%.
Covers business-owned buildings and their contents against fire, wind, theft, and other named perils. In Palm Beach County, commercial property insurance pricing is heavily influenced by construction type, occupancy class, distance from coast, and hurricane mitigation features. Business interruption coverage — which pays for lost income and ongoing expenses if your business can't operate after a covered loss — is a critical add-on that many business owners overlook until they need it.
An umbrella policy provides additional liability coverage above the limits of your homeowners and auto policies. In Palm Beach County, where property values and personal assets tend to be higher, umbrella coverage is particularly relevant. A standard $1 million umbrella policy typically costs between $200-400 per year. It covers claims that exceed your underlying policy limits, including personal injury, property damage, and certain lawsuits not covered by your base policies.
We're launching an independent property and casualty insurance agency in Palm Beach County. Here's what that means and why it matters.
Captive agents work for one insurance company and can only sell that company's products. Independent agents represent multiple carriers and can compare rates and coverage across the market on your behalf. That structure means our job is to find the best fit for your property and situation — not to push a specific company's policy.
Florida insurance is a different animal than the rest of the country. Palm Beach County specifically has unique risk factors: coastal wind exposure, FEMA flood zone density, aging housing stock, and a carrier landscape that changes year to year. We're building this agency specifically for this market because generic national agencies don't understand the nuance.
Insurance is one of the few products where you don't know if it works until something goes wrong. That creates an environment where agents can sell you coverage you don't need or skip explanations about what you're actually buying. We believe in laying out the options clearly, explaining the trade-offs honestly, and letting you make an informed decision.
Florida's insurance market shifts every year. Carriers adjust rates, change underwriting rules, or exit the state entirely. A policy that was competitive last year might be overpriced this year. We plan to re-shop coverage before every renewal to make sure you're not overpaying — which is something most agents don't do proactively.
Practical information for navigating Florida's property insurance market, whether you're buying a home, renewing your policy, or dealing with a rate increase.
Your declarations page shows your coverage limits, deductibles, and premium. Pay attention to your hurricane deductible (listed separately from your all-other-peril deductible), your roof coverage type (replacement cost vs. actual cash value), and whether windstorm is included or excluded. The difference between ACV and RCV on an older roof can be tens of thousands of dollars in a claim. If your policy says "ACV" for the roof, you'll receive a depreciated payout, not what it costs to replace.
FEMA designates flood zones using letters. Zone A and Zone V are high-risk areas where flood insurance is typically required by mortgage lenders. Zone X is moderate-to-low risk, but that doesn't mean you won't flood. Palm Beach County's topography, drainage infrastructure, and proximity to the coast create flood risk even outside designated zones. NFIP Risk Rating 2.0, which went into effect in 2021, bases premiums on property-specific factors like distance to water, elevation, and flood frequency rather than just the zone designation.
If you're currently insured through Citizens Property Insurance, Florida law requires Citizens to offer "take-out" opportunities when a private carrier can cover you at a comparable rate. You can also shop the private market on your own. In many cases, private carriers offer broader coverage, more flexible deductible options, and competitive or lower rates than Citizens. The private market has been slowly stabilizing since the 2022-2023 legislative reforms, making it worth checking annually even if you were previously unable to find private coverage.
Florida offers insurance premium discounts for verified hurricane mitigation features. A wind mitigation inspection (OIR Form B-7) documents protections like roof-to-wall connections, roof deck attachment, roof geometry, secondary water resistance, and opening protection (hurricane shutters or impact windows). These discounts can be substantial — in some cases reducing the wind portion of your premium by 30-50%. The inspection costs around $75-150 and is valid as long as no changes are made to the documented features.
Answers to the questions Palm Beach County homeowners and property owners ask most about insurance in Florida.
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