Citizens Policy Count Plummets
Citizens had 569,495 policies as of Friday, down from 768,643 policies a week earlier, as the depopulation program continues.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — With private insurers scooping up customers, the state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. shed nearly 200,000 policies last week – and was at its lowest total since 2021, according to newly released numbers.
Citizens had 569,495 policies as of Friday, down from 768,643 policies a week earlier, the numbers show. Citizens had 552,340 policies on Feb. 28, 2021, before steady increases that peaked at 1.4 million policies in September 2023.
With what is known as a “depopulation” program shifting customers into the private market, Citizens estimates it will have about 430,000 policies at the end of 2025, spokesman Michael Peltier said Tuesday in an email. That would be the lowest year-end total since Citizens had 427,397 policies at the end of 2018.
Citizens was created as an insurer of last resort but became Florida’s largest property insurer in recent years because of problems in the private market.
After hitting the peak in 2023, the policy count has gradually decreased, with state and insurance-industry leaders saying changes made by the Legislature have attracted private carriers. Those changes focused heavily on helping shield carriers from lawsuits.
A key to the reductions has been the depopulation program, which allows private insurers to seek approval from state regulators to periodically assume batches of Citizens policies. The depopulation program slowed in recent months amid the hurricane season but exploded last week with 199,434 policies assumed, according to Citizens numbers.
That included Slide Insurance Co. assuming 60,186 policies; Manatee Insurance Exchange assuming 50,822; Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Co. assuming 19,466; Tailrow Insurance Exchange assuming 19,199; and Mangrove Property Insurance Co. assuming 15,691.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation also has approved additional depopulation rounds in mid-November and mid-December.
State leaders and Citizens officials have long sought to reduce the size of Citizens, at least in part because of financial risks if Florida gets hit with a major hurricane or multiple hurricanes. If Citizens couldn’t pay all of its claims, it could collect additional money from policyholders throughout the state – including possibly non-Citizens policyholders – to cover costs through what are known as assessments.
But the depopulation program can have a downside for policyholders, who might see their rates increase. That is because of a law making customers ineligible to remain with Citizens if they receive offers of coverage from private insurers that are within 20% of the cost of Citizens premiums. For example, if a homeowner received an offer of coverage from a private insurer that is 19% higher than the Citizens premium, the homeowner would not be eligible for Citizens coverage.
© 2025 The News Service of Florida. All rights reserved.