Insurance for Florida Snowbirds: Your Car, Your Seasonal Home and the Months You're Away

October is when the license plates start to change in Lakeland. Cars from Ohio, Michigan, New York and Ontario show up in driveways and RV sites from Winter Haven to Lake Wales and Haines City, and many stay until spring. If that’s you, Florida is home for half the year, and its insurance rules apply to you in ways that catch a lot of seasonal residents off guard.

Two questions matter most: when Florida requires its own car insurance on your vehicle, and how to protect a Florida home that sits empty while you’re gone. Here’s how both work as of October 2026, and what to sort out before the season ends.

When does a snowbird need Florida car insurance?

Once your car has been in Florida for more than 90 days in a 12-month period. Section 627.733(2), Florida Statutes, says every nonresident owner or registrant of a motor vehicle that, “whether operated or not,” has been physically in the state for more than 90 days during the preceding 365 days must keep Florida’s required security in force for as long as the vehicle stays here.

Florida’s required security is $10,000 of personal injury protection (PIP), which pays part of your own medical bills after a crash regardless of fault, and $10,000 of property damage liability (PDL), which pays for damage you cause to someone else’s property. Our Florida car insurance requirements guide covers both in detail.

A few things to know about the 90-day rule:

• It counts days, not trips. The test looks back over the preceding 365 days. A snowbird who arrives in early November and leaves in April is well past 90 days.
• Driving doesn’t matter. A car parked in a carport counts the same as one you drive every day.
• Your home-state policy may not be built for it. An out-of-state auto policy may not include Florida PIP. Ask your carrier, in writing, whether your policy meets Florida’s requirements while the car is here.
• There’s one narrow exemption. Section 627.733(5) exempts a service member called to active duty outside the United States in an emergency, only while the car isn’t being driven by anyone.

Should you register the car in Florida?

Usually not, if you live elsewhere and the car is properly registered in your home state or province: section 320.37, Florida Statutes, exempts it from Florida registration. That exemption has limits worth knowing before the season starts:

• Taking a job in Florida ends it. Under section 320.38, a nonresident who accepts employment or works in a trade, profession or occupation here, or who enrolls children in a Florida public school, must register their vehicles in Florida within 10 days. Migrant and seasonal farm workers are excepted. The statute doesn’t set aside part-time or seasonal jobs outside farm work, so if you plan to work while you’re here, ask your agent about Florida registration and a Florida policy first.
• RVs and mobile homes kept here six months or more. The exemption doesn’t apply to a recreational vehicle or mobile home located in Florida for at least 6 consecutive months (section 320.37(2)).
• A Florida plate means a Florida policy. If you do title and register a car here, FLHSMV requires Florida PIP and property damage liability on it, and it says coverage must be kept regardless of where the vehicle is. That includes the months the car spends up north with you.

Where you legally live also has tax and legal sides beyond insurance. If you’re making Florida your permanent home, our moving to Florida insurance checklist walks through the order of operations.

Can you drop coverage on a car you leave in Florida for the summer?

Not if it keeps a Florida registration. FLHSMV says a registered vehicle needs continuous coverage “even if the vehicle is not being driven or is inoperable.” Its instruction for anyone who wants to stop paying for insurance is to surrender the license plate before canceling the policy, not after.

Skipping that step can be expensive. FLHSMV says a lapse can lead to suspension of your driving privilege and license plate for up to three years, and a reinstatement fee of up to $500. There’s no hardship license for an insurance-related suspension.

If your car sits in a Polk County garage from May to October, talk with your agent before you leave. Depending on the carrier, there may be ways to lower the premium while the car is stored and still keep Florida’s required coverage in place.

How do you protect a Florida home that’s empty half the year?

Start by matching the policy to how you actually use the home. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, according to the National Hurricane Center, so most snowbirds are away for nearly all of it.

Recent storms show why that matters. Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida on September 28, 2022, and the National Hurricane Center’s report lists Polk among the counties north of the storm’s center where flooding occurred. Hurricane Milton made landfall at Siesta Key on the night of October 9, 2024, and crossed the peninsula before moving into the Atlantic near Cape Canaveral. Both arrived before many seasonal residents had come back for the winter.

Tell your insurer the home is seasonal

Insurers may rate and write a seasonal or secondary home differently from a primary home. If your policy was written as a primary residence and you’re actually here five months a year, that’s a conversation to have with your agent now, not after a claim. Ask:

1. Is this policy written for a primary, seasonal or secondary home?
2. How does the policy define “vacant” and “unoccupied,” and does any coverage change after the home has been empty for a set number of days?
3. Are there conditions I have to meet while I’m away, such as keeping heat or air conditioning on, shutting off the water, or having someone check the home?
4. What’s my hurricane deductible, and what would I pay out of pocket on my dwelling limit?

Know your hurricane deductible

Florida’s hurricane deductible is separate from your regular deductible and is usually a percentage of your dwelling limit (Coverage A). Under section 627.701, Florida Statutes, insurers must offer $500, 2%, 5% and 10% options (the $500 option isn’t required on homes insured for $250,000 or more), and it applies on a calendar-year basis to all hurricane losses with the same insurer or insurer group. If a second hurricane damages the home the same year, the insurer can apply whichever is greater: what’s left of your hurricane deductible or your regular deductible for other perils. On a home insured for $300,000, a 2% hurricane deductible means you pay the first $6,000 of covered hurricane damage. Our hurricane deductible guide works through more examples.

Decide on flood before you leave

Homeowners policies don’t cover flood. If you want flood coverage, buy it before you head north. FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) coverage generally starts 30 days after purchase. FEMA lists a few exceptions, such as no wait when the policy is bought while making, increasing, extending or renewing a mortgage, and a one-day wait when a property has just been mapped into a high-risk flood zone. Private flood insurers set their own waiting periods. Ian’s flooding in Polk is a reminder that it’s worth looking up your flood zone even if you’re not in a high-risk area. Our flood insurance guide for Lakeland and Polk County explains how to look up a property.

A before-you-leave checklist for snowbirds

Use this the week before you close up the house for the summer:

1. Confirm your car coverage. Florida PIP and PDL in force if the car stays here and keeps its registration. If you’re taking a Florida-registered car north, keep its Florida coverage and tell your carrier where it will be kept.
2. Read your home policy’s vacancy wording. Write down anything you have to do while the home is empty.
3. Arrange a home check. Ask a neighbor, friend or property manager to look in regularly and after any storm, and leave them your agent’s and insurer’s contact information.
4. Shut off the water at the main if your policy or common sense calls for it, and leave the air conditioning set to control humidity.
5. Secure the outside. Store patio furniture, grills and planters that can become debris, and know who will put up shutters if a storm threatens.
6. Take a quick home inventory. Walk through each room with your phone’s video camera. It makes a claim much easier to document.
7. Put documents where you can reach them. Keep your policy numbers and claim phone numbers in your phone, not just in a drawer in Florida.
8. Decide on flood coverage now, at least 30 days before you’d want it in force.

What about golf carts, renters and rentals?

Golf carts and LSVs. FLHSMV doesn’t require PIP or property damage liability on a standard golf cart, but a low-speed vehicle must stay titled, registered and insured with both. Before you store one for the summer, read our golf cart and LSV insurance guide.

Renting a seasonal place. If you rent a condo or home for the winter, the owner’s policy covers the building, not your belongings or your liability. A renters policy may fill that gap; ask about one when you sign the lease.

Renting your home out while you’re gone. Short-term rental changes the risk, and a standard homeowners policy may not cover it. If you’re thinking about it, read our vacation rental insurance guide and talk with your agent first.

What to have ready before you request a quote

• Your current auto declarations page, plus the VIN, garaging address and how long each car stays in Florida
• Your Florida home’s current declarations page and roof age
• Your most recent wind mitigation and 4-point inspection reports, if you have them
• The months you’re usually in Florida, and who checks on the home while you’re away
• Any golf cart, LSV, boat or RV you keep in Florida

As an independent agency in Lakeland, we compare options from several carriers, and we can tell you which ones may fit a seasonal home. You can start a quote online any time, including from up north. Coverage can’t be bound or changed through a website submission; a licensed agent will confirm the details with you first.