Florida title insurance rates, explained
Here's the fact that reframes every quote you'll get: in Florida, the title insurance premium is not a market price. It is promulgated — set by state rule (Fla. Admin. Code R. 69O-186.003, under Fla. Stat. §627.782) — and the rate schedule has been the same since 2002. Every title company and title agent in the state charges the same risk premium for the same policy amount. What actually varies between quotes is everything around the premium.
The promulgated rate card
Rates are charged per $1,000 of coverage, in brackets — like tax brackets, each slice of the policy amount is charged its band's rate. The rule rounds any fraction of $100 up to a full $100 first, and the minimum premium for any policy is $100.
Original title insurance (purchases, new policies)
| Coverage amount | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 – $100,000 | $5.75 per $1,000 |
| $100,000 – $1,000,000 | $5.00 per $1,000 |
| $1,000,000 – $5,000,000 | $2.50 per $1,000 |
| $5,000,000 – $10,000,000 | $2.25 per $1,000 |
| Over $10,000,000 | $2.00 per $1,000 |
The owner's and lender's original schedules are numerically identical in the rule — the difference between the policies is what they cover, not what they cost.
Reissue rates (you may qualify and not know it)
| Coverage amount | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 – $100,000 | $3.30 per $1,000 |
| $100,000 – $1,000,000 | $3.00 per $1,000 |
| $1,000,000 – $10,000,000 | $2.00 per $1,000 |
| Over $10,000,000 | $1.50 per $1,000 |
What that means in dollars
- A $300,000 policy costs $1,575 — engine-computed from the rate card above.
- A $500,000 policy costs $2,575.
- Simultaneous issue: buying with a mortgage? When the owner's and lender's policies issue together, the lender's policy costs $25 (up to the owner's coverage amount) — so a $500,000 purchase with a $400,000 loan runs $2,575 + $25 = $2,600, not two full premiums.
- The reissue credit: refinancing within a few years, or buying from a seller who can produce their owner's policy? Coverage up to the prior policy amount reprices on the reissue schedule. A $450,000 policy with a $400,000 prior policy computes to $1,480 instead of $2,325 — a $845 saving most people never ask for. Ask the closing agent; you usually need the prior policy in hand.
Run your own numbers — purchase, refinance, reissue, simultaneous — in the title insurance calculator; it mirrors this exact rate card.
Who pays for it
Florida has no law assigning the owner's policy to either side — it's county custom, and the contract always controls. In most of the state the seller customarily pays for the owner's policy (and picks the title agent); in Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier, Sarasota counties, custom flips it to the buyer. The seller net sheet and county pages carry each county's custom.
If the premium is the same everywhere, why do quotes differ?
- Settlement and closing fees — the title agent's own charges for conducting the closing, searches, and document handling. These are NOT promulgated and genuinely vary; this is the part worth shopping.
- Endorsements — policy add-ons (Florida Form 9, survey, condo endorsements) priced under their own rule subsections.
- Where the premium goes — the promulgated premium is split between the underwriter and the agent; some agents rebate part of their share. The premium itself stays the rule's figure.
Sources
Fla. Admin. Code R. 69O-186.003 "Title Insurance Rates" (effective 1/27/2002, rate subsections 7/1/2002; rule text at flrules.org), under Fla. Stat. §627.782. Every dollar figure on this page is computed from the rule's rate card by the same engine behind the calculator. Educational only — not a quote, a rate commitment, or legal advice; your closing agent's figures control.