Florida regulators approved homeowners insurance rate cuts at four companies on September 22. Vyrd Insurance Company will cut rates 10.4% for 26,751 policies, and One Alliance North America Insurance Company will cut 10.4% for 17,148. Over the same weeks, the state-backed insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, shrank to about 255,000 policies from about 1.4 million in September 2023.
The cuts apply at renewal, so they reach a policyholder only when the policy comes up again. Two smaller approvals completed the batch: Safe Harbor Insurance Company, down 4.1% for 10,501 policies, and Unique Insurance Company, down 3.2% for 8,266.
The four approved cuts
Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky’s office announced the approvals in a September 22 release from the Office of Insurance Regulation. Together the four affect about 62,666 policies. The release says only that they take effect “at renewals,” with no date. Individual policy rates may vary, Florida Realtors reported, which summarized the release on September 24.
“This is the latest wave of significant rate decreases for Floridians, which continues to grow higher,” Yaworsky said in the release. He said the office “will expedite reviews of rate filings to ensure policyholders feel it in their pockets.” He told reporters he expects “more aggressive rate cuts in the near future and going into 2027.”
The office says more requests are waiting. Requested homeowners rate changes now range from a 0.3% cut to a 19.7% cut. Since January 2024, 48 companies have filed for a decrease and 53 have asked for no change, the release says. The 30-day average request is a 4.8% decrease, against a 1.1% decrease a year ago and a 5.2% increase five years ago.
Everyone with a Florida homeowners policy now wants the same answer: will my premium drop at renewal? It will if the policy is with Vyrd, One Alliance, Safe Harbor or Unique, and the size of the drop depends on the company, from 3.2% to 10.4%. A policy with any other company is outside this batch, and policies at Citizens are a separate group.
Florida’s admitted-market average homeowners premium is $3,736 with wind coverage, so a cut of 10.4% or 3.2% is only one piece of a household’s yearly housing bill. The Benefits Checklist covers 11 benefit programs, including property-tax breaks and heating help, with the 2026 income limits for each.
Line up the other housing-cost programs next to a Florida renewal in the Benefits Checklist →
What the average premium looks like
The Office of Insurance Regulation’s market overview puts the average homeowners premium in the admitted market at $3,736 including wind coverage, Florida Realtors reported. The admitted market leaves out Citizens and surplus lines carriers. As an illustration only, a 10.4% cut on a $3,736 premium would be about $389 a year, and a 3.2% cut would be about $120. The actual figure depends on a policyholder’s own premium, and the release does not say what the average premium is at any of the four companies.
Florida was the only state with a homeowners rate decrease in 2025, down 0.92%, according to an S&P Global report cited by the office. The national weighted average rose 5.5%. In July 2022, the average approved rate in Florida was a 15.33% increase.
Kin Insurance separately announced average homeowners rate cuts of more than 20% for new and existing policyholders in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, the release notes.
Citizens keeps shrinking
Citizens reports 254,413 policies in force as of October 9 on its Policies in Force page, down from a September 2023 peak of 1,407,805. The page’s last product breakdown, dated August 31, totals 266,231 policies, with 206,464 personal residential multiperil policies and 55,542 personal residential wind-only. At the end of 2025 the company held 395,337.
Citizens President Timothy Cerio told the company’s Board of Governors that he expects about 248,000 policies by year-end, possibly fewer, according to Florida Realtors. He credited a 55% drop in lawsuits over Citizens claims since 2023 for letting rates fall. Insured value is roughly $70 billion, down from $552 billion three years ago.
“I don’t think we’re going to grow because it is such a robust market,” Cerio said. Of the customers who leave, he said: “They will find a home in the private market, but they should shop it.”
Checking a Florida renewal against the market
The free tool is the Office of Insurance Regulation’s CHOICES Rate Comparison Tool, which the release lists for consumers, along with the office’s consumer pages at floir.gov. The office’s main number is (850) 413-3140.
A homeowner can look up which company holds the policy, then compare the renewal notice’s premium with last year’s bill. If the company is one of the four, the new premium should show a cut of the approved size at renewal, and a policy where it does not is worth a question to the insurer. Citizens customers who are offered a private policy can compare that offer with their current Citizens premium before accepting it.
The dates to watch are each policy’s own renewal date, the further filings the office says it is reviewing and the year-end Citizens count that Cerio put at 248,000.
A $3,736 average premium, with cuts of 3.2% to 10.4%
A rate cut of 3.2% on a $3,736 average premium is about $120 a year, which leaves most of a Florida household’s housing bill in place, and other credits depend on income limits that are easy to misjudge. The Benefits Checklist scans 11 benefit programs retirees most often miss, with the 2026 income limits, a 50-state phone directory and a printable application tracker.
Scan the Florida household for property-tax and heating help in the Benefits Checklist →
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire’s editorial team.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
