June 2020
- Six of the 10 costliest hurricanes in U.S. history have impacted Florida. Three of these storms occurred within just two years: 2004 and 2005. (See chart.)
- The costliest hurricane, based on insured property losses to Florida, was 1992’s Hurricane Andrew. It caused $25.9 billion in damage to Florida and Louisiana (in 2019 dollars). (See chart.)
- Standard homeowners policies typically do not cover flood damage. Flood insurance is covered by the federally managed National Flood Insurance Program, but private flood insurance is becoming increasingly available.
- Florida leads the nation in the number of flood policies, according to the National Flood Insurance Program, with about 1.8 million policies in force in 2019.
- About 98 percent of the total population of Florida lives in one of the coastal counties. The number of people living in coastal areas in Florida increased by 4.2 million, or 27 percent, from 15.6 million in 2000 to 19.8 million in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- In Florida, 2.9 million single-family homes were at risk in 2020 for storm surge damage from hurricanes up to Category 5 strength, according to CoreLogic, Inc. These homes would cost $581 billion to completely rebuild, including labor and materials.
- After its establishment in 2002, when the state passed legislation combining two separate high-risk insurance pools known as the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association and the Florida Residential Property & Casualty Joint Underwriting Association, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. (CPIC) experienced exponential growth. As a result, Florida Citizens has evolved from a market of last resort to the state’s largest property insurer.
- Florida Citizens Property Insurance Corp. provides multiperil and wind-only insurance coverage to Florida homeowners, commercial residential and commercial business property owners.
- Direct homeowners insurance premiums in Florida written by Citizens was $490.9 million in 2018 down from $795 million in 2014.
- Citizens was the state’s fourth leading homeowners insurer in 2018, with a market share of 5.11 percent, down from 9.1 percent in 2014.
- Florida Citizens had 346,227 policies as of March 31, 2020.
Top 10 Writers Of Commercial Insurance In Florida By Direct Premiums Written, 2019 (1)
| Rank |
Group/company |
Direct premiums written ($000) |
Market share |
| 1 |
Assurant |
$2,863,803 |
11.2% |
| 2 |
Chubb |
1,083,356 |
4.2 |
| 3 |
Progressive |
1,047,581 |
4.1 |
| 4 |
American International Group (AIG) |
916,379 |
3.6 |
| 5 |
Zurich |
857,933 |
3.4 |
| 6 |
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. |
830,821 |
3.3 |
| 7 |
Travelers Companies Inc. |
804,216 |
3.2 |
| 8 |
Liberty Mutual |
772,981 |
3.0 |
| 9 |
CNA |
653,247 |
2.6 |
| 10 |
Great American Insurance |
630,262 |
2.5 |
(1) Before reinsurance transactions.
Source: NAIC data, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Information Institute.
Top 10 Writers Of Homeowners Insurance In Florida By Direct Premiums Written, 2019 (1)
| Rank |
Group/company |
Direct premiums written ($000) |
Market share |
| 1 |
Universal Insurance Holdings Inc. |
$989,983 |
9.8% |
| 2 |
State Farm |
641,797 |
6.4 |
| 3 |
Tower Hill |
580,482 |
5.8 |
| 4 |
Citizens Property Insurance Corp. |
520,338 |
5.2 |
| 5 |
USAA |
398,595 |
4.0 |
| 6 |
FEDNAT |
392,612 |
3.9 |
| 7 |
UPC Insurance |
387,129 |
3.8 |
| 8 |
Progressive |
373,747 |
3.7 |
| 9 |
Heritage Insurance |
372,415 |
3.7 |
| 10 |
Security First Insurance Co. |
352,908 |
3.5 |
(1) Before reinsurance transactions.
Source: NAIC data, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Information Institute.
Top 10 Writers Of Private Passenger Auto Insurance In Florida By Direct Premiums Written, 2019 (1)
| Rank |
Group/company |
Direct premiums written ($000) |
Market share |
| 1 |
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. |
$5,314,424 |
25.7% |
| 2 |
Progressive |
4,217,321 |
20.4 |
| 3 |
State Farm |
2,852,377 |
13.8 |
| 4 |
Allstate Corp. |
1,939,734 |
9.4 |
| 5 |
USAA Insurance Group |
1,481,927 |
7.2 |
| 6 |
Liberty Mutual |
568,158 |
2.7 |
| 7 |
Travelers Companies Inc. |
432,002 |
2.1 |
| 8 |
Kemper Corp. |
417,175 |
2.0 |
| 9 |
National General Holdings Corp. |
394,955 |
1.9 |
| 10 |
Farmers Insurance Group |
356,747 |
1.7 |
(1) Before reinsurance transactions.
Source: NAIC data, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Information Institute.
Top 10 Costliest Hurricanes In The United States (1)
| |
|
|
Estimated insured loss |
| Rank |
Year |
Hurricane |
Dollars when occurred |
In 2024 dollars (2) |
| 1 |
2005 |
Hurricane Katrina |
$65,000 |
$104,471 |
| 2 |
2022 |
Hurricane Ian |
54,000 |
57,231 |
| 3 |
2021 |
Hurricane Ida |
36,000 |
41,540 |
| 4 |
2012 |
Hurricane Sandy |
30,000 |
40,939 |
| 5 |
2017 |
Hurricane Harvey |
30,000 |
38,571 |
| 6 |
2017 |
Hurricane Irma |
30,050 |
38,432 |
| 7 |
2017 |
Hurricane Maria |
29,511 |
37,743 |
| 8 |
1992 |
Hurricane Andrew |
16,000 |
35,845 |
| 9 |
2008 |
Hurricane Ike |
18,200 |
26,259 |
| 10 |
2024 |
Hurricane Milton |
20,000 |
20,000 |
(1) Includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and losses sustained by private insurers and government-sponsored programs such as the National Flood Insurance Program. Subject to change as loss estimates are further developed. As of January 2025.
(2) Adjusted for inflation by Aon using the U.S. Consumer Price Index.
Source: Aon.
Estimated Insured Losses For The Top 10 Historical Hurricanes Based On Current Exposures (1)
| Rank |
Date |
Event |
Category |
2015 insured loss |
| 1 |
Sep. 18, 1926 |
Great Miami Hurricane |
4 |
$119 |
| 2 |
Sep. 17, 1928 |
Okeechobee Hurricane |
4 |
72 |
| 3 |
Sep. 17, 1947 |
Fort Lauderdale Hurricane |
3 |
60 |
| 4 |
Aug. 29, 2005 |
Hurricane Katrina |
3 |
58 |
| 5 |
Sep. 9, 1965 |
Hurricane Betsy |
4 |
53 |
| 6 |
Aug. 24, 1992 |
Hurricane Andrew |
5 |
52 |
| 7 |
Sep. 10, 1960 |
Hurricane Donna |
4 |
46 |
| 8 |
Sep. 21, 1938 |
The Great New England Hurricane |
3 |
44 |
| 9 |
Sep. 9, 1900 |
Galveston Hurricane |
4 |
44 |
| 10 |
Sep. 15, 1950 |
Hurricane Easy |
2 |
28 |
(1) Modeled loss to property, contents and business interruption and additional living expenses for residential, mobile home, commercial and auto exposures as of end-2015. Losses include demand surge.
Source: AIR Worldwide Corporation.
Storm Surge Risk By State By Number Of Single-Family Homes and Reconstruction Value, 2019 (1)
| |
|
Number of single-family homes at risk by storm category (2) |
| Rank |
State |
Category 1 |
Category 2 |
Category 3 |
Category 4 |
Category 5 |
| 1 |
Florida |
358,902 |
1,085,288 |
1,788,071 |
2,338,348 |
2,830,201 |
| 2 |
Louisiana |
74,792 |
213,442 |
637,354 |
765,612 |
839,321 |
| 3 |
Texas |
40,633 |
121,010 |
259,993 |
393,837 |
555,569 |
| 4 |
New Jersey |
94,083 |
276,872 |
381,551 |
471,143 |
(3) |
| 5 |
New York |
76,797 |
227,962 |
351,783 |
467,398 |
(3) |
| 6 |
Virginia |
23,321 |
89,387 |
243,401 |
365,134 |
409,259 |
| 7 |
South Carolina |
37,155 |
130,565 |
216,551 |
304,442 |
359,024 |
| 8 |
North Carolina |
33,200 |
97,158 |
163,632 |
213,922 |
264,264 |
| 9 |
Massachusetts |
9,310 |
45,042 |
101,171 |
157,311 |
(3) |
| 10 |
Georgia |
9,863 |
54,777 |
112,747 |
151,627 |
163,191 |
| 11 |
Maryland |
16,473 |
58,141 |
96,774 |
124,684 |
(3) |
| 12 |
Mississippi |
9,005 |
29,381 |
60,167 |
90,360 |
102,199 |
| 13 |
Pennsylvania |
924 |
21,406 |
58,659 |
85,480 |
(3) |
| 14 |
Connecticut |
6,874 |
29,194 |
47,292 |
68,022 |
(3) |
| 15 |
Alabama |
5,777 |
15,596 |
29,234 |
41,164 |
54,586 |
| 16 |
Delaware |
11,027 |
31,329 |
49,517 |
67,320 |
(3) |
| 17 |
Rhode Island |
1,391 |
7,423 |
16,513 |
25,354 |
(3) |
| 18 |
Maine |
5,846 |
8,300 |
12,336 |
18,824 |
(3) |
| 19 |
New Hampshire |
186 |
3,999 |
7,069 |
9,315 |
(3) |
| |
Total homes potentially affected |
815,559 |
2,546,272 |
4,633,815 |
6,158,577 |
7,071,745 |
| |
|
Reconstruction cost value of single-family homes at risk (4) ($ millions) |
| Rank |
State |
Category 1 |
Category 2 |
Category 3 |
Category 4 |
Category 5 |
| 1 |
Florida |
$73,255.3 |
$225,758.2 |
$372,102.5 |
$482,986.8 |
$581,641.5 |
| 2 |
New York |
30,075.0 |
94,513.9 |
145,839.3 |
194,358.1 |
(3) |
| 3 |
Louisiana |
16,343.1 |
47,945.9 |
151,667.9 |
182,479.3 |
200,785.2 |
| 4 |
New Jersey |
27,035.0 |
84,599.0 |
119,106.5 |
149,676.0 |
(3) |
| 5 |
Texas |
7,399.5 |
22,434.1 |
50,758.8 |
80,141.0 |
112,087.7 |
| 6 |
Virginia |
6,046.8 |
22,878.8 |
58,270.3 |
87,017.7 |
98,744.9 |
| 7 |
South Carolina |
10,377.6 |
34,543.8 |
54,837.2 |
74,049.4 |
85,214.8 |
| 8 |
North Carolina |
7,094.4 |
20,928.6 |
35,570.1 |
46,843.7 |
57,973.4 |
| 9 |
Massachusetts |
2,381.6 |
12,625.7 |
28,897.8 |
46,442.6 |
(3) |
| 10 |
Georgia |
2,980.9 |
14,662.9 |
27,079.1 |
35,130.6 |
37,325.4 |
| 11 |
Maryland |
4,046.8 |
13,834.2 |
23,084.4 |
29,768.4 |
(3) |
| 12 |
Connecticut |
2,429.5 |
9,913.0 |
15,895.6 |
22,659.2 |
(3) |
| 13 |
Mississippi |
1,947.1 |
6,186.9 |
12,375.8 |
18,241.7 |
20,554.7 |
| 14 |
Pennsylvania |
214.4 |
5,013.7 |
14,187.6 |
20,823.0 |
(3) |
| 15 |
Delaware |
3,159.6 |
8,797.1 |
14,026.2 |
19,121.3 |
(3) |
| 16 |
Alabama |
1,143.4 |
2,917.3 |
5,387.9 |
7,534.0 |
9,888.1 |
| 17 |
Rhode Island |
351.3 |
2,039.2 |
4,669.2 |
7,321.1 |
(3) |
| 18 |
Maine |
1,294.4 |
1,970.7 |
3,031.9 |
4,738.2 |
(3) |
| 19 |
New Hampshire |
33.9 |
693.9 |
1,395.2 |
1,988.6 |
(3) |
| |
Total homes potentially affected |
$197,609.5 |
$632,257.0 |
$1,138,183.1 |
$1,511,320.6 |
$1,701,112.2 |
(1) The risk categories are cumulative and increase in value from Category 1 to Category 5. Category 1 represents the higher risk of damage from a weak hurricane; Category 5 includes Categories 1 to 4 and the low risk of damage from a Category 5 hurricane.
(2) Measured in units.
(3) Storm surge risk for Category 5 storms for homes on the northeastern Atlantic Coast is not shown due to the extremely low probability of a Category 5 storm affecting these areas.
(4) Represents the cost to completely rebuild including labor and materials by geographic location.
Source: CoreLogic®, a property data and analytics company.
Additional resources
Florida Citizens: Financial Statements
