Ron DeSantis says Citizens customers will get a price break

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday said that many South Florida customers of the state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will receive rate decreases this year. During an appearance in Miami, DeSantis said 73 percent of Citizens customers with homeowners policies in Miami-Dade County will receive premium reductions. He said the average decrease will be 6.3 percent. Meanwhile, he said 52 percent of Citizens customers with homeowners policies in Broward County will get decreases. He said the average will be 4.5 percent. Full details were not immediately released. The Citizens Board of Governors in June approved a proposal that sought an average 13.5 percent rate increase statewide for the most-common type of Citizens policy, known as homeowners’ multi-peril coverage. But the state Office of Insurance Regulation has not ruled on the proposal. Citizens, which was created as an insurer of last resort, grew in recent years to become the state’s largest property insurer because of problems in the private market. Its largest concentrations of policies are in South Florida. Citizens officials have long argued that the state insurer needs higher rates because it often charges less than private carriers. The state has worked to shift policies from Citizens into the private market, and officials say lower Citizens rates serve as a disincentive for policyholders to move.

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