FLORIDA — Florida’s state-run Citizens Insurance warns residents statewide of possible state surcharge amounting to what many people are calling “hurricane tax.”

The announcement is considered by insurance experts as a sign that problems continue mounting in the state’s ongoing insurance crisis as resident rates climb, policies are being dropped and companies continue to fold.

Residents across the state could be just one storm away from paying more on their insurance policies.

If a major hurricane like Ian were to hit Florida this year and impact a majority of homes with Citizens Insurance policies, the state-run company warned it would have no choice but to impose hurricane surcharge on homes, cars and even boat insurance policies.

If Citizens Insurance depletes its surplus, it can and would impose a 2% tax on home, renters, car and even boat insurance policies statewide.

SIMILAR COVERAGE: Insurance company announces rate hikes of nearly 15% for SWFL

Frank Ward of Fort Myers said he believes a tax like that would be a burden and detriment. He compared the charge to a state income tax.

However, Citizens Insurance policyholders would be impacted the most if a major storm were to happen. They could potentially face a 45% increase.

“It’s a fair warning and we’ve been upfront about that. We don’t want to be in a situation where we have to levy assessments on other people,” said Michael Peltier of Citizens Insurance.

Doug Quinn with the American Policyholder Association pointed out that Citizens Insurance has a history of imposing surcharges.

Quinn, considered a watchdog for policyholders, warned that lawmakers must do more.

“We know Citizens is operating at a loss and we are obviously concerned about the fact their policyholder roles have ballooned,” Quinn noted as the company nears 1.2 million policies.

Citizens Insurance announced a rate hike Wednesday of an average of 15%. The hike purpose is to build up their reserves and avoid a hurricane tax on everyone.