Plus, new regulations & higher lightning losses
The downward trend in Florida homeowners insurance premiums enters its third year, Florida insurance companies are facing new regulation on individually-rated risk and excess rates along with claim mediation practices, losses from lightning strikes are up significantly including here in Florida, plus North Carolina beats Florida in tackling third-party litigation financing. It’s all in this week’s Property Insurance News.
Lower Rates Continue: Since the start of 2025, more than 40 property insurance companies in Florida have filed for rate decreases, in both homeowners and automobile lines – a continuation of a trend that began within a year of the legislature’s 2022 and 2023 consumer insurance and litigation reforms. With inflation, homes have been increasing in value (and the cost to rebuild) so premium increases have certainly moderated the rate cuts. But if you take that out, there has been a clear downward trend in premiums since Q3 2024, as shown in the below chart that is gleaned from a look at the Q1 2026 QUASR data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR). The data also confirms the average premium for a single-family home in Florida is $3,556 and not the ridiculous numbers circulated in some media publications. Industry veteran John Rollins provides further insight in his recent Insurance Journal piece, Viewpoint: Why Florida Property Insurance Rates Might (and Might Not) Keep Falling.
Source: Compilation of 2026 Q1 QUASR data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR)
Changing Insurance Regulation: OIR is proposing changes to two more administrative rules governing property insurance companies. Rule 69O-137.008 governs filing procedures for individually-rated risks and excess rates. The current rule doesn’t require any filing if the insurance company has no individually-rated risks or excess risks until after the fourth quarter of the year. The proposed rule will require a report to be filed every quarter even if the company has no individually-rated risks or excess risks. We at LMA believe this is significant – to have to file a “zero” report of no policies versus only having to file if there are those risks. You can view the proposed rule change and changes to the reporting form (OIR-B1-588) here. There will be no workshop rule hearing unless someone requests one by July 10.
The second OIR rule change concerns 6-pages of amendments to Rule 69J-166.031 governing mediation of residential property insurance claims, already approved by the Financial Services Commission. The stated purpose is “to standardize and streamline the administration of the Department of Financial Services’ three property insurance claim mediation programs.” The changes, as noted by our colleague Fraser Hudson at Lozano Insurance Adjusters:
- Add auto and commercial residential disputes to the DFS mediation portfolio, which currently only applies to residential property claims. (Commercial residential claims are currently mediated under Rule 69J-166.002 so we suspect that will be eliminated with these changes.)
- Add a new requirement for pre-mediation conference statements.
- Formalize the COVID-inspired remote video conference meetings, which are not an option under the current rule.
- Create a post-mediation tracking system on the DFS website for the mediator to use.
- Remove the policyholder’s option to rescind the settlement within three days. (We believe this may be an oversight given the three-day rescind option is codified in FL Statute 627.7015 (6)(a).)
Lightning Strike Losses Up: The Insurance Information Institute reports a big increase in homeowners insurance losses from lightning last year, driven by more strikes and higher repair and rebuilding costs. Triple-I found that insurance losses grew 59% from 2024 (to $1.65 billion) and claims grew 11.6% (to 61,986 claims). The average claim rose nearly 43% to $26,616. Florida had the most lightning claims in 2025 (5,167), followed by California and Texas. Texas had the highest average claim cost at $60,382 with Florida at $35,993. Triple-I noted the higher claim losses “reflect higher rebuilding and repair costs, inflation-driven increases in labor and materials expenses, and the growing value of increasingly sophisticated home electronics and connected devices.”
N.C. Outlaws Third-Party Litigation Financing: The Beach Boys’ classic song “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” comes to mind upon reading the news that North Carolina has passed the first bill in the nation to ban third-parties from funding civil litigation. Business Insurance reports Governor Josh Stein recently signed HB 315 into law. It makes it “unlawful for a person to engage in litigation investment in this State or to furnish litigation investment to a party or counsel of record in a civil proceeding in this state.” A funder can face civil penalties of up to $50,000 per violation. Excluded from the new law are “pro bono funding, insurers’ defense or indemnification obligations, or loans or financial support not contingent on a proceeding’s outcomes,” according to the article. Efforts to pass similar legislation failed this year in the Florida Legislature, but got closer than past years’ efforts, as the Senate bill passed all three of its committees but was never heard by the full Senate; the House measure never received a hearing.
LMA Newsletter of 7-6-26
