How do I compare homeowners insurance quotes in Florida?

Where do you get quotes?

DFS lays out five steps: determine your coverage needs, find an agent and identify companies, review shopping tips, compare apples to apples, then decide. Resources it points to include:

• DFS Licensee Search, to find and verify licensed insurance agents in your county
• The Florida Market Assistance Plan (FMAP), a free referral service for home, rental and vacation property coverage
• OIR's CHOICES tool, which shows sample average homeowners rates by county for illustration only
• OIR's Active Company Search, to confirm a company is doing business in Florida[1][2]

What should you line up side by side?

Make sure every quote uses the same building blocks:

• Dwelling (Coverage A) limit high enough to rebuild
• Replacement cost versus actual cash value; Florida insurers must offer replacement-cost coverage on the dwelling
• Hurricane deductible and all-other-perils deductible, plus any roof, water or sinkhole deductible
• Law and ordinance coverage: as of 2026, unless you reject it in writing, a homeowners policy is deemed to include 25% of the dwelling limit, and insurers must offer 50%
• Other structures (some policies exclude fences, detached garages or sheds), personal property, loss of use, liability and medical payments
• Exclusions or limits on water damage, pools, specialty items such as jewelry, and animal liability
• Discounts for wind mitigation, roof age, alarms, bundling or paying in full[1][3][6]

Admitted, surplus lines or Citizens?

Admitted (authorized) insurers file rates and forms with OIR, and their policyholders are protected by the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) if the insurer becomes insolvent. Surplus lines insurers don't file rates or forms with OIR, their policyholders aren't protected by FIGA, and their deductibles may differ from the statutory options.

If no authorized insurer offers coverage, or the private premiums are more than 20% higher than Citizens' premium for comparable coverage, you may be eligible for Citizens; only Citizens-appointed agents can place those policies.[4][5]

How do you make the final call?

Ask each agent to show the premium difference between deductible options and to state the hurricane deductible in dollars. Weigh the lower premium of a higher deductible against what you could afford to pay after a storm. For help understanding a policy, DFS runs an Insurance Consumer Helpline at 1-877-693-5236 (1-877-MY-FL-CFO).[1][3][4]