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Fla. Approves Removal Of 60,000 Additional Citizens Policies

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) – Be prepared to get new property insurance if you currently have Citizens Property Insurance.

The Office of Insurance Regulation announced that 60,000 policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corp will be taken by private carriers as the state attempts to whittle away at the 1.4 million policies now held by the state-backed insurer.

Florida Peninsular Insurance Co. will take an additional 10,000 policies, bringing its Citizens takeout total to 45,000.

American Integrity Insurance Co. will take 50,000 policies.

The takeouts will begin in November.

"It is encouraging to see the commitment of these domestic companies to bring more jobs as well as additional insurance capacity to Florida," Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said in a statement.

Citizens' policyholders will be notified of the take-out request (assumption) on Oct. 1 and have 30 days to accept or decline the offer.

If policyholders do not respond, they will be transferred to the private company on Nov. 6.  Earlier this month, OIR approved another 150,000 policies to be acquired by four Florida domestic companies beginning in November.

Florida lawmakers have tried for years to shrink Citizens in hopes of reducing the insurer's market exposure and the commensurate financial risk to millions of Floridians. Citizens' was originally designed as the insurer of last resort for home and business owners in high-risk areas. It instead became the state's largest property insurer.

"The News Service of Florida contributed to this report."

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