Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is set to increase rates for most policyholders in Florida, despite recent statements from Gov. Ron DeSantis (pictured) suggesting that the insurer would implement statewide premium decreases averaging 5.6%.
According to an order issued by Florida Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky, Citizens will raise rates for its multiperil home program by an average of 6.6% and for its wind-only program by 14.5%.
Across all personal residential policies, Citizens’ rates will rise by an average of 8%. Non-primary personal residential policies will see a steeper average increase of 17%. The combined estimated rate increase for all Citizens policies is 8.6%, according to the order.
In a previous statement, DeSantis said that Citizens would be implementing premium reductions, specifically citing that “three-quarters of Miami-Dade” would see lower rates along with a “statewide decrease averaging 5.6%.”
However, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation clarified that only 20% of Citizens policyholders will see lower rates this year, with an average reduction of 5.6% among that segment. The remaining 80% of policyholders will experience an average rate increase of 8.6%, according to Shiloh Elliott, press secretary for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
For 2025, Citizens’ dwelling rates will rise 10.4% for multiperil policies and 17.2% for wind-only policies. The mobile home program will see increases of 21.7% for multiperil and 26.6% for wind-only policies. Mobile home dwelling fire multiperil rates will rise 18.8%, while wind-only rates for that program will increase by 20.3%.
A state law passed in 2021 caps Citizens’ rate increases at 14% for primary residences in 2025, while the cap for non-primary residences is set at 50%.
In comparison, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation approved 2024 rate increases of 11.3% for Citizens’ multiperil home program and 14.6% for its wind-only program.
Other Citizens lines, both personal and commercial, saw rate increases ranging from 7.7% for commercial non-residential multiperil to 24.1% for mobile home wind-only policies, according to a November 2023 order.
Citizens spokesman Michael Peltier said that the 2025 rate adjustments reflect “the many positive developments that have taken place in the Florida property insurance market since our original recommendations were filed.”
The new rates will take effect on June 1. As of Feb. 7, Citizens had 942,810 policies in force, up from 936,182 at the end of 2024, according to the company’s website.
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