Florida’s Citizens slows policy flood Q4, still up 51% y/y

Florida's insurer of last resort Citizens rounded out the year adding another 74,000 policies to its roster in Q4, bringing the full-year take to 386,500, a 51% increase, as regulators tore down one insolvent insurer after another.

The Q4 pace of policy additions was nonetheless a welcome reprieve, down by over 47% from the 140,492 added during a hectic Q3, just ahead of the Hurricane Ian landfall. November offered the first time in six months that monthly additions fell back below the 30,000 mark.

Mark the Citizen policies in count at 1.146 million, the highest level since points in Q4 2013.

Citizen’s took some pricey properties along the way: total exposure rose by nearly 82% year on year versus the 51% rise in policy counts. That discrepancy rose consistently throughout the year. And the Citizen calculation of premiums it inherited did not quite keep pace, ending the year up 77%.

With the mass inflows following insolvencies of some major players, coastal properties have edged down as a portion of the whole by several percentage points to 19.8% at year-end.

Citizens’ growth has been driven by a Florida market that runs insurers out of business. Southern Fidelity, Avatar P&C, St. Johns Insurance, Weston and FedNat have all gone to receivership in regulator moves. United P&C bid farewell to southern states on its own. 9M financial results showed no shortage of insurers running losses in excess of $100 million, including ASI Preferred, Castle Key, Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange, American Strategic Insurance Corp, United and Universal.

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