Insurance Executive Calls for 92.8% Rate Increase

Citizens Property Insurance Corp in Florida is proposing a 13.5% rate increase for its personal and commercial insurance lines, as revealed during a recent rate hearing. The state-mandated rates are set to ensure that Citizens remains the insurer of last resort, with annual caps on rate hikes in place to prevent excessive increases.

Despite the proposed hike, most policies offered by Citizens would still be competitive compared to the private market. However, to achieve actuarially sound rates, further increases would be needed, especially for personal multiperil policies. Citizens' vice president and chief actuary, Brian Donovan, highlighted the progress made towards achieving actuarial soundness, partly due to improvements in litigation rates for non-catastrophe cases.

While this is positive news for policyholders, Donovan emphasized that there is still work to be done. Legislative reforms have played a role in curbing rate increases, with 2023 home insurance premiums in Florida coming in 80% lower than initially projected. Despite these efforts, Citizens has seen a decrease in policies in force, with numbers dropping from 1.

6 million to 1.2 million in the span of a year. In 2023, Citizens held the largest market share for home insurance in Florida at 18.

57%. This trend reflects ongoing changes in the insurance landscape in Florida and the efforts being made to balance affordability and sustainability in the market.