‘Am I going to be able to afford my house?': South Florida homeowners dealing with soaring premiums

When we first met Veronica Solomon in 2022, she was concerned about a $1,300 increase to her homeowner’s insurance premium.

“The first thing that goes through my mind is, ‘Am I going to be able to afford my house?’” Veronica said.

Two years later, she still has those same worries.

“As far as my homeowner’s insurance and what I’m doing with this house, things have gotten worse,” the Miramar resident said. “Nothing has gotten better. There’s been no relief.”

Since 2020, Veronica says her premium has jumped from about $3,500 to almost $7,700. She told NBC6 Responds she was concerned about how much more her premiums would jump in the next few years.

“And that’s not easy,” she said. “That’s not an easy pill to swallow.”

She told NBC6 she was unsure about what she would do if the increases continue.

“I don’t know,” she said. “To be honest with you, I don’t know. I’m almost at my limit.”

Veronica is not alone.

In an informal NBC6 survey of dozens of viewers, everyone responded they are very or somewhat concerned about being able to afford their home because of what they pay for property insurance.

Over 66% said they are considering moving out of Florida because of the premiums.

An analysis earlier this year by Insurify, a digital insurance agent, found the average annual insurance cost for Florida homes with $300,000 in coverage is $9,213 – the highest in the country by far.

“And we know Southeast Florida homeowners have seen the highest average changes compared to the rest of the state,” said Mark Friedlander, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, a trade group.

Friedlander says they expect those increases to start to moderate this year, as the market stabilizes after state lawmakers passed sweeping insurance reforms in December 2022.

He says no insurance company has gone insolvent in over a year and that seven companies are now going to be writing new business in Florida, though it’s unclear how many of those new policies will be written for homeowners in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

When asked, Friedlander said there is no state requirement for these companies to write policies in every county of the state.

“The requirement is to operate in the state,” he explained. “It’s up to them to determine where they’re going to write the coverage.”

“We need competition and competition will lead to competitive quoting and hopefully better pricing,” he added.

Nearly 88% of the people who responded to the NBC6 survey said they feel they don’t have more options for coverage. About 12% said yes.

Veronica says she doesn’t feel she is better off now compared to where she was two years ago.

“Not one of those reforms is the ‘Veronica Solomon reduce her homeowner’s’ act,” she said. “Not one. So, whatever those reforms are, they have no bearing on me.”