By Julie A Martin, Licensed Agent-Abora Insurance Group, LLC

Citizens Property Corp is the insurer of last resort in the State of Florida for property insurance.  It’s supposed to be an agent’s last ditch effort to find affordable coverage for a client’s home, whether it’s a condo, townhouse, or single family home.  For the last several years however, Citizens has been the go-to for many agents, especially in areas of the state that suffer from the highest premiums, such as Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties.  

Because of the sheer volume of new policies written into Citizens in the last few years, Citizens has come up with a few programs that were intended to help beleagurered homeowners find affordable coverage while giving responsibility for those policies into other carriers.  Many times, Citizens depopulation efforts failed.  This is due to two things: The insureds’ ability to opt out of the assumption and more policies are being written at the same time that Citizens is trying to get rid of some of the other policies by contracting them with other carriers. 

This year, Citizens came up with a new way to shed excess policies while still helping policyholders maintain affordable coverage.  The rule on writing policies with Citizens when there was private market coverage available was that it had to have a price higher than 15% of the Citizens price with matching dwelling, contents, deductibles.  Now, the rule is 20% instead of 15%.  

The new depopulation is a forcible one in which the policyholder does not have the option to opt out of the assumption.  It is called the Depopulation 20% Rule, and what it means for you, dear reader, is that Citizens has contracted with two carriers to take the policies that fall into this category, Slide and Loggerhead. Who are they?  If you have never heard of them, Slide Insurance took over from St Johns when they went out of business in early 2022.  Loggerhead Insurance took over for Bankers Insurance when they non-renewed their property book of busines earlier this year.  

If you have received a letter from Citizens stating that your policy fits into the Depopulation 20% rule, it means that the assuming carrier has given Citizens a price that is within 20% of your current Citizens price, either higher or lower than your Citizens price, but within that 20% range.  The next assumption date is August 22^nd of this year.  Your policy would be assumed by the new carrier as of that date, and any claims that befall your property from that date on would be the responsibility of the new carrier until your naturally occurring expiration date. At which time, you will be offered a renewal price with the new carrier.  

The letters from Citizens which explain this process have a price from either Slide or Loggerhead that they were given by one or both carriers, which we can presume to be the new price you will be given at the renewal of your policy with the new carrier. 

You are now asking yourself if you HAVE to go with this new carrier or if you can go out on your own and find yourself another option. There may be other options for you in the private market, other than Slide or Loggerhead.

Once you receive the letter from your agent or from Citizens, all you need to do is call your agent and ask them to remarket you with whatever other carriers they are appointed with that will offer you similar coverage. 

This may not be Burger King, but you can, dear reader, help depopulate Citizens, your way. 

Be Safe, Be Informed,
Julie A. Martin
I’m an Abora “Advocate” because I love helping people. Abora doesn’t represent one particular
insurance carrier; we represent you , and are here for YOU!