Florida Approves Transfer of Nearly 229,000 Policies from Citizens to Private Insurers
Florida regulators have approved the transfer of nearly 229,000 personal residential insurance policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation to seven private insurers. This move advances Florida's ongoing efforts to reduce Citizens' role as the insurer of last resort by shifting policyholders back into the private insurance market. Major recipients of these policies include Manatee Insurance Exchange, authorized to take on 76,000 policies, and Florida Peninsula Insurance Company with an approval for up to 40,000 multiperil policies.
Other insurers involved in this depopulation initiative include Mangrove Property Insurance Company, TypTap Insurance Company, American Integrity Insurance, and Patriot Select Property and Casualty Insurance Company. Patriot Select, in particular, has been authorized to assume a significant number of policies in multiple phases during October and November, further enabling Citizens' policy reduction goals. Earlier approvals also allowed Patriot, Mangrove, and Slide Insurance Company to remove over 135,000 policies from Citizens.
As of mid-2024, Citizens Property Insurance held approximately 780,000 policies, marking a considerable decline since its peak of 1.4 million policies in late 2023. This reduction aligns with recent legal reforms enacted by Florida lawmakers aimed at limiting litigation risks for insurers, including restrictions on assignment of benefits and attorney fee provisions. These legislative changes have increased insurer interest in Florida's market, thereby expediting Citizens' depopulation.
Despite shedding policies, Citizens remains the largest writer of homeowners multiperil coverage in Florida in 2024, holding nearly 15% market share based on direct premiums written. Other leading insurers in the state include Universal Insurance Holdings Group, State Farm Group, Florida Peninsula Group, and Slide Insurance Group. The ongoing depopulation process reflects broader regulatory and market dynamics influencing insurer participation and risk management in Florida's residential property insurance sector.