Florida Citizens Property Insurance Co.'s Board of Governors approved a 2016 rate package that will lower rates for nearly half of Citizens' personal lines policyholders. The package will also respond to increased water loss claims and continued inadequate rates for its remaining policyholders along the coast, Citizens said in a release about the approval.
The board unanimously voted for an overall rate increase of 3.2% for personal lines policyholders, which will be submitted in July to the Office of Insurance Regulation for approval. Most of the increases will target property owners along the Florida coast and in South Florida, where rates continue to be inadequate, says Citizens.
Under the proposed rate changes, coastal homeowners will see average multiperil increases of 8.6%, while mobile home owners and condominium owners will see a 10.2% rate increase. Personal lines policyholders in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties will see the bulk of higher rates under the legislative glide path established to bring those rates in line with the private market.
Policyholders living inland will see rate reductions of 1% for multiperil rates and inland mobile home owners will see 7.4% rate reductions.
In its release, Citizens explains the overall increase is being fuelled by a continued spike in water loss claims in southeast Florida and the transfer of coastal policies with nearly adequare rates to private insurance companies. Since January 2014, nearly 550,000 policies have been transferred from Citizens to private companies.
As the state's insurer of last resort, Citizens currently covers 573,000 personal lines customers. Nearly half of those customers (255,000) are expected to see lower rates.
For more information about Citizens' 2016 rate filing, click here.
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