Despite Gov. Ron DeSantis recently touting lower premiums, customers at Tampa Bay Civic Property Insurance companies have seen an average premium increase of over 12% this year.
At a press conference in February, Desantis emphasized that 20% of civic policyholders across the state will reduce premiums, with most bailouts coming in South Florida.
However, the majority of the approximately 1 million policyholders across the state will make even more payments starting June 1st. In Tampa Bay, the price increase is almost universal as a typical homeowner pays hundreds more dollars.
Citizens are the last resort insurance companies for Florida’s state-owned insurance companies, designed to cover property owners who are unable to obtain coverage from the private market.
In Tampa Bay, 98% of more than 147,000 homeowners with the most common insurance policies for citizens’ detached homes can see interest rate hikes.
The average premium for these policies increases by 13% in Hillsboro and Pasco counties and 12% in Pinellas. The average increase for Hillsborough and Pinellas is above $300, while Pasco is an increase of $295.
Still, the policies covered by citizen fees are lower than if Florida’s Department of Insurance and Regulation approved an increase in our original rate.
In June 2024, citizens requested an average 13.5% increase for single-family homeowners. Regulators cut the proposal to 6.6%.
Civic spokesman Michael Peltier said the rates need to be increased because the rates are not “appropriately sound” and are meaningful enough to pay the expected losses.
The average citizen rate should rise by 55% to reach the sound level, a nationally set standard.
Citizens were designed to be a safety net for homeowners struggling in the private market rather than an economic option. But state policies also limit the speed at which citizens can raise prices.
Citizens don’t raise prices as quickly as private insurance companies. Over the past five years, average citizen premiums have increased by 30%, while private insurance companies have doubled.
Citizens are Florida’s leading insurance company, which has grown to 20% since covering about 5% of their insurance six years ago, said Divya Sangam, an insurance expert and spokesman for LendingTree. Citizens have gained clients as private insurance companies raised prices and withdrew from the state.
Sangam said in an analysis by her company that she found that about one of five Florida homeowners had fully acquired insurance “because they are very limited and very expensive options are available.”
The state is working to move many citizen clients to private insurance companies through what is known as “depopulation programs,” and touts the fact that some private insurance companies have entered the market in recent months.
