Citizens Policy Count Reaches All Time Low
The policy count at Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has dropped below 600,000, reaching an all-time low. Citizens was created a dozen years ago with the merger of the Florida Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association and the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association. At that time, the newly combined organization had 602,000 policies. Citizens broke that mark earlier this month when it announced that it had 598,408 policies as of March 13. This is a sharp contrast with Citizens’ high water mark of more than 1.4 million policies a few short years ago.
Several factors have combined to drive Citizens’ policy count down. Florida’s long run of storm-free years have led to reduced reinsurance costs, which in turn has allowed existing insurers to expand their writings and has attracted new entrants to the market. In addition, Citizens’ rates have become more aligned with those in the admitted market as the legislatively-mandated glide path has been in effect for several years.