What is Citizens Insurance?
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is Florida's state-backed insurer of last resort. It was created by the Florida Legislature in 2002 to provide homeowners insurance to Florida residents who cannot find coverage in the private market at affordable rates.
Citizens is not a private insurance company — it is a government entity created by statute and overseen by a board of governors appointed by Florida's governor and legislative leaders. When private insurers wouldn't write policies in Florida at affordable rates, Citizens stepped in as the safety net.
Citizens currently insures approximately 1.4 million Florida properties — making it the largest property insurer in the state. This is a major concern for Florida's financial stability: if a major hurricane strikes, Citizens may not have sufficient reserves to pay all claims without a special assessment on all Florida insurance policyholders.
Who qualifies for Citizens Insurance?
To be eligible for Citizens Insurance in Florida, homeowners must meet certain criteria:
- The property must be in Florida — Citizens only covers Florida properties
- Private market unavailability — You must be unable to obtain comparable coverage from a private insurer, OR private market coverage must cost more than Citizens' rate by a certain threshold
- The property must be insurable — Citizens has its own underwriting standards. Homes with certain conditions (very old roofs, some locations) may not qualify
- Primary residence or eligible secondary property — Citizens covers primary residences, secondary homes, and commercial properties under certain conditions
Citizens can cover you if the cheapest private market quote you can find is more than 20% higher than Citizens' rate for comparable coverage. This threshold was recently increased as part of Florida's insurance reforms — part of the effort to shrink Citizens' exposure by pushing homeowners back to the private market.
What does Citizens cover?
Citizens offers standard homeowners insurance coverage including:
- Dwelling coverage — repairs or rebuilds your home after a covered loss
- Personal property — your belongings inside the home
- Liability protection — if someone is injured on your property
- Additional living expenses — temporary housing if your home is uninhabitable after a covered loss
- Wind/hurricane coverage — Citizens does cover hurricane damage, which is one reason it became so popular when private insurers started excluding wind
Why does the state want you to leave Citizens?
Florida's government has been actively trying to shrink Citizens through a process called "depopulation." Here's why:
Citizens is backed by the state of Florida. If a massive hurricane hits and Citizens cannot pay all claims, Florida can levy a special assessment on every insurance policyholder in the state — not just Citizens customers — to cover the shortfall. With 1.4 million policies, Citizens' exposure is enormous.
The state incentivizes Citizens customers to move to private insurers through "takeout" programs — where private companies offer to assume Citizens policies. If a takeout offer comes and you decline it, Citizens may not be able to cover you any longer if the private offer is within certain rate thresholds.
If you receive a takeout offer from a private insurer and decline it, Citizens may be required to non-renew your policy if the private offer is within 20% of Citizens' rate. Always carefully evaluate takeout offers — some private insurers offering to assume Citizens policies have later become insolvent. Research any private insurer's financial stability before accepting a takeout offer.