TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida regulators this week approved proposals by three insurers to take as many as 135,540 policies in June from the state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp., as some carriers use the process of assuming Citizens policies to help fuel growth.
Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky signed three orders that will allow Mangrove Property Insurance Co., Patriot Select Property and Casualty Insurance Co. and Slide Insurance Co. to take policies as part of what is known as a “depopulation” program aimed at reducing the number of Citizens customers.
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Mangrove, which was approved to enter the state’s insurance market in January, will be able to assume up to 81,040 policies from Citizens in mid-June. Patriot Select was approved to assume up to 39,500, and Slide was approved to assume up to 15,000.
Citizens, which was created as an insurer of last resort, ballooned in recent years to become the state’s largest insurer amid financial problems in the private industry. The depopulation program is a key part of state efforts to shift policies back into the private market — and reduce risks to Citizens if hurricanes hit.
Citizens reached as many as 1.4 million policies in 2023, but several rounds of the depopulation process and other changes in the market helped shrink it to 851,210 policies as of last week. In addition to the policy assumptions approved for June, companies also have been approved to use the process to take policies in late March, April and May.
A new state report showing residential policy counts at the end of 2024 offers a glimpse of how the depopulation process has helped lead to growth for some insurers.
As an example, Slide, which has been highly active in the process, had 341,200 residential policies as of the end of 2024, up from 209,799 policies a year earlier, state numbers show. Similarly, American Integrity Insurance Co., which has been highly active, had 339,960 residential policies at the end of 2024, compared to 272,519 policies a year earlier.
As another illustration, Mangrove, the new insurer, has been approved to assume up to 81,040 Citizens policies in April, along with the 81,040 approved to be assumed in June.
By comparison, State Farm Florida Insurance Co., which is the state’s largest private property insurer and has not been involved in the depopulation program, had 647,467 policies at the end of 2024, little changed from its 634,858 policies a year earlier, the state records show.
Various factors go into carriers’ decisions about writing policies, and companies can write new coverage along with assuming Citizens policies. But through the depopulation process, approved carriers can target batches of appealing policies.
While regulators approved up to 135,540 policies for assumption in June, the actual number of customers moving out of Citizens likely will not be that high.
State leaders have long sought to hold down the number of policies in Citizens, at least in part because homeowners throughout the state — including possibly non-Citizens policyholders — could get hit with extra charges, known as assessments, if Citizens didn’t have enough money to pay claims after a storm.
But the depopulation program also can lead to higher costs for customers shifted to private insurers. That is because of a law requiring Citizens customers to accept offers of coverage from private insurers if the offers are within 20 percent of the cost of Citizens premiums. For example, if a homeowner received an offer of coverage from a private insurer that is 19 percent higher than the Citizens premium, the homeowner would have to accept it.
