The one price nobody can discount
The premium is set by law. Who pays it is set by your contract.
In Indian River County the seller customarily pays for the owner’s title insurance policy. Custom is not law, no government source states it, and Paragraph 9(c) of your contract is what decides. Here is what the premium costs, why every company quotes the same number, and what is negotiable.
On this page
A promulgated rate
How much does title insurance cost in Florida?
Florida sets the title insurance premium by administrative rule, so a $400,000 owner’s policy costs $2,075 at every title company in the state.
Rule 69O-186.003, Florida Administrative Code, holds the numbers. It was last amended 27 January 2002 and the rates took effect 1 July 2002, so anyone advertising 2026 rates is quoting the 2002 schedule.
Amount of coverage
Rate per $1,000
$0 to $100,000
$5.75
Over $100,000 to $1 million
add $5.00
Over $1 million to $5 million
add $2.50
Over $5 million to $10 million
add $2.25
Over $10 million
add $2.00
Brackets are cumulative. Minimum premium $100.00. Rule 69O-186.003, F.A.C.
Purchase price
How it is figured
Premium
$250,000
(100 × $5.75) + (150 × $5.00)
$1,325
$300,000
(100 × $5.75) + (200 × $5.00)
$1,575
$400,000
(100 × $5.75) + (300 × $5.00)
$2,075
$500,000
(100 × $5.75) + (400 × $5.00)
$2,575
$750,000
(100 × $5.75) + (650 × $5.00)
$3,825
The higher rate applies to the first slice, the lower rate to the excess.
Section 627.780
Charging anything other than the promulgated premium is illegal.
Section 627.780, Florida Statutes, says a person “may not knowingly quote, charge, accept, collect, or receive a premium for title insurance other than the premium adopted by the commission.”
Section 627.782 is what tells the Financial Services Commission to set those rates. The same coverage costs the same in Sebastian and in Miami. On a $100,000 policy, the Department of Financial Services says, everyone “should be charging the exact same base premium rate of $575. No more. No less.” A quote that undercuts the premium is not a better price.
The money nobody asks for
What is the reissue rate, and how do you get it?
If the seller still holds the owner’s policy from when they bought, your policy can be written at the reissue rate, which on a $400,000 purchase is $1,230 instead of $2,075.
Amount of coverage
Rate per $1,000
Up to $100,000
$3.30
Over $100,000 to $1 million
add $3.00
Over $1 million to $10 million
add $2.00
Over $10 million
add $1.50
Minimum reissue premium $100.00. Rule 69O-186.003, F.A.C.
It requires only that a previous owner’s policy was issued and that a copy can be produced. Sellers: hand yours to the closing agent with the contract. It is the easiest money in a Florida closing and it goes missed because nobody asks.
Where agencies differ
The premium is fixed. The fees around it are not.
Everything on the closing statement except the promulgated premium is unregulated, and the settlement fee is where agencies actually differ.
The Department of Financial Services guide is direct: “the agent’s portion of the premium, as well as title agency fees, may be negotiated.” So compare:
The settlement or closing fee, which varies by hundreds of dollars
The title search charge and the municipal lien search
Courier, wire, e-recording, document preparation and endorsements
Comparing premiums is comparing one number to itself.
Custom, honestly
Who pays for the owner’s policy in Indian River County?
Custom in Indian River County points to the seller, but no statute, rule or government source says so, and your contract decides it either way.
County custom is not law, so no agency tracks it. We looked for a Department of Financial Services statement, a Florida Realtors chart, an Indian River County Bar position and the contract’s own text. None assigns a county default.
How confident anyone can actually be
The county charts realtors pass around come from title companies and lead generation firms, not from government. They are often undated and they disagree with each other.
Every one names the same buyer-pay list: Broward, Miami-Dade, Collier and Sarasota. Indian River is on none of them, which is an inference from absence.
The closest local source is a Vero Beach attorney’s closing guide, listing the owner’s premium among what the seller typically pays. Not an authority.
No source names Indian River County explicitly, so our confidence is moderate. Brevard rests on a title company’s own page, modified September 2022.
Who customarily designates the closing agent, as opposed to paying for it. We found no source for either county, so we are not going to tell you.
Custom is a negotiating position. On new construction the builder usually requires its own company and the buyer pays.
The checkbox that decides
What does Paragraph 9(c) of the FAR/BAR contract say?
Paragraph 9(c) of the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar “AS IS” contract is three checkboxes with no county-custom default, and whichever one is marked decides both who pays for the owner’s policy and who designates the closing agent.
9(c)(i) — Seller designates the closing agent and pays for the owner’s policy and charges
9(c)(ii) — Buyer designates the closing agent and pays for the owner’s policy and charges
9(c)(iii) — the Miami-Dade and Broward regional provision, not used here
The party who pays is the party who picks. One checkbox, filled in by a person, and the county gets no vote.
The lender’s policy
Do you need an owner’s policy if the lender already has one?
The lender’s policy insures the lender’s loan balance and pays you nothing. When both are issued at the same closing the lender’s is charged at a simultaneous-issue rate rather than a second full premium, so declining your own saves far less than people expect.
Yours covers the purchase price and lasts while you or your heirs hold an interest. Title insurance looks backward, at what already happened and has not surfaced: a forged deed, an undisclosed heir, an unrecorded lien. Decline yours and the lender’s is written on its own at the full rate. You pay close to the same money and insure somebody else.
Comparing premiums is comparing one number to itself.
Read the whole statement
Four figures on your closing statement, each with an authority behind it.
The premium is fixed by rule. Three of the four figures below are taxes, not anything a title company charges. Every one is checkable against the statute or fee schedule named under it.
$5.75
Owner’s title insurance premium
per $1,000 to $100,000
Rule 69O-186.003, F.A.C., rates effective 1 July 2002. Above $100,000 it is $5.00 per $1,000, or the reissue rate if a prior policy exists. Customarily the seller here.
$0.70
Documentary stamps on the deed
per $100 of the price
Section 201.02, Florida Statutes, rounded up to the next whole $100. That is $2,800 on a $400,000 sale. Customarily the seller.
$5.50
Doc stamps on the note and intangible tax
per $1,000 borrowed
$0.35 per $100 on the note under s. 201.08 plus $2.00 per $1,000 of mortgage under s. 199.133. Customarily the buyer, and cash buyers pay neither.
$10.00
Recording, first page
then $8.50 each after
Indian River and Brevard County Clerk published fee schedules, plus $1.00 per name over four. Buyer for the deed and mortgage, seller for anything recorded to cure title.
On a $400,000 loan the financing taxes take $2,200 before a page has been recorded.
Asked at the table
The questions people actually ask.
Five questions that come up on almost every file where the premium is the thing people are worried about.
Can I negotiate who pays for the owner’s policy?
Yes, because nothing in Florida law assigns it: county custom sets the opening expectation and Paragraph 9(c) sets the outcome.
If the seller pays, does the seller choose the title company?
Under the FAR/BAR contract yes, because 9(c)(i) hands over the cost and the designation right in one checkbox, though RESPA bars a seller from requiring a particular company where a federally related mortgage loan is involved.
I am paying cash. Do I still need an owner’s policy?
No lender will force you, which is the problem: nobody is underwriting the file but you, and the whole purchase price rides on the state of the title.
What is a municipal lien search and why is it on my statement?
Code fines, unpaid utility balances, open permits and special assessments do not always appear in the public records search, and the lien search catches them.
Do I need an owner’s policy on new construction?
Yes, and more than on a resale, because unrecorded liens from unpaid subcontractors are a live risk and the builder’s title company is working the builder’s file.
Read it yourself
Sources.
Every statute, rule and rate on this page, linked to the primary source so you can read it yourself. This is general information about Florida law and local practice, not legal advice, and it does not replace the terms of your contract.
Florida statutes, rules and state agencies
s. 627.780, F.S. — Illegal dealings in premium
s. 627.782, F.S. — Adoption of rates
Rule 69O-186.003, F.A.C. — Title insurance rates
s. 201.02, F.S. — Tax on deeds
s. 201.08, F.S. — Tax on notes and mortgages
s. 199.133, F.S. — Nonrecurring intangible tax
Florida Department of Revenue — Documentary stamp tax
Florida DFS — Title insurance overview
Florida DFS — A Guide to Title Insurance, December 2022
Indian River Clerk of the Circuit Court — fee schedule
Brevard County Clerk of Courts — fees and charges
Florida Realtors / Florida Bar “AS IS” contract, ASIS-6x Rev. 7/23
Not government. Private companies’ own pages, and what county custom rests on
Jennifer D. Peshke, P.A., Vero Beach — a law firm’s description of local closing practice
Weston Title & Escrow — a title company’s page on Brevard County, modified September 2022
LeRose Title — a title company’s county chart, September 2025
Key Title & Escrow — a title company’s county chart
Easy Title Search — a title company’s county chart
Keep reading
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