South Florida homeowners fear what's next as Citizens Insurance confirms thousands will go to private insurers
MIAMI — Fear is growing among some homeowners in South Florida as Citizens Property Insurance Corp. confirms thousands of policyholders will go to private insurers.
"I'm scared about what's going to happen… if we're going to be paying more money than what we pay with Citizens," Nancy Morales told CBS News Miami.
Morales may be the voice of thousands of policyholders who would be impacted.
She submitted a claim to the state-run agency for the roof of her house, but she has not received a response yet. Morales is now scared that consequently, she may end up being dropped even quicker.
Florida regulators have approved proposals by private insurers to take more than 300,000 policies in December from Citizens as the state continues to try to shrink the size – and risks – of its insurer of last resort.
"These notices that have gone out, are part of the process that spans months," said Citizens spokesperson Michael Peltier
As far the why more than 300,000 shed from the insurance agency, Peltier said: "The market is getting healthier, and we've seen over the last several months that there's been a lot more interest from private companies to come back into the state of Florida."
"So, they're making applications to the office of Insurance regulations to take some policies out of Citizens," he continued.
Morales responded, saying the timing is "really not good."
"Why do it in the middle of hurricane season? we have enough to worry about," she said.
Citizens said letters went out months before. If Morales receives an offer from a private company and it's 20% more than what Citizens' premium is, she does not have to accept the offer; if it is 19% or less, the case is different.
"The policyholder does not have to take that policy, but they would be ineligible to remain with citizens; that's the way our legislature has set up our depopulation program," said Peltier.
Furthermore, Citizens said "companies choose the policies that they want to assume, maybe they want to go and pick policies in the panhandle area, maybe central Florida."
"Other companies may be looking for homes that have newer roofs, or they're newer constructions. Each company has its own set of criteria," Peltier added.
According to Morales, a teacher in South Florida, the roof of her 30-year-old house had several leaks due to recent storms, she went ahead and fixed it while waiting for Citizens to respond. "We had to put a roof because we cannot continue with a damaged roof in the middle of a hurricane season."
According to citizens, she should not have to worry. She will continue waiting to be reimbursed. Nancy Morales still hopes to stay with Citizens, meanwhile, she continues checking her mail to see if she will get some notification from the company.