After years of chaos following Hurricane Ian, Florida’s insurance market may finally be stabilizing

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. (WINK) After years of soaring premiums, policy cancellations, and uncertainty following Hurricane Ian, insurance experts say Florida homeowners may finally be entering hurricane season in a stronger position.

Four years after Ian devastated Fort Myers Beach and much of Southwest Florida, the signs of destruction are still visible across the community. The storm destroyed homes, wiped out businesses, and triggered turmoil in Florida’s already fragile property insurance market.

For many homeowners, the recovery process became almost as stressful as the storm itself.

Private insurers pulled back from Florida or dropped policies altogether in the years following Ian, pushing hundreds of thousands of homeowners onto state-backed Citizens Property Insurance — the insurer of last resort. 

Others faced skyrocketing premiums, lengthy claims processes, and disputes over roof and storm damage, leaving some waiting months for relief.

Now, heading into the 2026 hurricane season, experts say conditions are beginning to improve.

Insurance analysts point to several factors helping stabilize the market, including new state laws aimed at limiting insurance lawsuits and fraud, shorter deadlines for filing claims, and a relatively quiet 2025 hurricane season. Officials also say nearly 20 new private insurance carriers have entered the Florida market in recent years.

Those changes are helping reduce the number of policies carried by Citizens Insurance as more homeowners move back into private coverage. Some Floridians are even beginning to see modest decreases in premiums or smaller rate hikes than in previous years.

Still, experts caution that the market remains vulnerable, as it is constantly exposed to hurricane risk.

Patricia Born, a risk management and insurance professor at Florida State University, says Florida still needs more large national insurers writing policies in the state.

“We would prefer that more insurers that have a footprint across the whole country would be writing in Florida, so that they’re diversified more broadly,” Born said.

Despite the challenges that remain, Born says Florida is in a stronger position than it has been in recent years.

“We’re just becoming more resilient in this state, so I’m kind of optimistic that as we see the next storm, we're going to be in better shape than we have in the past,” Born said.

Experts say the biggest test for Florida’s insurance market may come after the next major storm — and whether the recent stability can hold.