Citizens Property Insurance to shed policies in December

TALLAHASSEE – Florida regulators have approved proposals by private insurers to take more than 300,000 policies in December from Citizens Property Insurance Corp., as the state continues to try to shrink the size — and risks — of its insurer of last resort.
A series of orders signed Friday by Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky would allow private insurers to assume up to 310,022 policies from Citizens. That comes after earlier approvals for private insurers to assume hundreds of thousands of policies later this month and in November.
Yaworsky’s orders also came just days before Citizens could face a costly hit from Hurricane Milton, which is expected to make landfall on the state’s Gulf Coast by early Thursday. As of Sept. 20, for example, Citizens had 227,708 policies in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota counties, which could be in the bullseye of the powerful storm.
State leaders have long sought to move policies out of Citizens into the private market, at least in part because of the financial risks if Florida gets hit by a major hurricane or multiple hurricanes. If Citizens wouldn’t have enough money to cover claims, policyholders across the state — including possibly non-Citizens policyholders — could face paying “assessments” to make up shortfalls.
In recent years, Citizens grew to become Florida’s largest insurer as private carriers faced financial problems. As of Friday, Citizens had 1.265 million policies.
A key part of the state’s strategy to shrink Citizens is what is known as a “depopulation” program in which private insurers can seek approval from the state Office of Insurance Regulation to assume Citizens policies.
The orders issued Friday were part of that program. Six insurers submitted proposals in August and, after approval, will be able to take Citizens policies in mid-December. While a maximum of 310,022 policies could be assumed, the actual number likely won’t be that high, based on past depopulation rounds.
American Integrity Insurance Company of Florida was approved Friday to assume up to 102,923 policies, while Slide Insurance Co. was approved to assume up to 75,000 and Southern Oak Insurance Co. was approved to assume up to 50,000. In addition, Manatee Insurance Exchange was approved to assume up to 39,000 policies, Trident Reciprocal Exchange was approved for up to 23,099 and Florida Peninsula Insurance Co. was approved for up to 20,000 policies.
Insurers earlier were approved to assume up to 414,258 policies this month and 235,035 policies in November, according to an Office of Insurance Regulation summary.