Florida Carriers are Sparse... What's goin on???

[ModernInsurance]

Read the other day that Citizens is in fact owned by the state of Florida. Can anyone confirm or deny?

 

[Allen Trent]

Read the other day that Citizens is in fact owned by the state of Florida. Can anyone confirm or deny?

Depends on what you are asking. If you mean Citizens insurance that sells auto, home & commercial insurance in many states, that is definitely not true. They are owned I believe by Hanover Insurance.

If you mean the "home insurer of last resort" in Florida, that is definitely not affiliated with the above Ciizens/Hanover company.

Citizens Property is a non profit run & owned by the State of Florida. I believe Florida legislature created it about 20 yrs ago when most carriers were leaving the Florida Home insurance marketplace

 

[Valor]

FYI. I just had a customer call me. His parents are buying a secondary home near Ft. Myers and asked me if I had any connections or knew of any companies they can contact because the rates are really high.

I called a captive agent in the area and the company can write insurance on homes that fit within a certain age limit, however, in Florida, I think that I understand the home will need a separate "WIND" policy, which is where Citizens Property comes in.

If the captive cannot write the policy, they are allowed to go outside and insure the home through a number of smaller/local carriers and I would assume that independent agents would have the same access to these smaller carriers...but they may also need to purchase a separate "WIND" policy from Citizens Property...not sure if there is another carrier for that specific policy, and the homeowner may need to also get a flood policy, depending upon their location to the coast and other factors.

 

[marindependent]

I would assume that independent agents would have the same access to these smaller carriers..

Why do you assume that?

 

[Allen Trent]

FYI. I just had a customer call me. His parents are buying a secondary home near Ft. Myers and asked me if I had any connections or knew of any companies they can contact because the rates are really high.

I called a captive agent in the area and the company can write insurance on homes that fit within a certain age limit, however, in Florida, I think that I understand the home will need a separate "WIND" policy, which is where Citizens Property comes in.

If the captive cannot write the policy, they are allowed to go outside and insure the home through a number of smaller/local carriers and I would assume that independent agents would have the same access to these smaller carriers...but they may also need to purchase a separate "WIND" policy from Citizens Property...not sure if there is another carrier for that specific policy, and the homeowner may need to also get a flood policy, depending upon their location to the coast and other factors.

yup--my understanding in Florida is you can need 3 policies for the home in some areas. flood, wind & then a normal home policy (not really normal relatively speaking)

 

[Policy Monkey]

In FL, most carriers will write homes with wind except in certain very coastal areas, like beachfront or a barrier island. In that situation one would need a seperate wind policy, through Citizens or elsewhere. Flood is nearly always a seperate policy, though a few carriers offer a flood endorsement to their HO3s.