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The Citizens Property Insurance Board of Governors this week will consider a proposal that could lead to average rate increases of 7.3% percent for homeowners.
The proposal also could lead to average increases of 10.8% for condominium unit owners and nine percent for renters, according to the state-backed insurer.
The board is scheduled to consider the proposal during a meeting Wednesday.
Ultimately, the state Office of Insurance Regulation would have to sign off on any increases, which would take effect in August.
The proposal comes as Citizens grapples with the addition of thousands of policies a week as struggling private insurers drop customers and seek large rate increases, according to President Barry Gilway, “When the private market gets unprofitable, we grow. When the private market is profitable, we lose business.”
Citizens had more than 741,000 policies as of November 30th, up by 15,000 from the end of October.
As additional illustrations of the growth, Citizens had nearly 90,000 more policies at the end of November 2020 than it did one year prior.
Many state leaders have long sought to move policies out of Citizens into the private market, at least in part because of financial risks to the state.