Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Florida’s last-resort property insurer, announced in March that it had gained more than 25,000 policies.
On March 31, 2020, the insurer had 446,327 policies, and on March 31, 2021, it had 569,868 policies.
According to CBS Miami, the insurer had a total of 817,926 policies as of March 31, up from 792,616 at the end of February.
Due to rising financial concerns in the private insurance industry, policyholders began flocking to Citizens over the last two years. Major hurricanes have made providing insurance in Florida financially dangerous, forcing private insurers to either raise their premiums dramatically, discontinue renewals, exit from the market, or possibly declare for bankruptcy as a result of the large losses they have incurred.
Increased lawsuits and fraud activity have resulted from Florida’s restricted insurance pool, putting additional pressure on insurance costs.
The announcement of Citizens’ policyholder surge comes after the insurer recently recommended an 11 percent rate hike. During a hearing on the proposal, President and CEO Barry Gilway explained that the increase was essential because the insurer had a $166 million underwriting loss last year and had been paying out more claims than it was earning.
