Tampa Bay 28 anchor Paul LaGrone introduced the insurance story with a hard number that sets the mood fast: a 2024 report found up to 20% of Florida homeowners have dropped property insurance completely.
LaGrone said Florida is now the highest in the nation for that kind of decision, and he used the industry phrase for it – “going bare.”
He also pointed out the detail that makes this possible for some people: if your mortgage is paid off, you can legally go without property insurance.
But LaGrone didn’t treat it like some clever hack or a loophole.
He framed it as a huge gamble, because the whole point of homeowners insurance is protecting the one asset most people can’t replace if disaster hits.
Co-anchor Wendy Ryan picked up right where LaGrone left off, saying plainly that it’s “really big risk,” and she tied it to a specific case Tampa Bay 28 reporter Nadeen Yanes brought to the station.
Wendy Ryan told viewers a Tampa homeowner felt he had “really no choice” after his premium soared to over $14,000, and that he made that call after watching one of Nadeen Yanes’ earlier reports.
That little detail matters, because it shows how people process these stories.
They hear officials say things are improving, then they open their own renewal notice, and the math doesn’t match the optimism.
One Homeowner’s Breaking Point In Tampa Heights
In her report, Nadeen Yanes focused on a Tampa Heights homeowner named Slake Counts, a man she described as someone who has spent a career in acting and anthropology.
Yanes used Counts’ own story to show what “going bare” looks like in real life.
Counts told Yanes he watched her report, heard what sounded like hopeful messaging about the market getting better, and then went back to check his own paperwork.
In his words to Yanes, he listened to those “words of hope,” but when he looked at his policy invoice, he said he “didn’t get that connection.”
Counts told Yanes there was a “disconnect,” and that disconnect is basically the emotional moment where a homeowner realizes the system isn’t bending back toward normal for them.
Yanes then showed the number that pushed him over the edge.
His renewal total due: $14,523, a figure Yanes repeated clearly because it’s the kind of number that doesn’t sound real until you see it.
Yanes explained he had already tolerated increases before, but this was where he decided to stop absorbing the hit.
Counts told Yanes he didn’t want to drop coverage, and he didn’t even want to do it the year before, but the latest jump made him feel like he had reached the “fish or cut bait” moment.
Yanes also included the scary part that comes right after the decision.
Counts received a formal notice explaining that once the policy lapses, there is no protection beyond the lapse date.
Yanes asked him directly if it was scary.
Counts answered that it was, which is important because people who drop insurance aren’t always acting carefree.
Sometimes they’re scared and doing it anyway, because the alternative feels like slow financial suffocation.
That’s the core of what makes this trend so unsettling.
It’s not that people suddenly stopped believing in risk.
It’s that they feel priced into taking risk.
Why Some People Feel “Tired Of Insurance”
To explain the broader pressure behind Counts’ decision, Yanes brought in insurance agent Jake Holehouse, who didn’t sound surprised at all.
Holehouse told Yanes he thinks the overall consumer sentiment is that people are tired of insurance.
He said it’s expensive, coverage feels thinner than people expect, and it’s been years of rate increases without the relief of payouts that make customers feel like they’re getting value.
Holehouse’s point, as Yanes presented it, wasn’t “insurance is useless.”
It was more like: even people who understand insurance can still feel drained by it, especially when the bill goes up and the protection feels full of exclusions and fine print.
Yanes’ reporting made it clear this frustration isn’t confined to one neighborhood in Tampa.
When Paul LaGrone cited up to 20% of Florida homeowners dropping coverage, and when Wendy ryan called it a growing issue, it painted the picture of a statewide pressure cooker.
And it’s hard not to see why.
In Florida, homeowners aren’t just thinking about the typical stuff like kitchen fires or break-ins.
They’re also thinking about storms, wind damage, hurricanes, flood concerns, and everything that comes with living in a state where weather can turn into headline news overnight.
This is the most dangerous part of the whole story: when a huge share of homeowners start “self-insuring” without the savings to actually self-insure.
That’s not independence.That’s exposure.It’s a financial tightrope, and one bad day can snap it.
The Options Before You Drop Coverage Entirely
Even though Holehouse understood why people feel squeezed, Yanes emphasized that he still urges homeowners to consider other options before going fully bare.
The first option Holehouse gave Yanes was simple: keep at least liability coverage.
Holehouse said at minimum he recommends people carry liability, which is basically protection if someone gets hurt on your property – slip-and-fall type claims that can get expensive fast.
Yanes clarified what that means in practical terms, because homeowners sometimes confuse liability coverage with property coverage.
Holehouse described it as that basic “someone falls, someone sues” kind of protection.
It doesn’t rebuild your house, but it can keep a lawsuit from becoming a financial wrecking ball.
Holehouse’s second option, as Yanes reported it, is dropping wind or hurricane coverage while keeping other protections.
He told Yanes that if you exclude wind, you can still have coverage for a kitchen fire, a pipe break, or a break-in.
This is the kind of option that sounds insane at first – Florida without wind coverage – but it also shows how distorted the market has gotten.
People are now choosing which disasters they can “afford” to fear.
Holehouse’s third option was the one that sounded the most like a long-term strategy instead of a partial retreat.
Yanes reported that he suggested home improvements like a new roof, hurricane clips, and shutters – things that can lower rates.
Holehouse gave Yanes a rough example that makes the logic easy: spend $15,000 on a roof, and if your rate drops from $14,000 to $4,000, then the roof effectively pays for itself quickly.
That kind of math is appealing, but it also reveals the uglier truth: homeowners are being pushed to spend big money upfront just to make insurance “possible” again.
If you’re wealthy, you can treat that like a project. If you’re not, it can feel like yet another locked door.
The Trap Door Called A “True Lapse”
Yanes didn’t just talk about options. She also focused on the warning Holehouse wanted people to hear loud and clear.
He told Yanes that once you have a true lapse in coverage, it becomes very hard to get insurance again.
Holehouse explained that many carriers require proof of prior coverage within 45 to 60 days.
And he spelled out why insurers do it: they don’t want people dropping coverage at the end of hurricane season and then buying it back right before the next storm cycle starts.
That rule might make sense from a business standpoint, but for homeowners it acts like a trap door.
Once you step off the policy, you may not be able to step back on when you change your mind.
Yanes framed this as part of the reason dropping insurance is so risky.
It’s not just the risk of being uninsured today. It’s the risk of being locked out tomorrow. And in a state where weather and insurance markets both feel unpredictable, that’s a harsh place to be.
This is where the “going bare” trend stops sounding like a personal decision and starts sounding like a systemic alarm.
If large numbers of people can’t afford coverage, and they also can’t easily re-enter coverage later, the state starts building a bigger pool of homeowners one disaster away from total ruin.
“Priced Out Of Paradise” And What Comes Next
At the end of her report, Yanes brought the story back to Counts, because he’s not just dropping a policy – he’s questioning whether Florida still makes sense for him at all.
Counts told Yanes he’s looking at other options in his life that might not require him to keep living in Florida, or even Tampa.
Yanes summarized it plainly: he’s weighing whether the “price of paradise” is becoming too high. Counts told her he isn’t the only one in that boat, and that a lot of people are being priced out.
That’s the line that sticks, because it’s bigger than insurance.
It’s about whether the basic promise of homeownership – stability, predictability, a place you can hold onto – still works when the carrying costs swing wildly year to year.
Paul LaGrone’s opening statistic about up to 20% going bare, Wendy Ryan’s warning that it’s a massive risk, and Yanes’ close-up reporting on Counts all point to the same conclusion.
Florida homeowners aren’t just shopping for policies anymore.
Some are shopping for exit ramps.
And if the market doesn’t stabilize in a way that feels real on people’s renewal notices – not just in press conferences – this trend is only going to spread.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.
