By January, there will be tens of thousands of consumers who will no longer be covered by the state-backed company.
January is coming ever closer, and by that time the homeowners insurance from Citizens that is currently covering a large proportion of the property owners in the Florida will be shrinking by tens of thousands of policies.
By that point, policyholders will no longer have the choice as to whether or not they remain with Citizens.
This should not come as a complete surprise to many of the people in Florida, as this homeowners insurance company has been working for many years to slim down its size and the number of homes that it covers. In fact, this specific move has been many years in the making, as there has been a continual drive by the state to direct consumers away from Citizens, in favor of smaller sized private insurers so that the burden that would be associated with a massive hurricane would be more evenly distributed.
The idea of losing this homeowners insurance and having to go elsewhere is a daunting one for many consumers.
Homeowners insurance customers are now wondering what they will be doing next. This will create a very different dynamic in the property coverage market within the state. However, this is not the first time that the company has dumped a large number of its policyholders in an attempt to rein in its massive – and rapidly growing – size.
The majority of companies that have taken on the previous Citizens home insurance policies over the last ten years have not yet had to experience a major hurricane. Among the 29 insurers that had, at some point, been endorsed by the state, six have already gone under despite the fact that a costly storm has not been a part of the mix during that time. This placed the state in a position in which $400 million in unpaid claims had to be covered, meaning that they were paid by the taxpayers when all was said and done.
Among those 29 state authorized companies for taking over the homeowners insurance policies from Citizens, nearly all are able to increase rates by as much as they want when policies are renewed, as they are not limited by the same restrictions imposed on Citizens. It is this type of data that is leaving property owners concerned about their coverage future in the state.
