Insurer aims to become more consumer friendly by getting rid of additional policies
Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance is looking to become more consumer friendly by shedding additional policies in order to become more financially sustainable. Over the past four years, Citizens, which is the last resort provider of homeowners insurance policies for consumers in the state, has shed approximately 1 million policies. These policies have been transferred to private insurers that are honoring the policies that were initially sold by Citizens. The insurer has been shedding these policies in order to address financial issues that had been caused by economic downturn and natural disasters.
130,000 policies could be transferred to other insurers by 2016
Citizens has been the target of harsh criticism over how it handled the transfer of homeowners insurance policies, which has created more pressure for the insurer to become consumer friendly. The board governing the insurer believe that shedding more policies may help the organization better focus on the policyholders it still has. The board is currently considering dropping another 130,000 homeowners insurance policies by the end of 2016, with these policies being taken up by private insurers.
Consumers that stay with Citizens may see their insurance costs rise
Many consumers may be able to keep their policies with Citizens, but at a high cost. The insurer has already begun sending letters to policyholders, informing them that they may face dramatic assessment charges if they keep their Citizens policies. Other information provided to consumers also includes data concerning premium increases coming from the private companies that are taking up old Citizens policies. Consumers have the chance to opt out of being transferred to other insurance providers.
Homeowners insurance is growing more expensive for many consumers in Florida
Homeowners insurance coverage has become an expensive issue in Florida. While the state has managed to avoid any significant natural disaster for the past several years, but the financial damage caused by catastrophes in the past are still being felt, especially by insurers. Citizens and several other companies have been raising premiums in order to ensure financial recovery from the losses that these catastrophes caused.
