Florida’s insurance regulator said on Sept. 22 that homeowners insurers have filed rate-decrease requests ranging from 0.3% to 19.7% and that those requests are currently pending review. The disclosure came in the Office of Insurance Regulation’s announcement of four approved cuts, which took effect for policyholders at renewal.
What the regulator said and what remains undecided
Commissioner Mike Yaworsky’s office stated: “OIR is receiving a flood of rate decrease requests ranging from -0.3 to -19.7.” The Sept. 22 release separately describes the incoming filings as a flood of rate-cut or zero-increase requests that are “currently pending review.” Pending means no final decision: the office can still approve or disapprove each filing.
The office also put numbers on the trend. It reported that 48 companies have filed for rate decreases since January 2024 and 53 have requested no increase or no change. The 30-day average homeowners request is a decrease of 4.8%, compared with a 1.1% decrease a year ago and a 5.2% increase five years ago.
Four cuts already approved, effective at renewal
Alongside the pending list, Yaworsky approved four decreases that take effect as policies renew. One Alliance North America Insurance Company received a 10.4% decrease affecting 17,148 policies, Safe Harbor Insurance Company 4.1% for 10,501 policies, Unique Insurance Company 3.2% for 8,266 policies and Vyrd Insurance Company 10.4% for 26,751 policies. Together those four approvals cover 62,666 policies.
The release also carries a company-reported figure. Kin Insurance reported that homeowners rates will decrease an average of more than 20% for policyholders in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. The release presents that as something the company reported, and it is a different kind of number from the range of requests that the regulator described as pending.
The approved cuts so far run far below the largest request
The four approvals range from 3.2% to 10.4%, well under the 19.7% top of the pending range, and the 30-day average request of 4.8% sits closer to the approved end. The gap between the largest request and the decisions in hand shows how uneven the filings are: a request near 19.7% and one near 0.3% are both counted in the same pending pool. As of the newsroom listing checked on Sept. 29, the Sept. 22 announcement remained the office’s most recent homeowners-rate release.
How a filed rate becomes an approved one
Florida law gives the office a fixed clock. Under the “file and use” procedure in section 627.062 of the Florida Statutes (2025 edition), the office must finalize its review “by issuance of a notice of intent to approve or a notice of intent to disapprove within 90 days after receipt of the filing.” Rates, the statute says, may not be “excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory.” A request at the 19.7% end of the range therefore travels the same review path as a smaller one.
The newsroom listing on the regulator’s site adds a forward-looking note: OIR’s newsroom quotes the office as reviewing “multiple pending requests for rate decreases with more announcements coming in the near future.”
Yaworsky expects more cuts into 2027
Trade coverage of the release quoted the commissioner looking ahead. “I expect to see more aggressive rate cuts in the near future and going into 2027,” Yaworsky said, according to Insurance Journal’s report by William Rabb. The same report noted that Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state-backed insurer, had shrunk from 1.4 million policies in 2023 to 266,231 in August 2026. Its insured value fell from $553 billion in 2023 to an expected $85 billion in 2026, and its staff from 1,390 employees to 882, according to the same report.
For homeowners on fixed incomes, the timing of a cut matters as much as its size. The four approved decreases apply at renewal, so a policyholder sees the change only when the current term ends, and a pending request has no effect on any bill until the regulator acts.
A free tool for comparing sample rates by county
The regulator runs a comparison tool for the very rates at issue. The CHOICES homeowners rate comparison tool provides “sample average rates for a variety of companies writing insurance in each county, in addition to rates for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation.” Users pick a pre-defined example and then a county or company. The office cautions that the rates are “for illustrative purposes” and should be verified with the carrier, and companies that submitted data as a trade secret are not included.
The Sept. 22 release is the latest official count of what is waiting. The regulator’s language, a flood of requests currently pending review, describes filings from insurers in the ordinary course of business, and the outcome of each will be announced by the office as it acts. Until then, the 19.7% figure is a ceiling on requests and not on approved cuts.
Homeowner relief programs with separate filing calendars
Insurance is one part of a Florida homeowner’s yearly carrying cost and property tax is the other, and relief on the tax side for older owners generally depends on an application. Exemptions and credits each carry their own paperwork and renewal cycle.
The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit explains the 5 kinds of property-tax relief and includes heating, cooling and home-repair help for owners managing an older house.
Sort the five kinds of property-tax relief by renewal date →
This article was produced with AI assistance and checked against the primary sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
