Citizens Rate Filing Approved for PLA
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation had its first rate increase in several years approved by Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty on October 29, 2009. The Order approves rates for the Personal Lines Account and the Mobile Homeowners Physical Damage Accounts and Commercial Lines Accounts.
The order approving the filing does not address the High Risk Accounts (coastal territories with high hurricane exposures). A hearing is scheduled for November 10 for those rates.
A public rate hearing was held in the Tallahassee on Oct. 19 to consider the rates that were approved. The approved rates are close to the rates filed by Citizens, but not identical. The order notes that under Section 627.351(6)(n)5, Florida Statutes, the Office must “establish” rates for Citizens as opposed to reviewing and either approving or disapproving the rates submitted by Citizens. Finally, the law prohibits an increase from any policyholder that exceeds 10%, so this limited the size of some of the increases. The condo rates are slightly about 10% because OIR read the law to permit pass on the cost of annual premium paid to the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund to policyholders – even where that causes the overall increase to exceed 10%.
The following are the statewide average rate increases approved in the order.
Personal Lines Accounts:
Homeowners: 5.4 percent
Dwelling Fire: 8.8 percent
Mobile Homeowners: 1.7 percent
Mobile Homeowners Physical Damage Accounts and Commercial Lines Accounts (CLA):
Mobile Home Physical Damage: 2.1 percent
Commercial Property Residential-Condo Assoc.: 10.2 percent
Commercial Property Residential-Ex-wind-Condo Assoc.: 10.2 percent