'Insurer Of Last Resort,' Citizens Insurance Tops 600,000 Policies

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - Continuing rapid growth, the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. had nearly 610,000 policies as of May 31, according to updated information posted on its website.

Citizens had 609,805 policies, up from 589,041 policies on April 30. With private insurers dropping customers and seeking double-digit rate increases, Citizens' policy count has surged in 2020 and 2021.

As an example, it had 463,247 policies on May 31, 2020 --- representing nearly 32 percent growth during the past year, according to the website.

President and CEO Barry Gilway has said Citizens, which was created as an insurer of last resort, likely will have about 750,000 policies by the end of this year.

Gov. Ron DeSantis last week signed a bill (SB 76) that is designed to help bolster private insurers. The bill includes allowing larger rate increases for Citizens customers.

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