The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has approved the takeout of more than 54,000 residential multiperil policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
According to records at the OIR, Slide Insurance Co. was approved to take out up to 25,000 policies from Citizens; American Integrity Insurance Co. of Florida was approved for 19,386; and Security First Insurance Co., 10,000 policies.
All policies would be assumed from Citizens on May 21.
OIR records show about 20% of policies made available for depopulation were removed from Citizens as of Oct. 17, 2023.
Citizens has been chipping away at its policy count, reporting 1.16 million policies-in-force as of Jan. 31. That figure is lower than any time in 2023, when Citizens’ policy count reached a high of 1.4 million as of Sept. 31, 2023.
Further depopulation of Citizens could occur if a measure to allow surplus lines carriers to make offers on second homes covered by Citizens is approved in the legislature. The bill, S.B. 1716, is making its way through the senate but would need passage by the House of Representatives before the end of the week.
The bill authorizes surplus lines insurers to submit takeout offers to Citizens for secondary residences if the surplus lines insurer has at least an A (Excellent) Best’s Financial Strength Rating. In addition, the surplus lines insurer’s personal lines residential risk program would have to be managed by a Florida resident surplus lines broker, it said.
The bill also bill makes a secondary residence ineligible for Citizens coverage upon receiving an offer of coverage at any rate, and does not require that the offer provide coverage that is comparable to that provided by a Citizens policy, it said.
The top five writers of homeowners multiperil insurance in Florida in 2022, based on direct premiums written, were: Citizens Property Insurance Corp., with 15.62% market share; Universal Insurance Holdings Group, 10%; State Farm Group, 6.68%; Florida Peninsula Group, 4.53%; and Tower Hill Group, 4.44%, according to BestLink.