Video above: As hurricane season looms, new rule could make it harder to join Citizens Insurance
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Citizens Property Insurance Corp’s board of governors unanimously backed a proposal during Wednesday’s meeting that could result in double-digit rate hikes for policyholders.
The new rates would amount to an average 13.5% increase for homeowners covered by a “multi-peril” policy, which Citizens says is its most common.
Condominium owners would see an average 14.2% increase if the new rates are approved by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
According to Citizens, the new rate increase would amount to an average 14% hike across the board – from policies covering renters, to mobile homes, to condos and single family homes. Florida state law curtails increases at 14% for policies covering primary residences and 50% for non-primary residences like second homes.
This talk of rate hikes comes as Florida’s property insurance market is showing signs of improvement after lawmakers passed legislation tackling lawsuits against insurers.
Citizens has 1,202,696 policies as of Friday, according to the insurer’s website, as efforts are made to “depopulate” the policies of customers left with no options other than Florida’s insurer of last resort. The insurer expects fewer policies will be depopulated during the projected “extremely active” hurricane season, but Citizens President and CEO Tim Cerio indicated it may end up with less than one million policies by the end of 2024.
The proposed rate increase would take effect on January 1, 2025.
