Florida Homeowners Hit Hard by Insurance Shifts

0:00Florida's citizens' property insurance, once the biggest player, has shrunk to just over 321,000 policies by shifting more than 1 million into the private market. Officials call this a win for a recovering insurance scene, but it's hitting homeowners hard in the wallet. Take retirees on fixed incomes, they're seeing premiums double or triple after these forced moves. Everyone went from around $2,000 with citizens to over 5,000 bucks now, up 120% in two years. Another face is a 65% jump by summer. State regulators approve every rate hike since there's no cap, but there's a 20% rule, private offers can't exceed that much over citizens. Rates for takeovers, if they do a renewal and no better options exist, folks can head back to citizens through their agent. Officers say skip loyalties shop around with the 17 new insurers in town, and yeah, even switch agents of yours isn't hustling, sticking with one company for decades, that's old school and costly now.

1:01One homeowner followed that advice, ditched her pricey policy, and scored better coverage for $3,123 with A, new carrier, markets stabilizing, so stay sharp and keep those options flowing. Tampa Bay News today, powered by AI bringing you what matters. I'm Corey with The Story.