Florida commercial property insurance in 2026: the soft market, the deductible trap and the line still rising

By Renan Serretiello and Christopher Taddei, founding partners of The List, Orlando, Florida. Part 5 of the Florida CRE series. Data through October 2026.

The 60-second answers

• Is Florida commercial property insurance getting cheaper? Yes, for property coverage. The median Florida multifamily property premium fell from $797 per door in early 2025 to $479 in April 2026, about 40%.
• What's a named storm deductible? A deductible set as a percentage of insured value, usually 2% to 10%, triggered by any named storm. On a $20 million building, 5% means you pay the first $1 million.
• Does flood insurance cover my commercial building? The federal program tops out at $500,000 for the building and $500,000 for contents. Anything bigger needs private or excess flood coverage.
• What's getting more expensive? Liability. U.S. umbrella and excess rates rose as much as 13% in the third quarter of 2026, and Florida apartment liability premiums per door are climbing.
• How much cheaper is Orlando than Miami? In 2024, apartment property insurance averaged about $1,142 per unit a year in metro Orlando versus about $2,175 in metro Miami.
• Is Florida still the priciest state to insure apartments? Not by this measure. Florida's median property premium of $479 per door in April 2026 was below Texas at $516, though still above Georgia at $360.

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Every Florida owner knows the feeling. The renewal email lands 30 days before expiration, you open the attachment, and the number at the bottom quietly rewrites your NOI for the year. For three years, that email was the scariest thing in Florida commercial real estate. Insurance is the only expense in the state that can triple without anyone touching the building.

In 2026 the email changed. Property premiums are falling fast, and most owners are not capturing all of it. At the same time, two parts of the policy that nobody reads until after a storm, the deductible and the liability line, are getting more dangerous. In part four of this series we covered the property tax line, the big expense you mostly can't negotiate. This is its sibling: the big expense you absolutely can.

The market flipped, and Florida flipped first

Short answer: after leading the country up, Florida is now leading it down. Florida multifamily insurance costs fell in 2025 while the rest of the country still rose.

Trepp, which tracks insurance expenses on loans packaged into commercial mortgage-backed securities, shows how sharp the turn was. Florida's median multifamily insurance cost rose 42.1% in 2023 against 16.0% for the rest of the country. In 2025 Florida fell 6.2%, the first decline in Trepp's series, while other states still rose 3.4%. [1]

Real data. Securitized multifamily properties, based on property financial statements, which lag policy renewals. That lag is why 2025 shows a 6.2% decline while 2026 renewals are falling much faster. Source: Trepp, as reported by CRE Daily, August 2026. [1]

The 2025 statements only capture the start of it. Renewals in 2026 are falling much faster, for three reasons that all landed at once:

• Reinsurance got cheaper. Florida insurers buy their own insurance every June 1. This year, Guy Carpenter reported risk-adjusted pricing down 15% to 20% across many layers, and Gallagher Re's Florida portfolio averaged a 22.8% decline. [2] [3] Citizens, the state-backed insurer, saw its reinsurance rates fall about 29% year over year. [4]
• Primary rates followed. Marsh reported U.S. commercial property rates down 13% in the second quarter of 2026 and 10% in the third, the ninth straight quarter of global declines. [5] [6] Large U.S. catastrophe-exposed programs saw cuts of about 20% in the second quarter. [7]
• The storms stayed away. 2025 brought no U.S. hurricane landfalls. [8] In 2026, Isaias didn't become the season's first hurricane until October 7, four months in, the latest first hurricane of the satellite era. [9] [8]

Isaias did hit Florida, coming ashore near Destin as a Category 2 on October 9, the first U.S. hurricane landfall since Milton in October 2024. [10] [11] Modelers put insured losses at $1 billion to $4.5 billion, with best estimates around $3 billion to $3.5 billion. [12] [13] [11] For scale, Hurricane Ian cost insurers about $56 billion. [13] AM Best called Isaias an earnings event for insurers, not a market-changing one, [13] which is good news for anyone renewing on January 1.

The T-12 trap: your insurance line is probably out of date

Short answer: if your insurance expense didn't fall roughly 40% since early 2025, ask why. If you're buying, the seller's trailing 12 months probably overstates the real number.

In late October 2026, Insurance Journal reported on data from Advocate Technologies, which tracks commercial insurance pricing across more than 100,000 policies. Across more than 1,000 Florida multifamily properties, the median property premium per door, including excess layers, fell from $797 in early 2025 to $479 in April 2026. [14] That's a 40% drop in roughly a year.

It also flipped a long-standing ranking. Florida's median of $479 now sits below Texas at $516 per door, while Georgia fell from $430 to $360. [14] Read that again: Florida apartments now pay less per door to insure than Texas apartments. Somewhere, a Houston landlord is checking the math.

One caution: a median is a median. Roof age, construction type, distance to the coast, claims history and deductible choices still swing individual quotes by a lot. Trepp makes the same point: its 2025 decline doesn't undo the earlier run-up, and the cost base is still far higher than before 2020. [1]

What insurance costs across Florida, metro by metro

Location still matters more than anything else you can control. The Federal Reserve analyzed Trepp's loan-level data to map apartment insurance costs across the country, and Florida metros fill the top of the list.

Figure 2. Same state, very different bills: Miami pays nearly double Orlando

Average multifamily property insurance cost per unit, 2024. Non-Florida metros shown for comparison.

Real data. 2024 averages as published, before the 2025 and 2026 declines, converted from monthly figures. Absolute levels have since fallen, so use these figures to compare metros, not to budget a renewal. Source: Federal Reserve FEDS Notes, using Trepp loan-level data, September 2025. [15]

For the inland growth story, see part two of the series; for the rest of the local picture, see our Orlando commercial real estate market page.

Florida's costs also grew fastest. Between 2019 and 2024, inflation-adjusted insurance costs per apartment rose about 165% in metro Miami, 150% in Lakeland, 133% in Orlando and 126% in Tampa. [15] Jacksonville, at 93%, grew the slowest of Florida's four largest metros.

The deductible trap: the part of the policy nobody reads until October

Short answer: in Florida, wind damage is usually covered under a separate named storm deductible set as a percentage of insured value, typically 2% to 10%. That number decides who pays for most storms.

Your regular deductible might be $10,000 or $25,000. Your named storm deductible is a different animal. It's calculated as a percentage of the building's insured value, and depending on the wording, it can apply to any storm the National Hurricane Center names, including tropical storms that never reach hurricane strength. [16] A tropical storm with a cute name can still trigger a deductible with an ugly number. Lenders cap how high it can go; one major bank's requirement, for example, limits named storm deductibles to 5% of total insured value. [17]

Our analysis. Illustrative. A 2% deductible on $20 million is $400,000; 5% is $1 million. Ignores coinsurance, sublimits and any separate flood claim.

Read Figure 3 slowly. With a 5% deductible, an $800,000 storm costs the insurer nothing. Even a $3 million storm leaves you paying a third of it. Most Florida owners have never seen a claim big enough to clear their named storm deductible, which is exactly why they don't think about it.

Illustrative calculation. Actual policies vary; read your declarations page and deductible endorsement, and ask your broker to walk you through a damage scenario in writing. Per-building wording: ISO CP 03 21. [18]

Here's the soft-market move almost nobody makes: with property premiums down about 40%, you can often buy a lower named storm deductible for a fraction of the savings. Going from 5% to 2% on a $20 million building cuts your worst-case retention from $1 million to $400,000. Ask for the price of each option at renewal. Lowering the premium is easy. Lowering the deductible is how you protect the equity.

The flood gap and the 50% rule

Short answer: standard commercial property policies exclude flood, the federal program caps out at $500,000 per building, and older buildings in flood zones can be forced into a full code upgrade after a storm.

The National Flood Insurance Program covers non-residential buildings up to $500,000 for the structure and $500,000 for contents. [19] Apartment buildings with five or more units can also insure the structure up to $500,000. [20] On a $20 million building, maximum federal flood coverage is a thoughtful gesture: 2.5% of the value. Larger owners layer private or excess flood coverage on top, and it should be quoted every renewal, not just when a lender demands it. And because new federal flood policies generally take effect only after a waiting period, flood is a decision you make in the spring, not when the storm is in the Gulf.

The bigger risk for older Florida buildings is the "50% rule." If a building in a Special Flood Hazard Area is damaged and repairs cost 50% or more of the structure's pre-storm market value, it's "substantially damaged" and must be brought up to current floodplain rules and the Florida Building Code, whatever caused the damage, wind included. [21] Local building officials make that call, not FEMA. [21] For a 1980s building below today's flood elevation, that can mean elevating, floodproofing, relocating or demolishing instead of simply repairing. [21] [22]

Two coverages soften the blow. Federal flood policies include Increased Cost of Compliance coverage of up to $30,000, and an Ordinance or Law endorsement on your property policy can cover the extra cost of building to code after a covered wind loss, up to its limit. [23] For older assets in flood zones, the Ordinance or Law limit is one of the most important numbers in the whole insurance program.

The line still rising: liability

Short answer: while property coverage gets cheaper, liability coverage is getting more expensive, driven by lawsuits and jury verdicts rather than storms.

Real data. Marsh's index skews toward larger accounts. Sources: Marsh Global Insurance Market Index, Q3 2026, as reported by Risk & Insurance and Actuary.info. [5] [24] [6]

Florida apartments show the same split. The median liability premium per door was $167 in early 2025, the highest in the Southeast, and about $169 this spring; a smaller, more recent sample put it at $215. [14] Advocate's analysis found liability pricing follows lawsuits, not crime rates, [14] and a separate industry report found nuclear verdicts rose 41% nationally. [25] Your security cameras are watching the parking lot. The underwriters are watching the verdicts.

Section 768.0706, Florida Statutes; [26] security measure requirements summarized by Lowndes. [27]

The same 2023 law changed the math on premises cases more broadly. A plaintiff found more than 50% at fault for their own harm now recovers nothing, and the deadline to sue for general negligence dropped from four years to two. [28] In certain negligent security cases, the law also replaced joint and several liability with comparative fault, so the person who committed the crime shares the blame on the verdict form. [29] None of that makes liability cheap, but it's why a well-documented, compliant property is a much harder target than it was before 2023.

Three practical moves: check that your umbrella limits still match today's verdicts, make sure tenant and vendor contracts require their own insurance and name you as additional insured, and document maintenance, because premises cases involving mold, fires and deferred maintenance also produce big awards. [14]

Why Florida's market healed, and what could undo it

The softening isn't just luck. In December 2022, Florida's SB 2-A eliminated one-way attorney fees and assignment of benefits for property insurance, and HB 837 in 2023 tightened bad-faith standards and shortened the time to file claims. [30] Florida's share of the nation's homeowner insurance lawsuits fell from 79% in 2020 to 41% in 2025, and lawsuit filings fell 23% in 2024 and 25% in 2025. [31] About 20 new property insurers have entered the state, bringing more than $850 million of new capital. [32] Florida's domestic insurers posted a 76.8% combined ratio in 2025, meaning they paid out far less than they collected. [33]

Those numbers are mostly about homeowners, but commercial owners benefit from the same capital, the same reinsurance pricing and a calmer legal climate. Here's the honest counterweight: soft markets end. Advocate's analysts put it plainly, warning that property softening "can reverse on one bad catastrophe season." [14] Marsh's placement chief said current conditions are likely to persist absent a severe storm season or a string of major catastrophes. [7] Translation: enjoy it, capture it, and don't build a 10-year pro forma that assumes it lasts forever.

The renewal timeline that captures the soft market

Most owners start their renewal 30 days out. In a soft market, the owners who start at 120 days get the best terms, because carriers compete for prepared accounts.

1. 120 days out: rebuild the submission. Update the statement of values with current replacement costs, gather roof ages and wind mitigation documents, pull five years of loss runs, and collect your security and CPTED records.
2. 90 days out: go to market. Have your broker approach both standard and specialty carriers. Ask for named storm deductible options at 2%, 3% and 5%, an Ordinance or Law limit that fits the building's age, and flood quotes above the federal cap.
3. 60 days out: compare the whole program, not the premium (this is where the money is). Line up premium, deductible structure (per building or per storm), flood, liability and umbrella side by side. Check every option against your lender's insurance requirements.
4. 30 days out: bind and reprice the budget (this is where the money is). Bind, then update your budget, escrow and T-12 so the savings show up in your NOI and, if you're selling, in your price.
5. After binding: put a calendar note in for next year. Soft markets reward the owners who shop every year. Loyalty to a carrier is not a strategy.

Our free renewal checklist walks you through every step. For the other half of your fixed costs, our free tax line underwriting worksheet rebuilds your post-sale property tax bill, and our deal calculators and Cap Rate Index help you value the difference.

The Florida CRE series

1. Florida commercial real estate, fall 2026: what the numbers actually say
2. Follow the rooftops: Florida's inland markets
3. Florida's CRE debt reckoning: where the distress is, and isn't
4. Florida commercial property taxes, explained
5. Florida commercial property insurance in 2026 (you're here)

Frequently asked questions

Is Florida commercial property insurance getting cheaper in 2026?

Property coverage is. Data from more than 1,000 Florida multifamily properties show the median property premium per door fell from $797 in early 2025 to $479 in April 2026, about 40%. Marsh reported U.S. commercial property rates down 10% in the third quarter of 2026, and Florida reinsurance pricing fell 15% to 20% at the June 1, 2026 renewals. Liability coverage is moving the other way.

What is a named storm deductible in Florida commercial insurance?

A deductible set as a percentage of insured value, commonly 2%, 3%, 5% or 10%, that applies to damage from any storm the National Hurricane Center names, including tropical storms. On a building insured for $20 million, a 5% named storm deductible means the owner pays the first $1 million of damage.

How much flood coverage does the NFIP provide for commercial buildings?

Up to $500,000 for the building and $500,000 for contents on a non-residential building. Apartment buildings with five or more units can also insure the building up to $500,000. Owners of larger buildings typically add private or excess flood coverage.

What is the FEMA 50% rule in Florida?

If a building in a Special Flood Hazard Area is damaged and the cost to repair it equals or exceeds 50% of the structure's pre-damage market value, it is considered substantially damaged and must be brought into compliance with current floodplain rules and the Florida Building Code, regardless of what caused the damage. Local building officials make the determination.

Why is liability insurance rising for Florida apartments?

Larger jury verdicts and litigation costs. The median Florida multifamily liability premium per door was $167 in early 2025 and about $169 in spring 2026, with a smaller recent sample showing $215. Marsh reported U.S. casualty rates up 6% and umbrella and excess rates up as much as 13% in the third quarter of 2026.

What is Florida's presumption against liability for apartment owners?

Section 768.0706, Florida Statutes, gives owners or operators of multifamily residential properties a presumption against liability for criminal acts by third parties on the premises if they substantially implement specified security measures, including cameras at entry and exit points, lighting, locks, a crime prevention through environmental design assessment no more than three years old, and employee crime deterrence training.

How much does apartment insurance cost per unit in Orlando compared with Miami?

In 2024, Trepp loan data analyzed by the Federal Reserve showed average property insurance of about $1,142 per unit per year in the Orlando metro, compared with about $2,175 in the Miami metro, $1,375 in Tampa and $1,461 in Jacksonville.

Is apartment insurance now cheaper in Florida than in Texas?

By one widely cited measure, yes. Advocate Technologies data reported by Insurance Journal show Florida's median multifamily property premium at $479 per door in April 2026, below Texas at $516 and above Georgia at $360. Costs vary widely by property, location and coverage.

What should be on a commercial insurance renewal checklist in Florida?

Start 120 days out with an updated statement of values, roof ages, wind mitigation documents, five years of loss runs, flood zone and elevation records, and, for apartments, your Section 768.0706 security file. At 90 days, request named storm deductible options and the deductible wording in writing, Ordinance or Law limits, loss of rents, flood above the NFIP cap, and liability and umbrella quotes. At 60 days, compare whole programs against your lender's requirements, then bind at 30 days and update your budget.

How should investors underwrite insurance when buying Florida commercial property?

Use a current quote, not the seller's trailing 12-month expense, because the market moved roughly 40% in a year. Model the named storm deductible as a capital reserve, confirm flood exposure and Ordinance or Law coverage for older buildings, check the property's security compliance for liability, and stress-test the insurance line at exit.

This guide is for general information and education. It is not insurance, legal or investment advice, and The List is not acting as your insurance broker, attorney or financial advisor. Coverage terms, deductibles and rates vary by carrier, property and policy. Review your policy documents and talk to a licensed insurance professional and qualified advisors about your situation.