- Florida homeowners to get clearer insurance premium explanations: A new bill, HB 767, requires insurers to clearly explain in plain language why premiums are increased, helping homeowners understand their bills better.
- Bill doesn’t cap rates but improves transparency: While HB 767 doesn't set rate limits, it mandates that insurers specify reasons for premium hikes and provide accessible info for consumers, making the process more transparent.
- Coverage calculations won’t include land value, with exceptions: The legislation clarifies that land value won’t be included in coverage amounts for homes, except for shoreline or water-surrounded properties, to avoid inflated insurance costs.
- Florida’s insurance market remains tough with high rates: Due to years of litigations and insurers leaving or raising prices, Florida homeowners face steep premiums, especially after storms like Fern and Hernando push up costs.
- What homeowners can do now and what to expect: Homeowners should compare quotes, document mitigation efforts, and review policies ahead of potential rate increases, as HB 767 aims to boost transparency but not lower rates.
Florida homeowners have been getting renewal notices with higher premiums and no real explanation for years. A bill that passed the Florida House unanimously on Wednesday takes direct aim at that problem. HB 767, filed by state Rep. Yvette Benarroch (R-Naples), requires insurers to clearly explain in plain language the major factors driving any premium increase when seeking a rate hike. It now heads to the Florida Senate.
The bill does not cap rates or set a ceiling on what insurers can charge. Its scope is narrower but practically significant: when a carrier seeks a rate increase, it must tell policyholders, in terms a non-specialist can understand, what is causing it. The legislation also requires the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation to create a consumer resource center on its website, with a web address and QR code printed on every offer for coverage and renewal notice.
One provision that has drawn less attention but matters for consumers involves coverage amounts. Under HB 767, when an insurer establishes or adjusts a coverage amount for a home or structure, it cannot include the value of the land the home sits on, with an exception for properties on a shoreline or surrounded by water. The logic: land doesn’t burn, flood, or blow away, and including its value has inflated coverage calculations in ways that can distort what homeowners think they’re buying.
Florida’s insurance market has been one of the most troubled in the country. After years of litigation-driven losses, major carriers have pulled out of the state or gone insolvent. Those that remain have filed for steep rate increases. State Farm sought and won a 15% average rate increase in California last year. In Florida, the dynamic has been more severe, with some carriers pushing double-digit hikes across consecutive renewals with little formal explanation offered to policyholders beyond a form letter.
Rep. Benarroch framed the bill explicitly around the information gap. “When premiums go up, families deserve transparency so they can understand what is driving those costs and make informed decisions,” she said in a statement. HB 767 also designates the statewide average requested rate change and final approved statewide average rate change in any filing as public information, not a trade secret. Carriers have historically cited trade secret protections to shield filing details from public scrutiny.
The AM Best commentary released this week adds useful context. The rating agency warned that insurance losses from Winter Storms Fern and Hernando will contribute to what it called a meaningful decline in underwriting profits in the first quarter. While those storms hit the Northeast and Southeast rather than Florida, the underlying point stands: 2026 is shaping up as another year where weather losses put upward pressure on what carriers charge. Florida homeowners should expect their market to stay tight regardless of what the legislature does.
That context matters for how to read HB 767. Transparency is not a rate cut. Florida insurers will still file for increases, and the OIR will still approve or deny them through the existing regulatory process. What changes, if the bill passes the Senate and is signed into law, is that homeowners will have a clearer paper trail when they open a renewal notice showing a 20% jump. They’ll know, specifically, what factors the insurer cited. That makes it easier to push back, shop alternatives, or at a minimum understand what they’re paying for.
For Florida homeowners comparing options before renewal, the transparency the bill mandates is already available from the market itself. Carriers compete on price, and the difference between the highest and lowest quotes for the same home can run into hundreds of dollars annually. Pulling homeowners’ insurance quotes from multiple carriers before a renewal deadline is the most direct way to test whether your current insurer is still competitive, regardless of what any explanation letter says.
The bill’s consumer resource center requirement could also prove useful over time. Florida’s insurance market is difficult for the average homeowner to decipher. The OIR website currently contains rate filing data, but navigating it requires knowing what to look for. A consumer-facing landing page with plain-language summaries and a direct link on every renewal notice would lower the barrier significantly.
There are also ways to prepare before a rate increase arrives. Documenting any mitigation work, a newer roof, impact-resistant windows, storm shutters, or a wind mitigation inspection, gives you leverage in underwriting conversations and can translate directly to discounts. Reviewing your policy’s dwelling coverage limit to make sure it reflects current construction costs, not the purchase price or last year’s number, is worth doing regardless of HB 767. Reviewing the best homeowners insurance options in Florida means looking at both admitted carriers and surplus lines if the standard market has pulled back from your ZIP code.
What to watch: HB 767 needs Senate passage before it can take effect. The Florida Legislature’s session runs through early May. If it clears the Senate without significant amendment, it could take effect this summer for policies issued or renewed thereafter. Given the unanimous House vote, opposition in the Senate is not expected to be strong, though carriers may push to narrow the disclosure requirements before a final vote.
