ORLANDO, Fla. — 2024 Florida Chamber Annual Insurance Summit this week delivered signs of hope for the state’s insurance marketplace.

Experts at the conference said home insurance rates have stabilized and the average rate increase for homeowners is 0.8%.

This follows years of property owners experiencing unprecedented rate increases and non-renewal notices.

Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky, who spoke at the summit, said things have improved greatly over the past two years.

“The true average homeowners insurance is about $3,600, which is no picnic," he said. "But we have seen that stay stable over the past year.  As where in prior years, we saw that grow exponentially in 2022, when we had that huge crises moment."

Officials at the summit said a combination of unrelenting storms, underfunded insurance companies and lawsuits were making the state’s insurance market unsustainable.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation reports Florida accounts for only 9% of the nation’s claims but 79% of homeowners insurance lawsuits.

Over a 10-year time frame, the office said 71% of the $51 billion paid by Florida insurance went to attorney fees and adjusters, while only 8% went to the people making the claims.

Yaworsky said reforms are in place and should be allowed to work within the marketplace.

“What I can promise to homeowner is that the reforms are working, and we are seeing that spread out in a pretty big way," he said. "I want them to know as the office of insurance regulation, we have their back. And if they have an issue with their insurance policy, with their insurance company, we want to know about it.  Because we will look into it, we will investigate the matter. And we will hold them accountable, if necessary."

Experts report catastrophic claims are down even while 75% of Floridan’s live near coastal areas.

Executive Vice President of Florida’s Chamber of Commerce Frank Walker said getting homes up to hurricane standards over the years has made a difference.

“The past several storms that came through Florida, those built up to the most recent hurricane codes, they are far better than those structures, weren’t as hardened as others,” said Walker.

Insurance broker Michael Dehlinger, who has been selling insurance since 1987, said the governor’s insurance reform efforts, which included reducing lawsuits, is helping the industry and benefiting homeowners and brokers.

“You know, two, three years ago, we would have 10 quotes on homeowners, and eight of them were going to go Citizens," Dehlinger said. "And we would only have two of them that would qualify somewhere else at a decent rate. Now were probably writing seven of them in the private market vs. three in citizens."

Florida is the ninth largest insurance market in the country.