Homeowners in Florida and California Dropped by Their Insurance Companies at Highest Rate in Nation

29.10.25 10:43 Uhr

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla., Oct. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on an analysis of official NAIC data, Weiss Ratings, the nation's only independent rating agency covering insurance companies, reported today that homeowners in Florida and California were dropped by their insurance companies last year more often than in any other state.

WeissRatings.com (PRNewsfoto/Weiss Ratings)

The non-renewal rate was the worst in Florida: Among homeowners with policies in force, 3.35% were dumped by their carriers, often after suffering severe storm damage. Just six years earlier, the non-renewal rate was less than 2%.

In California, after some of the state's worst-ever wildfires, 3.18% of homeowner policies were canceled, the second-highest non-renewal rate in the nation. Even more surprisingly, the rate of non-renewals in the state nearly quadrupled from 2018.

State

Primary
 risk

Rank

 (1 = worst)

Non-renewal of
policies in force (%)

2024               2018

Increase in
non-renewals
since 2018
(times)

Florida

Storms

1

3.35

1.98

1.7x

California

Wildfire

2

3.18

0.82

3.9x

Arizona

Wildfire

3

2.97

0.81

3.7x

Louisiana

Storms

4

2.97

0.55

5.4x

Texas

Both

5

2.62

1.04

2.5x

South Carolina

Storms

6

2.46

0.81

3.1x

Nevada

Wildfire

7

2.31

0.65

3.6x

Mississippi

Storms

8

2.17

0.94

2.3x

Kentucky

Wildfire

9

2.01

0.70

2.9x

Oklahoma

Wildfire

10

2.01

0.66

3.0x

Washington

Wildfire

11

1.86

0.40

4.7x

Virginia

Storms

12

1.83

0.68

2.7x

Utah

Wildfire

13

1.73

0.53

3.3x

Kansas

Wildfire

14

1.71

0.60

2.9x

New Mexico

Wildfire

15

1.66

0.80

2.1x

Average



2.32

0.80

2.9x

Source: Weiss Ratings. Data: National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Market Conduct Annual Statement (MCAS).

Arizona failed to renew 2.97% of its homeowner policies, up 3.7 times since 2018.

Texas was not far behind, dropping 2.62% of homeowners, a pace that was 2.5 times higher than in 2018.

Louisiana reported the most dramatic jump in non-renewal rates in the nation: In 2018, home insurers in the state canceled only 0.55% of homeowner policies. In 2024, they canceled nearly 3%, more than a fivefold increase.

"These surges in policy cancellation rates are shocking," commented Weiss Ratings founder Dr. Martin Weiss. "You'd think insurance companies would want to keep their customers. Telling them to go away in much larger numbers is bad for the company's current business, bad for their future growth and terrible for homeowners who often have no viable alternative."

In 15 disaster-prone states studied by Weiss, the average rate of homeowner policy cancellations by insurers was 2.32% in 2024, or close to triple the rate of 0.8% recorded in 2018.

This is a dramatic change that cannot be explained by pressure on their earnings. Quite to the contrary, official filings by property insurers nationwide reveal that their income from underwriting and investments grew 2.6-fold during the same six-year period.

Separately, a just-released study by the Consumer Federation of America concludes that CEO compensation of 10 major property insurers jumped 27% from 2023 to 2024.

Sadly, non-renewals are just one of many ways home insurers are abusing their customers in the wake of widespread damage from wildfires and storms. The data also reveals surging rates of claims denials and a higher frequency of claims payment delays.

Weiss warned: "If asked by reporters, a knee-jerk reaction of many insurance company executives is often to blame their own customers for filing 'fraudulent' claims or complain that states don't approve 'big enough' rate increases. However, they're unable to explain why the abuses have increased so markedly over the years or why some companies (large and small) have been able to do right for their customers despite everything."

Before buying insurance, Weiss Ratings recommends that homeowners check this list of 143 home insurance companies to see how often they close claims with no payment whatsoever, an indicator of how they treat consumers.

About Weiss Ratings: Weiss rates 53,000 institutions and investments, including safety ratings on insurers, banks and credit unions, as well as investment ratings on stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and cryptocurrencies. Since its founding in 1971, Weiss Ratings has never accepted any form of payment from rated entities for its ratings. All Weiss insurance company ratings are available at https://weissratings.com/en/insurance.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that the Weiss ratings of U.S. life and health insurers outperformed those of A.M. Best by 3-to-1 in warning of future financial difficulties, while also greatly outperforming those of Moody's and Standard & Poor's. The New York Times reported that Weiss "was the first to warn of the dangers and say so unambiguously." Barron's called Weiss Ratings "the leader in identifying vulnerable companies."

Media Contact:
Nicole Brown
Phone: 5612919625
Email: nbrown@weissinc.com

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SOURCE Weiss Ratings