However, efforts to manage the insurance crisis in the state haven’t relieved the pressure of some residents who have been hit hard by increased premiums.

“People are hurting,” wrote Chris M. “No one wants to pay that much money for insurance. I live on a fixed income. I can’t sell my house, and I can’t refinance. If things don’t change I might have to walk away.”

“It’s out of control. It’s completely off the charts,” said Fehrs on the cost of her property insurance.

While this is standard practice, it’s now happening at alarming rates. It used to happen once every so often, but thousands of Floridians are now being forced out of their homes and being made homeless.

“It’s gone up, went up immediately after the hurricane, and it hasn’t gone back down. That’s for sure,” said Ford, a Fort Myers homeowner.

“The insurance situation in Florida is a nightmare”, Ann S. told Newsweek. “Many people are leaving the state. Our Michigan neighbors had a second home in Florida, on Pine Island, and their insurance went up to over $18,000 for one year this year after [Hurricane] Ian. They sold the house and left Florida.”

Many residents reported that their home insurance company had utterly dropped the ball when they were claiming the damages their property received due to the hurricane, which made them lose their trust in these companies.

Some are cutting back on parts of their policies that they don’t feel are necessary to pay for. Some are entirely dropping their insurers and don’t have any home insurance. Others have chosen to leave the Sunshine State to live somewhere with cheaper home insurance.

Even if residents are not forced out of their homes, they still choose to live in their cars because that is cheaper than living in a house.

“Because we are not Florida residents, this year Citizens added a 40 percent surcharge for non-Florida residents to our policy. We now pay $1,000 more for our insurance on the park model in Florida than we do for 2 houses insured for 5 times the amount of our park model in Michigan,” said Ann S.

“The high cost and availability of property insurance is an issue that impacts all of us, and Florida TaxWatch once again reminds policymakers that while initial measures in bringing premiums down and attracting insurance companies into the market — and ending frivolous lawsuits — show promise, it will take continued vigilance,” said Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic Calabro.

When he called his insurance agent for advice, he got something he didn’t expect. He told him to pay off his mortgage and self-insure himself, as that is the cheapest option. He did just this and dropped his insurance company entirely.

“As people are trying to combat inflation, they’re trying to combat high prices everywhere, when you have to worry about your homeowner’s insurance. That’s another thing that can push you out of the state,” Cannan said.

This is because the worse climate change gets, the more extreme weather is experienced. As Florida tends to have a lot of extreme weather, it will only drive up insurance premiums.

“Over the last two decades, the Florida homeowner’s insurance market has suffered from a convergence of natural, financial and regulatory disasters that set it apart from most other states,” Martin D. Weiss, founder of rating agency Weiss Ratings, told Newsweek.

Prices are expected to rise by an average of 6% in 2024. However, any state subject to severe weather conditions, such as Florida, can expect a 23% rise in home insurance premiums.

This is driving many people out of the Sunshine State and is also causing people who may have once been considering moving to Florida to choose to live elsewhere.

It has been predicted that there will be at least 30 named storms in the hurricane season, which is record-breaking and will come as bad news for Florida residents.

“Rising levels of storm damage, the highest failure rate in the U.S., the departure of larger national companies, plus a regulatory environment and severely biased insurance company rating that obscured the weaknesses,” Weiss said.

Somewhat surprisingly, it would also hurt home insurance companies. While the more prominent companies should still be alright, the smaller companies will be hurt the most.

These solutions include direct subsidies, allowing state-run insurance to cover more homes, lowering the cost of reinsurance, and increasing insurance company transparency.

They also reinstated a program that gives grants to homeowners who take steps to fortify their homes to prevent damage from hurricanes which can reduce the help needed from an insurer after a disaster.

Even though insurance rates are technically on the increase, they aren’t increasing as much as they have in previous years, which insurance companies hope their customers will be happy with.

“Triple-I’s researchers noted the significant difference was due to the positive impacts of legislative reform that addressed rampant legal system abuse and claim fraud that led to the state’s risk crisis,” Triple-I director Mark Friedlander told Newsweek. “These reforms were not anticipated when Triple-I’s premium estimate was made.”