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Private Market Shows Willingness to Take Out Citizens' Policies

Governor Charlie Crist boldly tipped the scales of the property market toward a state-sponsored approach when he convinced lawmakers last year to transform Citizens Property Insurance Corporation

By Michael H. Adams | Updated on March 31, 2008

Governor Charlie Crist boldly tipped the scales of the property market toward a state-sponsored approach when he convinced lawmakers last year to transform Citizens Property Insurance Corporation from the state’s market of last resort to a de facto competitive state insurer. At the time, the public policy decision was accompanied by a chorus of concerns among the industry that warned it could lead to an explosion of growth in what is already the state’s number one provider of homeowners’ coverage.

A year later, however, the evidence has borne out that those fears were unfounded at best and premature at worst. Citizens’ population has continued to hold steady despite the decision to roll back rates and expand its coverage to include other risks. As of March, the insurer had 1.25 million policies in force, a number that is actually a small decrease from the 1.3 million policyholders it had in 2006 and 2007. While the stability in the number of Citizens’ policyholders can be attributed to a variety of factors –including the lack of hurricane losses in 2006 and 2007 — the number one reason is far and away the reemergence of the private market and its willingness to assume Citizens’ policies.

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