State tells Citizens Property Insurance to shrink its proposed rate hike

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Mary Garst remembers the moment when Florida’s home insurance crisis became real for her and her St. Petersburg home.

“When I got my new statement earlier this year in February from Security First, and it went from $1,800 to $3,900,” she answered.

That increase was too much to bear for the retiree on a fixed budget, so she got a policy with Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. The government entity provides property insurance to Florida property owners “unable to find insurance coverage in the private market.”

By design, Citizens is supposed to be a last resort for Floridians, but it now has more than 1.3 million policyholders statewide, including Garst.

Under Citizens, her policy increased to $2,600, but the increase was less than what she would have paid through Security First.

Now, even that lower rate is in jeopardy of increasing.

Citizens are seeking a 12% increase for most of its homeowners.

Days ago, however, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) questioned if the increase was justified and told Citizens to report back with a smaller rate hike in 30 days.

“We are reviewing the final order and will submit a revised set of recommendations, as requested, based upon OIR’s findings and directives,” said Michael Peltier, a Citizens spokesman.

ABC Action News asked insurance advisor Lisa Miller what Citizens policyholders should make of the news.

“I might be breathing a sigh of relief because it means it may be stalling what may be a rate increase,” she said.

But Miller, who’s also the former deputy insurance commissioner, said it’s not all good news.

She believes Citizens’ rates should increase, and the company should go back to being a last resort so that Citizens can become actuarially sound for the sake of all Floridians.

“It’s very concerning that if Citizens runs out of money — and it’s not going to tomorrow, and it’s not going to next month, but there’s a possibility of that — all of us as Floridians are going to pay to shore up their finances, and that’s not a good place to be,” she said.

For Citizens to shrink, she said the private insurance market must stabilize and improve, and Miller looks to Tallahassee for more reforms and fixes.

Meanwhile, people like Garst are stuck weathering a crisis that could get worse — before it gets better.

The current cost of property insurance caused her to scale back her cable service recently. Soon, if the increases continue, she’s not sure what will be left to cut.

“It’s crazy out there,” said Garst, who’s also the vice president of her neighborhood association. “I walk and talk to all the neighbors, so a lot of us are very upset about the insurance, and some of these elderly people that own their homes are…dropping their insurance because they can’t afford it.”