Citizens Property Insurance now actuarially sound
The feds approve a disaster declaration for Florida agriculture, auto insurance rates in Florida take another dive, the state’s insurer of last resort now has actuarially sound rates in key lines, plus the legislature says ‘no means no’ to door-to-door solicitors. It’s all in this week’s Property Insurance News.
Sarasota tomato plant damage
Disaster Declaration: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to Florida’s request for a federal disaster declaration to help farmers recover from January’s deep freezes. The weather events caused an estimated $3.1 billion in losses across the state’s agricultural industry. The declaration was approved for 26 counties; another 14 counties were deferred until production can be assessed after this growing season. Farmers are now eligible to apply for low-interest FSA emergency loans.
Auto Insurance Rates: Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky has announced that auto insurance rates for 2026 among the state’s top five auto insurance groups will drop an average of 8%. It follows an average decrease of 7.4% in 2025 among the same groups − Progressive, Berkshire Hathaway (GEICO), State Farm, Allstate, and USAA. “The historic legislative reforms continue to drive auto insurance rates down, with nearly 80% of Florida’s auto policyholders seeing lower rates for 2026,” said Yaworsky.
Citizens Property Insurance: The Citizens Board of Governors heard some very encouraging news across many fronts at last week’s meeting, including its ongoing successful depopulation of policies to the private market. Citizens residential market share is at an all-time low of 3%. Its January and February takeouts knocked another 55,000 policies from its rolls, with a policy count now of just 336,000. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has declared Citizens actuarily sound in its HO-3, HW-2, HO-6, and HW-6 lines, which Citizens interprets as meaning the legislative rate increase glidepath no longer applies. On the litigation front, the number of filed lawsuits against Citizens and Florida’s private insurance market continues to trend downward in a very positive direction (down 55% for Citizens and down 28% for the private carriers).
Despite OIR recently ordering a deeper rate cut in 2026, Citizens’ reserves continue to increase, raising discussion among the Board about future alternatives to purchasing reinsurance, including a captive reinsurer. Based on a current surplus of $5.14 billion, Citizens reports it would only eat through about 26% of that surplus in a 1-in-100-year storm. A reduced policy count means reduced exposure, and Citizens said it plans to secure $2.98 billion in private reinsurance coverage for the upcoming 2026 hurricane season, which would give it a total claims-paying ability of $9.9 billion this year. You can read more in our full LMA report here.
A neighborhood canvasser soliciting repair business after the tornado in the Cottage Point community of Lee County, January 17, 2022. Courtesy, WZVN-TV
No Means No: We’ve reported here many times about the mass neighborhood solicitations by roofers and others that occur after catastrophes and my advice to homeowners that “friends come to your back door and strangers come to your front door; don’t answer your front door.” Now you can help protect yourself from the bother of even hearing the doorbell, thanks to SB 290, passed by the legislature that now goes to the Governor. Although its main provision is to prevent local governments from regulating gasoline-powered farm or landscaping equipment, line 1005 prohibits commercial solicitation on any dwelling with a clear and prominent “No Solicitation” sign, and prescribes the size and language of the sign. So maybe our insurance companies can include a notice in their next policy renewal to educate their customers, such as “(Company) recommends that policyholders heed the great provisions of Section 501.062, Florida Statutes, and hang a sign that can keep solicitors away from your home!” As recent legislative reforms have proven, fewer solicitations and a prohibition against AOB contracts between vendors and homeowners have significantly reduced insurance litigation.
Cat Fund Workshop: Registration for the 2026 Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund Annual Participating Insurers Workshop is now open. The workshop will be held June 10-11 in Orlando. Further information, registration and hotel links, and a working draft agenda have been posted on the Workshop webpage.
LMA Newsletter of 3-9-26
