By Core 4 Insurance Team · Licensed Florida Insurance Agency · Miramar, FL
Five companies write about 78% of Florida’s auto market — and for 2026 they filed an average rate change of about −8%, with one cutting as deep as 16.5%. Here is who actually writes coverage here, where each tends to be competitive, and exactly how we built this comparison.
If you own a home in Hollywood with a 2003 roof, or a coastal condo in Broward, there is a real chance your insurance is not what you think it is. Not worse necessarily — but structurally different, with a protection you probably assume you have and do not.
Florida's property market has pushed an enormous amount of residential business into the surplus lines market over the past several years. Most homeowners could not tell you which side of that line their policy sits on.
Here is how to tell, and why it matters.
What is the difference between admitted and surplus lines insurance?
The short answer: An admitted carrier is licensed by Florida, files its rates and forms for state approval, and participates in the state guaranty fund. A surplus lines carrier does none of those things — which is exactly why it can write risks the admitted market declines.
Both are legitimate. They are regulated differently on purpose.
| Admitted | Surplus lines | |
|---|---|---|
| State licensing | Certificate of authority from the Florida OIR | Not licensed in Florida; eligible to write surplus lines |
| Rate approval | Rates filed with and reviewed by the OIR | Not rate-regulated by the state |
| Policy forms | Filed and approved; often based on standard forms | Manuscript forms; wording varies by carrier |
| FIGA protection if insolvent | Yes, subject to caps | No |
| Appetite | Narrower — declines older roofs, coastal exposure, prior claims | Broader — written specifically for harder risks |
| Taxes and fees | Standard | Surplus lines premium tax plus FSLSO service fee |
| Written disclosure required | No special disclosure | Yes — agent must disclose the FIGA gap in writing |
Structural comparison as of August 2026. Verify any specific carrier's status using the company search on the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation website — an authorization type of "Certificate of Authority" indicates an admitted carrier.
What does FIGA actually cover, and what does it not?
The short answer: FIGA pays covered claims when an admitted Florida insurer becomes insolvent — up to $500,000 on homeowners building and contents claims. It explicitly does not cover surplus lines policies.
The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association was created by the Legislature in 1970 and is funded by assessments on admitted carriers. Its membership is all Florida licensed direct writers of property or casualty insurance.
FIGA states the exclusion plainly: an insolvent company does not have guaranty association coverage if the product was written as non-admitted or unlicensed, such as surplus lines.
That is the single most important sentence in this article. Everything else is trade-offs; this one is a structural difference in what happens on the worst day.
What changed in 2025 with Florida's diligent effort rule?
The short answer: Florida eliminated it. Agents previously had to document declinations from admitted carriers before placing a risk in the surplus lines market. HB 1549 removed that requirement, making surplus lines placement faster and more common.
Under the old rule, an agent generally needed three declinations from authorized insurers before going to surplus lines — reduced to one declination for residential structures with replacement costs of $700,000 or more.
HB 1549 removed those requirements. The Florida Surplus Lines Service Office described the change as expanding consumer options and enabling quicker placement.
This is recent enough that a great deal of published guidance still describes the old three-declination rule as current. It is not.
When does a Florida home end up in the surplus lines market?
The short answer: When admitted carriers decline the risk — most often over roof age, coastal exposure, prior claims, or an unusual property. In Broward, roof age is the leading cause.
Surplus lines is not a punishment. It is the market that exists for risks standard carriers have decided not to price.
If you were non-renewed and landed here, our guide on what to do when your Florida home insurance is non-renewed covers the sequence of options in order.
How do you tell which market your policy is in?
The short answer: Look for the surplus lines disclosure and the surplus lines tax on your declarations page. Florida requires your agent to tell you in writing, before binding, that the policy is not protected by FIGA.
- Check for the FIGA disclosure. Surplus lines placements require written notice that the policy is not protected by the guaranty association.
- Look at the taxes and fees line. A surplus lines premium tax and an FSLSO service fee are strong indicators.
- Read the carrier name carefully. Many groups operate both admitted and non-admitted companies under similar names.
- Search the OIR company database. An authorization type of "Certificate of Authority" means admitted.
- Ask your agent directly. "Is this policy admitted or surplus lines?" is a one-sentence question with a one-word answer.
- Check at every renewal. Placement can move between markets year to year as carrier appetite shifts.
What should you read differently in a surplus lines policy?
The short answer: The form itself. Admitted policies typically follow standard industry wording; surplus lines carriers write manuscript forms that can differ materially — and nobody at the state reviewed them for you.
With an admitted policy you get a form the Office of Insurance Regulation approved. With surplus lines you get whatever the carrier wrote, which is the flexibility that makes the market work and the risk that makes it worth reading.
- Roof settlement basis. Replacement cost versus actual cash value on the roof is the single largest dollar variable in a Florida claim.
- Water damage sublimits. Non-weather water losses are frequently capped well below the dwelling limit.
- Hurricane deductible structure. Confirm the percentage and what triggers it.
- Ordinance or law coverage. Broward's building code can force upgrades during a rebuild that the base limit will not fund.
- Exclusions unique to the form. Manuscript wording is where surprises live; read the exclusions section specifically.
- Carrier financial strength rating. More important here than anywhere else, because FIGA is not behind it.
What does this mean for Broward homeowners specifically?
The short answer: Broward's mix of coastal exposure and aging housing stock pushes a disproportionate share of homes toward surplus lines — and the split runs roughly east to west across the county.
The pattern is geographic and fairly predictable.
Coastal Broward — Hollywood beach, the barrier island, older Fort Lauderdale housing — carries the combination that admitted carriers avoid: wind exposure plus pre-code construction plus roof age. Those homes land in surplus lines most often.
Western Broward — much of Miramar, western Pembroke Pines, Weston — is newer, built under the strengthened code, and generally still attractive to admitted carriers.
How does surplus lines compare to Citizens?
The short answer: Citizens is a state-created insurer of last resort with eligibility restrictions and assessment risk. Surplus lines is private capital with broader appetite and no guaranty fund backing. They solve the same problem differently.
Many Broward homeowners assume the choice after a decline is Citizens or nothing. Often there is a third option.
Citizens has eligibility rules that turn on whether comparable private coverage is available, and policyholders carry exposure to assessments in a severe storm year. Surplus lines carries no assessment exposure and no FIGA protection.
Which is better depends on the home, the price difference, and the carrier's financial strength rating — which becomes considerably more important when there is no guaranty fund behind it.
We compare the state-backed option in detail in Citizens vs private home insurance in Florida.
The bottom line on admitted vs surplus lines in Florida
Most Broward homeowners do not know which market their policy sits in, and it is one of the few facts about a homeowners policy that changes what happens in a genuinely bad scenario.
Admitted means the state reviewed the rate and the form, and FIGA stands behind the claim if the carrier fails — up to $500,000 on a homeowners loss. Surplus lines means broader appetite, unregulated pricing, manuscript wording, and no guaranty fund at all.
Neither is the right answer for everyone. But since Florida removed the diligent effort rule in 2025, the path into surplus lines has less friction than it used to — which makes it more important, not less, that somebody checks the admitted market on your behalf first.
That check is what an independent agency is for. Call (954) 420-1501 and we will tell you which market you are in and whether you have to be. Disponible en español.
Home insurance by city
Which market your home lands in depends heavily on where and when it was built. These local guides cover the markets we write in most:
- Miramar, FL insurance guide — newer western construction, inland
- Pembroke Pines insurance guide — condo, HOA and 55+ coverage
- Hollywood, FL insurance guide — coastal exposure and older housing stock
- Florida Home Insurance Guide — statewide overview
- Wind mitigation inspections — how to widen your carrier options
Keep reading
Guides that pair naturally with this one:
- how Florida law splits condo coverage
- home coverage for Florida retirees
- what Florida homeowners are paying
- what is a 4-point inspection
- renters insurance in Florida
About this guide
Who wrote it. Written and reviewed by the Core 4 Insurance team — licensed Florida insurance producers based in Miramar, Broward County. As an independent agency we place business in both markets, and we disclose which one a policy sits in as a matter of routine.
Where we work. Statewide across Florida, with our office and deepest local experience in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.
How we source it. Guaranty fund coverage and payout caps come from the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association. Carrier admitted status can be confirmed through the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation company search. The 2025 change to the diligent effort requirement reflects House Bill 1549 as reported by the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office.
Regulator. Core 4 Insurance is licensed by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
Last reviewed by the Core 4 Insurance Team on September 1, 2026. Florida's surplus lines rules changed in 2025 and market conditions continue to move — we re-verify quarterly. For the broader picture, see our Florida Home Insurance Guide.