A National Report Puts Collier Near the Top for Home Insurance Increases, and an Industry Expert Disputes It

Insurance is one of the biggest costs of owning a home in Naples, so a headline about it moves fast. According to reporting by WINK News published October 13, 2026, a report from the insurance comparison company Insurify places Collier County near the very top of its national list of counties for the largest increase in estimated homeowners insurance costs during the first six months of 2026.

Insurify's own report, which first appeared in early September and was updated later that month, lists Collier as the only Florida county among the ten counties it identified with the steepest increases. For Florida as a whole, the same report estimated only a small statewide rise. In other words, the report singles Collier out as moving very differently from the rest of the state.

Insurify attributed the rise to hurricane risk and to homeowners moving off Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state-backed insurer of last resort, and onto private carriers, according to WINK News.

Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute, an industry research organization, told WINK News he does not accept the finding. "I can't validate that," he said. "We just don't have any data source that shows that at all."

His organization works from Florida Office of Insurance Regulation data, which tracks what homeowners actually pay. By that measure, WINK News reported, the average Collier premium as of March 31, 2026 was well below Insurify's estimate and only slightly higher than a year earlier. That is a very different picture from a near-record jump.

Friedlander also disputed the Citizens explanation. In his view, the movement of policies from Citizens to private insurers has helped stabilize the market rather than push it up. "We are seeing rates flattening, premiums actually decreasing on average," he told WINK News, describing "a much more robust home insurance market for consumers."

The short answer is that they are not measuring the same thing.

• Insurify estimates a quoted price. According to its published methodology, it prices one standardized policy: a typical single-family frame home with the state's average dwelling coverage, set deductibles including a percentage hurricane deductible, good credit and no recent claims. Its figures come from its own database and rate filings aggregated by Quadrant Information Services.
• The state data reflects what people actually pay. That includes every kind of home, every coverage level and every deductible homeowners chose.
• The time periods are different. Friedlander noted to WINK News that the two sources cover different windows, so their figures are not directly comparable.

One detail worth noticing: Insurify's standard home is a frame house. A great deal of the housing in Naples is concrete block construction with tile roofs, and many newer homes were built to stronger wind codes. A model built around one type of home will not describe every home in the county equally well. That is not a criticism of either source, only a reason to read a single number carefully.

WINK News also spoke with Lissette Santos, a Collier County resident of more than three decades who works as a mortgage loan officer. She said her own premium has climbed steadily over the past few years, and that she recently switched from American Integrity to Orion180 and saved money by doing so.

In her work, she told WINK News, the combined cost of homeowners and flood insurance is shaping what buyers do. Some are looking specifically for homes outside flood zones to avoid a separate flood policy. Others are weighing different cities or holding off. "They have to probably go to a different city, go north, or they're just going to wait. They're going to rent," she said.

That lines up with what I see in practice. Insurance is no longer something buyers price after they fall in love with a house. It belongs at the front of the search, next to the purchase price and the association dues.

Friedlander's advice to WINK News was simple: shop around before renewing, and compare prices for the same level of coverage. With more private insurers competing for business, homeowners have more options than they did a few years ago, and Santos's own switch is an example of that working.

If you are buying, here is how I approach insurance with clients as part of my home buying process:

• Get a real quote on the actual address early. A county average, from any source, is not your premium. Your roof, your windows, your elevation and your flood zone are.
• Ask for the roof age and any wind mitigation report. These documents often matter as much as the home's size.
• Check the flood zone separately. Standard homeowners policies do not cover flood. For waterfront homes in Naples, the flood policy is often the bigger question.
• For condos, understand what the association insures. The building's master policy flows into the dues, so it is part of the cost of owning a Naples condo even if you never see the bill.

For more on how the private market has been shifting, my recent piece on Citizens lifting its pause on new policies covers the Citizens side of the story.

Both Naples and Marco Island sit in Collier County, so this report is about both. Nobody can honestly put a number on how a single estimate like this one affects what a home is worth, and I would not try. What it does change is the conversation: buyers will read this headline, and sellers should be ready with their own documents, a current policy, the roof age and any mitigation features, so the real cost of owning their home is clear.

If you are weighing a purchase, my guide to buying a home in Naples walks through the costs beyond the price. And if you want help comparing the true cost of owning two or three homes on your list, reach out to me directly. This article summarizes public reporting and is not insurance, legal or financial advice for any particular property.

Kris Asquith, Broker Associate at Premiere Plus Realty, (239) 300-1427.