Citizens in Florida is examining its salary, travel, and management costs.
Citizens currently faces $1.9 billion in expenses every year at the three corporate locations across the state, in order to provide homeowners insurance to policyholders throughout Florida.
The leaders of that state backed insurer are now looking into those costs.
This investigation includes both the pay and the benefits that are being received by its employees, as well as the costs associated with travel, and the expenses relating to its overall structure of management. Simultaneously, these company heads are also defending the price of having sent officials to Bermuda, New York, Zurich, and London, during the negotiation of a couple of bond replacements that had brought about a savings of $47 million.
This homeowners insurance company of last resort was not designed to be as large as it has become.
It had been created in order to provide the residents of the state with a place where they could afford coverage when all other private policies were considered to be cost prohibitive.
Among the areas into which Citizens is examining its homeowners insurance expenses are:
• The necessity for three separate head offices (in Tallahassee, Tampa, and Jacksonville).
• The structure of the organization as a whole.
• Travel costs and expense accounts.
• The pay and benefits packages received by staff.
• The cost of in house staff as opposed to outsourcing some jobs.
Though at first glance it may look as though the salaries that are being paid to the employees of Citizens homeowners insurance are actually below market, as there have not been any increases for cost of living or merit since 2009, when all of the numbers are tallied up, the total is rather different. There are some additional benefits and compensations provided to some of the employees, and that benefit plan – when compared to other insurers – is a rather lucrative one.
It is hoped that this state backed home insurance company’s organizational structure can be overhauled in order to place greater controls over the expenses, even though they are currently at a relatively stringent level.
