Citizens Property Insurance Corp.’s policy count dropped below 800,000 last week and is projected to plunge to fewer than 654,000 by the end of the year, the state insurer’s top executive said Wednesday.
Citizens drops below 800K policies, expected to fall under 654K by end of year as customers shift to private market Read full article: Citizens drops below 800K policies, expected to fall under 654K by end of year as customers shift to private marketThe game must go on! Get this game-changing charging block for only $16.
99Citizens drops below 800K policies, expected to fall under 654K by end of year as customers shift to private marketExperts say now is the perfect time to shop around for property insurance in Florida, especially as state-backed Citizens Property Insurance prepares for a potential rate hike.policy count dropped below 800,000 last week and is projected to plunge to fewer than 654,000 by the end of the year, the state insurer’s top executive said Wednesday. Citizens Property Insurance is seeing a decrease in policy count. Why experts say this is a ‘huge step toward stability’ Citizens had 777,592 policies on Friday, the lowest number at a comparable time of year since June 2021, according to data on its website. Friday’s total also was down from 820,882 policies a week earlier, amid what is known as a “depopulation” program aimed at shifting customers into the private market. With hurricane season starting June 1, the shifts into the private market will slow in the coming months, but are expected to pick up again in the fall. “Our policy count is going to creep up now, during the hurricane season,” Citizens President and CEO Tim Cerio told members of the Citizens Board of Governors on Wednesday. “The takeouts aren’t happening, and you do have new business coming in. But we are projecting that once the takeouts resume in the fall, that number will drop. Again, we should be, hopefully, knock on wood, just under 654,000 policies .” Citizens was created as an insurer of last resort but became the largest carrier in the state in recent years as private insurers dropped customers and raised rates because of financial problems. State leaders have long sought to hold down the number of policies in Citizens, at least in part because of risks if Florida gets hit by a major hurricane or multiple hurricanes.Citizens reached as many as 1.4 million policies in 2023, but the number has steadily dropped because of the depopulation program and improvements in the private market. Cerio said the improvements are tied to changes passed during a 2022 special legislative session that helped shield insurers from costly lawsuits. “The recovery is there,” Cerio said Wednesday. “You are seeing more and more competition come into the market, which is good for Floridians. It’s good for Citizens, and it promotes a smaller Citizens for us to really return to that role as the insurer of last resort.” But critics of the 2022 law contend it was tilted too far toward insurers and led to homeowners being unable to fight companies over wrongfully denied claims. The Florida House this spring unsuccessfully sought to revise a key part of the law involving attorney fees. Before the law, Florida had what is often described as a “one-way” attorney fee system for property insurance. Essentially, that meant If a policyholder successfully sued an insurer over a wrongfully denied claim, the insurer would be responsible for paying the policyholder’s attorney fees. The law eliminated one-way fees, making each side responsible for their own fees. The House this spring wanted to shift to what is sometimes described as a “loser pays” fee system. If a policyholder sues an insurer, the judge would award attorney fees to whichever side prevails in the case. House Majority Leader Tyler Sirois, R-Merritt Island, said in April that the House proposal would create “balance.” The Senate, however, refused to go along, and the proposal died.Cerio said the improvements in the market have led to a slowdown in the number of new policies coming to Citizens, while the depopulation program has led to large numbers of customers periodically moving to private insurers. Through the program, carriers can seek approval from state regulators to take out batches of policies that they find appealing. As an example, three insurers were approved by the state Office of Insurance Regulation to take out policies last week — Patriot Select Property and Casualty Insurance Co., Mangrove Property Insurance Co. and Slide Insurance Co., according to state records. The depopulation program, however, can lead to higher costs for customers shifted to private insurers. That is because of a law requiring Citizens customers to accept offers of coverage from private insurers if the offers are within 20 percent of the cost of Citizens premiums. For instance, if a homeowner received an offer of coverage from a private insurer that is 19 percent higher than the Citizens premium, the homeowner would have to accept it.Citizens Board of Governors member Charlie Lydecker on Wednesday said the insurance system has been “fortified through the reforms” in the 2022 law. But he said the next step is for consumers to benefit. “I don’t think the credit’s going to be felt amongst our customers, consumers, until rates flatten, until their premiums flatten,” Lydecker said. “And that would be my goal is to see premiums flatten.”Jim has been executive editor of the News Service since 2013 and has covered state government and politics in Florida since 1998.The game must go on! Get this game-changing charging block for only $16.99
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