Private insurers get the okay to take Citizens Property Insurance policies in Florida

homeowner's insurance — Property insurance. by designer481 via iStock for WMNF News.

Florida regulators Thursday approved proposals by three insurers to take up to 54,386 policies from the state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. in May.

The approvals, signed by Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky, are part of what is known as a “depopulation” program aimed at moving policies from Citizens into the private market.

Insurers have received a series of approvals in recent months to remove batches of Citizens policies.

The approvals Thursday would allow Slide Insurance Co. to remove up to 25,000 policies; American Integrity Insurance Co. of Florida to remove up to 19,386 policies; and Security First Insurance Co. to remove up to 10,000 policies.

Based on past depopulation efforts, the insurers will not take the maximum number of policies.

Citizens, which was created as an insurer of last resort, has become the state’s largest property insurer during the past three years as private insurers have dropped customers and raised rates because of financial problems.

Citizens reached as many as 1.412 million policies in fall 2023 before seeing reductions because of the depopulation program.

It had about 1.164 million policies as of last week.