Florida's state-run Citizens Insurance adds 7,000 policies
With troubles continuing in the homeowners’ insurance market, the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. added about 7,000 policies last week.
Citizens, which was created as an insurer of last resort, had 1,020,202 policies as of Friday, up from 1,013,147 policies a week earlier, according to the Citizens website. With private insurers shedding policies to reduce financial risks and, in some cases, going insolvent, Citizens has more than doubled in size over the past two years.
As illustrations, Citizens had 499,056 policies on Aug. 31, 2020, and 687,079 policies on Aug. 31, 2021, according to data posted on its website.
MORE HEADLINES:
- Florida insurance crisis: Experts fear disaster as more companies have left state
- Florida offers stopgap amid insurance worries
- Florida-based property insurer to exit state, forcing customers to find new coverage
Last week, United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. announced it will be exiting Florida’s troubled homeowners’ insurance market, forcing customers to find new coverage as their policies come up for renewal. The St. Petersburg-based United Insurance Holdings Corp. said it has filed plans to withdraw from what is known as personal-lines markets in Florida, Texas, and Louisiana. It also will file a withdrawal plan in New York.