Citizens

Model Citizens

Florida’s cat fund and its insurer of last resort Citizens are both products of the unique dynamics of the private homeowners insurance market in the state.

Citizens pulls $680mn from planned placement as rates climb 20%

Citizens only placed $620mn of a planned $1.3bn new private market placement at the 1 June renewal as it decided not to chase a fast-hardening Florida reinsurance market and instead take more exposure net.

Citizens aims to increase traditional market reinsurance after cat bond pulled

Florida’s state-backed insurer Citizens will now look to buy all the 2020 limit it planned to secure for its coastal account in the traditional reinsurance market after pulling a proposed $200mn tranche of its Everglades Re cat bond series.

Citizens adds to 2020 budget and looks to buy more coastal and PLA limit

Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation asked its board yesterday (14 May) to approve a maximum spend of $145mn for risk transfer that is 16 percent higher than the $125mn placeholder included when its full-year budget was published in December as it looks to buy additional limit for its coastal account and personal lines accounts (PLA).

Florida’s Citizens heads to renewal with outperformance on Irma creep

Ultimate loss estimates for Hurricane Irma from Florida’s Citizens had deteriorated by only 19 percent between the end of 2017 and the end of 2019, representing significantly lower loss creep than several private homeowners carriers in the state.

Florida’s Olympus names Citizens exec Bitar as CEO

Steve Bitar, former chief of underwriting and agency services for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, has been named CEO of Florida carrier Olympus Insurance Company.

Citizens not seeing repopulation ahead of June renewal

Florida’s Citizens is looking to buy more reinsurance for its personal lines account (PLA) and replace just under $900mn of expiring limit for its coastal account, but is not seeing the kind of policy count growth that would lead to meaningful changes to its risk transfer programme this year, The Insurer can reveal.

Florida Citizens will look at options to further reduce exposure

The board of Florida’s state-backed carrier Citizens has responded to calls to further cut its policy count by agreeing to seek an outside review of options to reduce its footprint while continuing to protect property owners in the Sunshine State.

DE Shaw writes biggest share of Citizens’ 2019 placements

Collateralised reinsurer DE Shaw Re wrote just over 21 percent of the limit secured by Florida’s Citizens on the layers of its traditional programme placed at 1 June 2019, including a $100mn line on its new personal lines account (PLA) cover.

Citizens slashes rate request by 43% after AOB reform

Florida’s state-backed insurer Citizens is seeking board approval to file a revised capped 4.7 percent rate increase for personal lines business that is well below the 8.2 percent increase it filed for at the end of last year.

De-risking and diversification help keep Heritage reinsurance cost down

Superregional US carrier Heritage reported an overall reinsurance cost that fell for its 2019 cover despite paying increases in Florida on a risk-adjusted basis.

Higher proposed Citizens budget includes new PLA placement

Citizens hopes to release firm order terms (FOTs) to reinsurers tomorrow after seeking board approval for a 10 percent uplift in its provisional 2019 risk transfer budget to a maximum of $110mn to include funding for its proposed $200mn personal lines account (PLA) cover.

Citizens confirms potential PLA reinsurance purchase

Florida’s Citizens has confirmed it is looking to buy reinsurance for its personal lines account (PLA) as well as additional private cover around the state cat fund for its coastal account.

Irma effect driving AOB increase: Citizens’ CEO

There is an “Irma effect” that is dramatically increasing the number of assignment of benefits (AOB) related litigated cases in Florida, according to Citizens president and CEO Barry Gilway.

Citizens looking at around $200mn risk transfer for PLA

Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is considering buying approximately $200mn of private reinsurance for its personal lines account (PLA) this year, The Insurer can reveal.