FLORIDA’S CITIZENS MAY RESUME TRANSFERS OF POLICIES TO PRIVATE INSURERS

Citizens Property Insurance, Florida’s last-resort residential insurer, has seen its book of business grow more quickly than expected and may resume the transfer of policies to private carriers. The company‘s budget for 2020 initially anticipated closing the year with a book of 431,000 policies. While that estimate was raised in June to 517,000 policies, the company disclosed at a board meeting last week that it will close 2020 with 540,000 policies and close 2021 with 625,000 policies. Citizens embarked on a “de-population” programme transferring policies to private insurers in 2012 after its policy count peaked at 1.31m. “We do not anticipate market conditions to improve significantly until at least the middle of 2021, when reinsurance capacity will be re-evaluated and the current rate increases will have had an opportunity to show up in industry financials,” Citizens president Barry Gilway told the board. “I do believe that there is potentially profitable business on the Citizens books today for [private] companies that have the capacity or can raise capital.”