"No one wants to pay higher insurance rates," Citizens double-digit rate hike approved

Citizens Insurance policy holders will be tightening their belts during this holiday season, but it won't be from the turkey or ham.

The Citizens Board of Governors on Wednesday morning approved a historic double-digit rate hike, set to be in place by year's end, raising homeowner policy rates by an average of 11.5% and many commercial policies by an average of 10.2%.

The state-backed insurance company's earlier proposal of a 12.6% rate hike in June was denied by the state's Office of Insurance Regulation.

Current policyholders will see the increase when they renew over the next 12 months.

"No one wants to pay higher insurance rates, I don't want to do that, but we are actuarially unsound and we do have a mandate from the Legislature," Citizens CEO Tim Cerio told the Citizens Board of Governors in Tallahassee, explaining the nonprofit still has some 1.4 million customers.

The 11.5% average increase for multi-peril policies actually becomes 12.3% when factoring in all personal lines, such as wind-only and mobile-home policies.

During the past few weeks, more than 300,000 Citizens customers began receiving offers to switch to a private insurance company. Those customers have until Oct. 10 to respond to the "depopulation form," but if you don't opt out, you'll be automatically enrolled, and the difference could mean hundreds of dollars.

If the offer you receive from Citizens through a private insurance company is within 20% of Citizens' rates, you will no longer be eligible for property insurance with Citizens (but you do not have to choose that specific private company).

However, if it costs any more than that, you can opt out and choose to remain with Citizens.

You can reply online at by clicking here to access Citizen's Online Choice Submission form.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, Citizens will require flood insurance for new and renewal policies with wind coverage that insure dwellings with a replacement cost of $600,000 or more. Condo owners will not be a part of that requirement.