Citizens

Florida Citizens board signals potential U-turn on reinsurance buying strategy

The management of Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation have been instructed by the state-backed insurer’s board to assess a range of risk financing options including buying significantly less or no reinsurance and instead issuing pre-event debt.

New Florida insurer Vyrd’s first Citizens take-out to occur in February

The launch of new Sirius and Bolttech-backed Florida homeowners carrier Vyrd has been confirmed, in a move first revealed by The Insurer, with CEO David Howard stating its first takeout of Citizens policies will occur in February.

Citizens looks for legislative change to support renewed depop drive

Citizens’ board and its depopulation committee are set to meet next week and among the most pressing topics for discussion will be a push for changes in the 2022 Florida legislative session to make it more difficult for policyholders of the state-backed insurer to reject take-out offers from private companies.

Fast-growing Citizens likely to buy $1bn-$1.5bn more limit in 2022

With a policy count that is forecast to rapidly grow beyond the one-million-mark next year, Florida’s Citizens has indicated to reinsurers that it is likely to buy between $1bn and $1.5bn of additional limit at its 1 June 2022 renewal, The Insurer can reveal.

Citizens CEO warns Florida property market rate structure not sustainable

Citizens CEO Barry Gilway has told a Florida House subcommittee that the state’s property insurance rate structure is not sustainable as the state-backed insurer’s policy count heads towards one million, in comments that follow Florida’s insurance commissioner last month bemoaning a “dire” situation.

ILS funds wrote half of Citizens’ traditional placement

Although Nephila’s $600.8mn participation across Florida Citizens’ $1.649bn traditional reinsurance dwarfed that of all other markets writing the 1 June cover, significant lines from DE Shaw Re and LGT Capital meant that ILS funds accounted for more than 50 percent of the total.

Nephila puts down $600mn line as Citizens completes $2.71bn program

Florida’s Citizens has completed its 2021 risk transfer program by securing more limit than targeted for less cost than budgeted as Nephila played a significantly greater role on an oversubscribed traditional placement and the insurer’s cat bond issue upsized by $100mn, The Insurer can reveal.

KBW: Optimism rising around opportunities in $1trn run-off reinsurance market

Senior industry executives in Bermuda and Florida are increasingly optimistic about opportunities within the $1trn run-off reinsurance market, according to KBW analyst Meyer Shields, with concerns about social inflation expected to boost demand for loss portfolio transfers and other retroactive solutions.

Citizens and TWIA highlight impact of softer cat bond pricing

If there were already signs of an easier mid-year renewal for US wind-exposed property cat reinsurance programs this year, then commentary from residual insurers in Florida and Texas in the last week has demonstrated the impact of falling prices in the cat bond market.

Florida’s Citizens issues FOTs with pricing up in the mid-single digits

Florida’s fast-growing state-backed insurer Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has put firm order terms (FOTs) to the market this week for its expanded traditional reinsurance placement that are thought to be priced up in the mid-single digits on a risk-adjusted basis, The Insurer can reveal.

Citizens applauds “meaningful steps” in Florida’s compromise property insurance reform

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has applauded the Florida legislature for taking “meaningful steps” in passing property insurance reform that includes changes to how attorney fees are calculated and a raise of the cap on the state-run insurer’s rate increases.

FLOIR sets Citizens rates below requested level

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR) has established 2021 insurance rates for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation below the levels requested by the state-backed insurer, including a 3.2 percent homeowners multi-peril increase that is almost half the 6.2 percent requested.

Upsized Citizens reinsurance shows ill-health of FL homeowners market

Fast-growing Citizens looks to upsize cat cover by 160% to $2.6bn

Florida’s insurer of last resort Citizens is aiming to significantly scale up its private risk transfer program ahead of the 2021 hurricane season from expiring limit of $1.02bn to around $2.6bn across its coastal and personal lines accounts as it addresses an expanding exposure base.

Citizens wins first-party breach of contract case in Florida’s high court

The Supreme Court of Florida has ruled that the state’s law does not allow insureds to recover extra-contractual, consequential damages in first-party breach of insurance contract actions, handing Citizens Property Insurance victory in a long-running dispute over Hurricane Frances losses.

Citizens looks for ways to bring 2021 rates more in line with private market

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has postponed final action on its proposed 2021 rates, instead directing staff to work with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR) to seek ways to bring the state-run insurer’s rates more in line with private market carriers.

Citizens projects big policy count increase from ‘unhealthy’ private Florida market

Citizens policy count is above 500,000 for the first time in five years and is projected to surge to 625,000 by the end of next year as the Florida state-backed insurer’s president highlighted an “unhealthy” private market that is shedding business.

Citizens appoints Willis Re for just one year after rejecting RFP recommendation

Board members of Florida’s Citizens cited the pending Aon-WTW merger as they voted against a recommendation to appoint Willis Re as reinsurance broker on a contract for up to five years after the firm beat Aon and Guy Carpenter in a request for proposal (RFP) process.

Citizens policy count now expected to grow 20% as private market retrenches

Profitability pressures on Florida domestic homeowners carriers including the impact of higher reinsurance costs are leading to reduced appetite which in turn is feeding policies back into the state’s residual insurer Citizens.

AIG’s Validus is biggest reinsurer on Citizens 2020 programme

AIG’s reinsurance arm Validus Re is once again the biggest overall participant on the Citizens traditional cat cover in place for the 2020 hurricane season, including rollover cover from a 2018 multi-year placement, The Insurer can reveal.