State-Backed Citizens Policies Top 1.186M

The state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. added more than 5,000 policies last week as its total topped 1.186 million, according to data posted on its website.

Citizens had 1,186,116 policies as of Friday, up from 1,180,863 a week earlier. Citizens had 1,168,919 policies at the end of March.

Citizens, which was created as an insurer of last resort, has become the state’s largest carrier in recent years as private companies dropped policies and raised rates because of financial problems.

Read: Florida Gov. DeSantis Orders Flags At Half-Staff In Honor Of Pasco County Commissioner Gary Bradford

Citizens reached as many as 1.412 million policies in fall 2023 before seeing reductions because of what is known as a “depopulation” program, which moves customers into the private market.

Regulators have approved proposals by Slide Insurance Co., Security First Insurance Co. and American Integrity Insurance Co. of Florida to take out batches of Citizens policies about May 21 as part of the depopulation program, state records show.

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