Move, cut back or go bare: Florida seniors juggle skyrocketing costs, impossible choices

In Lee County, just steps from the Caloosahatchee River, lies Priscilla O’Harra’s concrete block home. Her husband built it in the ‘70s, she said, and at 86, she lives there with her son, daughter-in-law, and their dog.

But they don’t have insurance.

O'Harra's insurance carrier, State Farm, dropped her the year following Hurricane Ian. She was baffled.

Despite being less than a block from the river’s edge, her home did not flood during Ian, and her roof sustained such minor wind damage that the repairs didn’t even meet her deductible.

The reason: They said her home, at 46 years, was too old to insure. She decided then to go bare – no insurance at all.

“I’m just disgusted,” O’Harra said.

Why throw away thousands on a carrier that won't help her, she asked?

Across the Sunshine State, long known for a laid-back atmosphere, affordable living, palms, sand and the ever-salty surf, older adults are facing a tough decision: pay out five figures or more annually for the privilege of homeowner’s insurance, or go without. 

Others have cut wind from their homeowner’s policy, which means nearly all damage from a hurricane would go uncovered. Still more have left, or are planning to leave, the state for cheaper pastures.

While homeowners insurance has gotten costlier and costlier in Florida, with nearly ten insurers going broke or leaving the state in the past three years, hurricanes Ian and Idalia caused so much damage that carriers hiked prices even further. 

The Florida Insurance Commissioner’s Office recently predicted a sunnier future for the industry in a press release, welcoming eight new policy carriers to the state a year after the GOP-led state senate passed a bill curtailing what industry advocates and legislative sponsors called “frivolous lawsuits” against insurance carriers. 

5 things to know:Florida homeowners insurance is skyrocketing

The measure would lure carriers back to the free market, bill proponents promised, and would ultimately lower insurance premiums. 

Yet, since Ian, homeowners insurance policy costs have risen roughly 42% across the state, and seniors, many of whom survive on just $1,500 a month, have found they can no longer afford the bills.

Seniors and experts, including senior service professionals, senior advocates and former legislators say the state is letting these homeowners drown rather than tackle the mess that Florida’s insurance industry has become. Inflation has eaten up any savings that legislative measures might have produced, and homeowners and renters across the state are struggling as insurance costs skyrocket.

And where, they ask, does that leave Florida?

“It’s untenable,” said President and CEO of Sarasota-based Senior Friendship Centers Erin McLeod. “They’re faced with really tough decisions: go to another state or … go naked.

“They’re backed into a corner.”

Florida seniors going bare in the face of costly insurance policies

In Collier County’s Naples, on a quiet little street lined with tropical plants and crushed shells about an hour south of Priscilla O’Harra’s home, lives Maurice Gutierrez.

Gutierrez, a recently-retired flooring business owner, owns his own home. But he’s had to get creative in order to afford insurance.

Gutierrez’s home, a one-story concrete home with a beautiful garden out front, flooded badly during Ian. Gutierrez recounted watching the sewage-tainted storm surge creep higher and higher on the glass sliding doors that lead from his dining room to the backyard. Recounted watching it flood in and ruin his flooring, carpets and more.  

He decided not to file a claim with his insurance carrier, and replaced his flooring on his own dime. His insurance premium doubled anyway the following year, reaching $7,500 annually. It was a stretch, but one he swallowed. His home was in great repair, with a new roof, a clean four-point inspection and new flooring. Surely it would decrease.

But when Gutierrez was up for renewal in 2024, he found that his premium had climbed yet again, to within spitting distance of $10,000. That, he said, he just couldn’t do.

So, he called his carrier and dropped wind from his policy, bringing his payments down to just $1,600 a year.

In essence, Gutierrez is going bare. Any damage from a hurricane is likely to go uncovered now that he’s removed wind from his coverage catalogue. But he doesn’t regret it.

“If I save eight grand (a year) for five years?” he said. “I can put a roof on twice. And have money left over for new windows.”

Gutierrez is part of a growing number of older adults navigating the costs of flood, wind, and homeowners insurance, experts say.

“We did a survey in 2022,” said AARP Florida director Jeff Johnson, whose organization gets consistent feedback from members in and around the state. “It showed about one-fourth of those who own their homes don’t have insurance because they don’t have a mortgage.

“I suspect that number is a lot higher now,” Johnson said. “There’s been so much turmoil in the market and (insurance has) become so much more expensive. (That) is hugely problematic when a storm comes.”

Shari Stott, a Lee County resident whose home survived Ian without any real damage other than an inch or so of water covering the floorboards, has not yet called to cancel or lower her insurance, she said. But she’s thinking about it.

Her home passed a four-point inspection with flying colors. The Stotts have a metal roof, hurricane windows, hurricane garage door, no trees within striking distance of their home, clean plumbing and electrical.

They didn’t even file a claim for mitigation or repair when Ian hit, which, she said, was a good thing since they were with UPC at the time. (UPC went bankrupt and left tens of thousands of customers who’d been hit hard by Ian stranded.)

The Stotts used to pay roughly $3,000 a year, but under their new company Safe Harbor, their insurance has nearly doubled. And in April 2024, she received a new quote from them, raising it another $600.

"I'm madder than a hornet," Stott said.

Stott says she is contemplating dropping wind from her coverage to save on cost, which is what hurricane or tornado damage mainly falls under. Her experience as a volunteer for the Red Cross's disaster assessment team taught her the value in insuring her home against fire and tornadoes.

Still, after she saw what her neighbors whose insurers paid for repairs went through –– some are still waiting on carrier-approved contractors, while another had their new roofs spring leaks –– she feels going without wind may be the better choice.

“We only hope they’re going to stay in business,” she laughed. “A named storm, a named hurricane, we’ll cover the cost. We’re better off hiring our own contractors."

She hoped legislators took this seriously and took steps to help consumers. Unknowingly, her reasoning echoed O'Harra's.

“Why pay for something where they can go bankrupt and they can say sorry, thanks for the thousands and thousands of dollars you’ve given us over the years?” Stott asked.

Insurance costs rippling across Florida

High insurance costs don’t just affect homeowners: They affect tenants, too.

In Lee County – hardest hit by Hurricane Ian - housing costs surged after the storm destroyed or seriously damaged more than 20,000 structures, displacing thousands into rental units as they waited for their homes to be repaired. And there they have remained.

Rentals still run hundreds of dollars higher a month than the national average. Here, households with an income of less than $87,000 are considered rent-burdened.

While the cost of rentals has dipped across the country, in Lee and other storm-vulnerable parts of Florida, rents have remained high because of costly property insurance, Johnson said. Apartment owners have had to pass these costs on to their renters in the form of higher rent, pushing tenants out or pushing seniors back into the workforce, he added.

“The cost has rippled across Florida,” Johnson said.

Florida property owners already pay more than four times the national average for home insurance, up from triple the national average just last year. The cost of homeowners insurance on average increased more than 40% in the last year.

Legally, the state is firmly in the corner of insurance companies. 

Legislators have tightened the noose around customers in the last five years, repeatedly making it harder and harder to sue insurance carriers. Two years ago the State Legislature left customers responsible for their own attorney’s fees, which lawyers said at the time would have a chilling effect on small claims against carriers.  

While the GOP-led legislature has repeatedly pointed to frivolous or spurious lawsuits against carriers as the reason behind Florida’s high policy costs, the data only somewhat bears that out. 

An Office of Insurance Regulation January analysis of about 60,000 insurance claims filed in 2021 found most claimant lawsuits came only after carriers delayed payment to policyholders, sometimes by more than a year. Per Florida law, carriers have just 60 days to pay or close out a claim, unless it warrants investigation. 

This suggests their own delays may have triggered the lawsuits. 

Jeff Brandes, a Libertarian-leaning Republican former state senator who founded think tank The Florida Policy Project upon terming out, noted that it would take customers years to see the benefits of any market broadening that the 2022 law curtailing policyholder lawsuits triggered, if any. He said in the meantime, homeowners were in an unenviable position.

 “Inflation is going to eat up every penny of that legislation,” Brandes said. He called on the state to take steps to improve the market to entice new insurers to Florida.

“Florida should be doing everything they can to encourage competition. They should be looking at building codes, and everything else. The ugly truth is, they need to raise Citizens’ property insurance rates. Their rates are not actuarily sound. They’re set by politicians, not mathematicians.”

Some, however, say the market isn’t the problem –– it’s lack of regulation itself.

Doug Quinn, executive director of industry watchdog group American Policyholder Association, told The News-Press / Naples Daily News the real reason behind the high premiums is a simple case of mismanagement: insurance companies not holding enough cash in reserve to pay out claims. 

“They treat Florida like a playground,” Quinn said, using Florida homeowners’ premiums to support other ventures, leaving too little cash in reserve to deal with the surge in claims they experience during hurricane season. 

Ultimately, they fold, he said.

Is insurance driving older adults out of Florida?

Some residents say they're taking steps to leave, eager to escape the higher costs. Still others, who love their Florida homes, worry that they'll have no choice soon but to move.

Jeff Petersen lives in Charlotte County, which was also pummeled by Ian as it passed by. Five years ago, his insurance ran $2,800 a year. This year, his insurance renewed at five figures, sans flood.

“Each year it just keeps going up by giant chunks,” Petersen said. “Not only that, but the coverage is less and the deductible is higher. We’re paying more for the coverage and getting less of it.

Despite the fact that he’s paid off his home, he says his annual insurance bills mean he's still struggling financially. He’s had friends leave for North Carolina for a cheaper cost of living, and while he loves the Gulf and the weather, he’s not sure he can hang on much longer. He’s not in a position to self-insure, but the rates just keep climbing.

“I don’t have a mortgage and I own my own home but I don’t know if we’re going to be here next year,” Petersen said. “Like a renter, I have no stability.”

This, he said, is a symptom of a bigger issue: Florida is no longer friendly to those on a budget.

“If the state does want to groom itself for the wealthy, it’s doing a great job,” Petersen said. “I feel like we’re not getting any support from our governor or the state. The middle class are being pushed out.”

While census numbers show that seniors are still moving to Florida in droves, that data lags a year behind; the latest ones are from 2023. Senior service providers and advocates say their data shows something different.

While Florida used to be a destination state for older adults retiring after a lifetime of blue-collar work, with affordable housing and no income tax allowing their dollars to stretch further, those residents are drowning, and few are coming to take their place.

“We’re anticipating trends (in future census releases) that show as many older Floridians leaving as coming in the years to come,” Johnson said. “People move down here because of their heart and they leave because of their wallet.”

Three out of four Florida homeowners have seen their homeowner's insurance increase in the last year, while one in eight saw their policy carrier drop them, a recent survey out of real estate brokerage firm RedFin shows.

One-third of those who lost coverage moved or plan to move as a result of that, they told RedFin.

Evidence shows that many seniors are leaving for “mid-South states,” such as the Carolinas, places that have no or low income tax, less significant threat from extreme weather, and a lower cost of housing and insurance, Johnson said.

Senior Friendship Centers' McLeod noted she, herself, had friends leave for North Carolina, citing a too-high cost of living in Florida.

“I think people of means will continue to move to Florida,” McLeod said. “I think you’ll see fewer people moving here with limited means. The people moving here already with limited means might be faced with difficult decisions.” 

While the lack of income tax in Florida has long attracted older adults, McLeod said, those on fixed incomes can no longer bear the kinds of increases the state is seeing in homeowners insurance. 

But while some people are leaving disaster-prone areas, there are still more people moving to them than leaving, a different Redfin analysis found. Largely, it's because homes in these areas are cheaper.

Then, once the homeowners settle in, the real cost of living in the path of a hurricane hits them. And they're stuck.

McLeod worried that the next named storm would result in entire neighborhoods being abandoned, like some did after Charley in 2004. She recalled visiting her grandparent’s home years after the named storm hit their former street. Homes there were still covered in blue tarps.

Some seniors figure if a big storm hits, they’ll just give up, she said. Walk away and never come back.

"Their backs are against the wall," she said, and Florida stands to lose, should it not be able to keep its older adult population.

"True, you lose part of your tax base," said McLeod. "But then you also lose the richness of those lives lived. Those experiences, the contributions they made to the community and society in general. It’s almost looking at people as disposable and that’s unforgivable."

Kate Cimini is the Florida Investigative Reporter for the USA TODAY-Network Florida, based at The News-Press and The Naples Daily News. Contact her at 239-207-9369 or kcimini@news-press.com.