Florida business insurance requirements

Florida requires workers' compensation at four employees, but at one in construction, and it counts the owners: corporate officers and LLC members are employees unless they file an exemption. There is no state disability or paid leave program. The auto minimum is personal injury protection plus $10,000 of property damage, with no bodily injury requirement for most vehicles. The 2023 HB 837 reforms rewrote liability law, and the property market still leans on Citizens and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.

Workers' compensation requirements

Under Fla. Stat. 440.02, "employment" covers private businesses with four or more employees and, in the construction industry, any business with one or more. The Division of Workers' Compensation reads both counts to include owners who are corporate officers or LLC members (coverage requirements). Agricultural employers come in at six regular employees or 12 seasonal workers who work more than 30 days in a season or 45 days in a year. Domestic servants in private homes are excluded.

Owners get out by exemption, not by omission. An officer of a corporation, or a member owning at least 10% of an LLC, may file a notice of election to be exempt with the Division, online, signed personally (exemptions). In construction the rules tighten: no more than three officers of a corporation or affiliated group may be exempt, each must own at least 10% of the stock, and sole proprietors and partners in construction are employees by definition. Outside construction, sole proprietors and partners are not employees unless they elect in. See can owners and officers exclude themselves from workers' comp?.

Enforcement is the part to respect. The Division serves a stop-work order on an employer it finds uninsured, effective at every worksite in the state, and posts it on its website for at least five years. On top of that comes a penalty equal to twice the premium the employer would have paid at manual rates over the preceding 12 months (24 months for repeat violators or concealed payroll), with a $1,000 minimum, $1,000 a day for operating under the order, and $5,000 for each worker misclassified as an independent contractor (440.107(7)). Understating payroll or misreporting duties to get a cheaper class code counts as failing to secure coverage. See independent contractors and workers' comp: the misclassification risk.

There is no state fund. Employers the voluntary market turns down apply to the Florida Workers' Compensation Joint Underwriting Association. Florida is a full-rate state: NCCI files rates, not just loss costs, with the Office of Insurance Regulation. NCCI requested a 6.9% decrease for January 1, 2026 and has asked for a further 7.4% decrease for January 1, 2027; OIR's public hearing on the 2027 filing is October 27, 2026 (OIR).

Disability and paid leave mandates

Florida has no state temporary disability insurance program and no state paid family or medical leave program as of 2026. Short-term disability is voluntary; see group short- and long-term disability insurance for employers. Employers with staff in mandate states should check state disability and paid family leave programs: every mandate in 2026.

Commercial auto requirements

To register a vehicle with four or more wheels, Florida requires $10,000 of personal injury protection (PIP) and $10,000 of property damage liability (FLHSMV). PIP pays 80% of reasonable medical expenses up to $10,000 regardless of fault (627.736). Bodily injury liability is not a registration requirement for most vehicles; taxis must carry $125,000/$250,000/$50,000. Heavier commercial vehicles have their own floors under 627.7415: $50,000 combined for 26,000 to under 35,000 pounds, $100,000 for 35,000 to under 44,000, and $300,000 at 44,000 and up. Vehicles subject to 49 CFR part 387 must match the federal amounts, $750,000 for general freight; see FMCSA insurance requirements and filings for motor carriers.

Do not let the registration minimum set your limits. A business whose driver injures someone with no bodily injury coverage in place pays that claim itself, and contracts with general contractors and shippers typically demand $1 million or more. See commercial auto insurance: what it covers and what it leaves out.

The business insurance market in Florida

Property is where Florida is different. The Legislature found that private insurers "are unwilling or unable to provide affordable property insurance coverage" to the extent needed and created Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, "a government entity" and not a private insurer, to write for residents and businesses who cannot find coverage, including commercial residential and commercial nonresidential risks (627.351(6)). The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, set up after Hurricane Andrew, reinsures residential policies, condominium association and apartment policies included (215.555). Expect percentage named storm deductibles: how percentage wind deductibles work on any coastal quote; see florida's commercial property insurance market.

Flood is excluded from standard property forms. NFIP commercial policies top out at $500,000 for the building and $500,000 for contents, and the program is authorized only through December 11, 2026 (FEMA).

Surplus lines premiums carry a 4.94% premium receipts tax, collected from the insured (626.932). The Florida Surplus Lines Service Office fee fell to 0.03% for policies effective on or after July 1, 2026, from 0.06%, and commercial property policies carry a $4 EMPA surcharge (FSLSO). See surplus lines taxes, stamping fees and diligent search.

Liability law that affects premiums

HB 837, signed March 24, 2023 (ch. 2023-15), is the reform underwriters still talk about. It replaced pure comparative fault with a modified rule: a party "greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm may not recover any damages," except in medical negligence cases (768.81(6)). It cut the negligence limitations period from four years to two for claims accruing after it took effect, repealed one-way attorney fees against insurers, set standards for bad-faith claims and for proving medical damages, and created a presumption against liability for multifamily owners that meet specified security measures. See tort reform and liability insurance: what changes for business buyers.

Under 95.11, negligence actions have two years and actions on a written contract five. Construction defect suits have four years from the certificate of occupancy or completion (or discovery of a latent defect), with a seven-year outside limit. Contractors should know 725.06: an indemnity clause covering the other party's own fault is void unless it carries a monetary limit tied to the contract, and an owner's limit may not be less than $1 million per occurrence.

Insurers based in Florida

• FCCI Insurance Group is headquartered in Sarasota. Its 2025 commercial premiums were $1.27 billion, led by commercial auto, based on NAIC 2025 market share data.
• American Coastal Insurance, based in St. Petersburg, writes commercial residential property: condominium associations, HOAs and apartments ($612.6 million in 2025).
• Fortegra, a Tiptree company headquartered in Jacksonville, writes specialty and E&S lines ($1.33 billion in 2025).

Where to get help

• Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (floir.gov): 850-413-3140. OIR licenses insurers and approves rates. Consumer help and complaints go to the Department of Financial Services Division of Consumer Services, 877-693-5236 (850-413-3089 from out of state).
• Division of Workers' Compensation (myfloridacfo.com/division/wc): 850-413-1609 for exemption and compliance questions. NCCI answers class code questions at 800-622-4123.
• FWCJUA (fwcjua.com) for employers without a voluntary market.

Confirm your obligations with the Division or a licensed broker, and compare states with the workers' comp and benefits requirements by state.