Citizens Property Insurance To Exceed 1 Million Policies In 2022

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - The state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has topped 800,000 policies and will exceed 1 million this year amid problems in the private insurance market, Citizens President and CEO Barry Gilway said Wednesday.

Gilway told members of the agency's Board of Governors that Citizens is adding roughly 5,500 policies a week and pointed to what he called a "continuing deterioration" in the private market.

Citizens had 801,341 policies Wednesday, up from about 570,000 policies in March 2021. Private companies are shedding policies and seeking hefty rate increases, driving homeowners to Citizens, which was created as an insurer of last resort.

Gilway said insurers are losing money in Florida and are "terrified" about potential costs of reinsurance, which is critical backup coverage that insurers buy.

"Just a sea of red ink, and that's not going to go away anytime soon," Gilway said.

The Board of Governors meeting came after lawmakers last week ended the regular legislative session without passing a bill to deal with property-insurance problems.