Citizens Property Insurance Company

Citizens Property Insurance Company is a non-profit insurance company created by the Legislature in 2002. The establishment of Citizens Property Insurance Company is aimed at helping homeowners in high-risk areas get insurance.

Before Citizens Property Insurance Company, homeowners in Florida had trouble finding companies that are willing to give them insurance for damages or loss. Since Florida is part of the hurricane and earthquake belt that spreads across the Pacific, homeowners in this region of the United States are especially vulnerable to loss or damage. Because of the magnitude of damages arising from natural causes, insurance companies are hesitant in providing insurance that will cover the cost of rebuilding or reconstruction.

Citizens Property Insurance Company holds over eight thousand policies for state residents, making it the second largest insurer in Florida. Citizens Property Insurance Company offers coverage up to $192 billion in property.

"Our growth has been explosive for the past 18 months" was what Susanne Murphy, chief operations officer for Citizens Property Insurance Company said in a recent interview.

There are several factors that account for the growth of Citizens Property Insurance Company. New developments in coastal areas and the reluctance of other insurance companies to write new policies have contributed to the increase in policy volumes of Citizens Property Insurance Company.

Citizens Property Insurance Company is actually a combination of two state-run insurance entities. The merger was done after Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida in 1992. The two companies that make up Citizens Property Insurance Company are the Florida Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association (FRPCJUA) and the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association (FWUA).

More recently, the four hurricanes that hit Florida – Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne cost Citizens Property Insurance Company $1.77 billion in total damages. The damages forced Citizens Property Insurance Company to raise their windstorm policy premium price up to 67 per cent. As a result, Citizens Property Insurance Company has a surplus that reaches up to $1.2 billion. In addition, Citizens Property Insurance Company is expected to earn $40 million monthly from premium incomes.

But raising their premium prices is not without their disadvantages. Citizens Property Insurance Company is facing protests from Florida homeowners who are unable to afford that much for insurance. Right now, Citizens Property Insurance Company is facing close to 92, 000 in claims. Within the next few months, this number in Citizens Property Insurance Company claims is expected to rise.

Executives at Citizens Property Insurance Company are uncertain whether they have enough funds to cover the claims. With Hurricane Charley alone, Citizens Property Insurance Company is facing an estimated $925 million in losses. And according to Risk Management Solutions, Hurricane Jeanne will cost Citizens Property Insurance Company an additional $332 million, not counting the damages caused by the smaller hurricanes Ivan and Frances which cost up to $532 million total.