Private Insurers Going After Citizens Customers

Nov. 06--You've got mail, Citizens insurance customers -- in early 2016.

Private insurers have the go-ahead to make up to 130,534 offers to customers of state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. in January, regulators said Thursday -- and more than 50,000 are coastal customers who once drew scant attention from the private market.

Citizens remains the state's largest property insurer, but it has fallen below 60,000 customers in Palm Beach County. As of July 1, it ranked No. 2 behind Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Co., which has 63,000 policies in the county.

If 2015 is any guide, insurers probably won't complete all of their potential offers, and lately Citizens customers have been accepting fewer than half the offers they do make.

Still, the continued interest shows private carriers want to keep their options open in order to grab customers from the state's insurer of last resort through "takeout" letters.

In many cases, they are reaching out to policyholders along the coast who were once considered unlikely to get many offers to leave Citizens, owing to a combination of risks and rates presumed to be unattractive to suitor companies.

About 172,000 customers have departed Citizens through transfer offers in 2015, leaving the company with fewer than 600,000 policies statewide. That was only a small slice of the 1.3 million offers approved by the state's Office of Insurance Regulation in 2015, reflecting a slowdown in record departures that have seen Citizens shrink from a high near 1.5 million customers in recent years.

Citizens customer John Shoemaker of Lake Worth said he turned down an offer this week from a private insurer that apparently wanted him to pay $500 a year more for wind-only coverage.

"It amazes me that even after 11 years of no hurricanes, our premiums rise every year," Shoemaker said.

Consumers have a choice to remain with Citizens under the offers, but must make that preference known -- they are automatically transferred if they do nothing. When comparing offers, consumers may want to make sure they have a clear understanding of the premium each company intends to charge, and talk to an agent if it's not clear in the letters.

For information on complaints and financial ratings for the companies, be sure to check out The Palm Beach Post insurance guide: http://mypalmbeachpost.com/insuranceexplorer

Approved for January offers:

--Anchor Property & Casualty Insurance Co.:Up to 20,000 policies (16,030 Personal Lines Account and 3,970 Coastal Account).

--Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Co.: Up to 55,000 policies (35,000 Personal Lines Account and 20,000 Coastal Account) and up to 1,500 commercial residential policies (1,300 Commercial Lines Account and 200 Coastal Account).

--Safepoint Insurance Co.: Up to 20,000 policies (12,000 Personal Lines Account and 8,000 Coastal Account).

--Southern Oak Insurance Co.: Up to 15,000 policies (10,000 Personal Lines Account and 5,000 Coastal Account).

--Weston Insurance Co.: Up to 17,266 policies (all Coastal Account), up to 719 commercial residential policies (Commercial Lines Account) and up to 1,049 commercial non-residential policies (Commercial Lines Account).

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