VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — The Citizens Property Insurance's Board of Governors voted unanimously on Wednesday to support increasing their rates by 14% in 2025 for residential policies, and 10.3% for commercial properties.

On the corner of Flagler Avenue and South Cooper Street in New Smyrna Beach, the Flagler Avenue Pizza Company is a busy spot where beachgoers stop for lunch, especially in the summer months.

Owner Luis Barrios says they have been serving their New York style pizzas to people in the area for the past nine years.

“I love what I do. I love the people. So that keeps me going," he said. "But, you know, I just hope that somewhere around we could get a cap on some of these prices and stuff like that to make it, you know, make it profitable because it’s getting to a point where it’s not even profitable."

Barrios rents the space where his restaurant operates, and over the years he said his landlord has seen an increase in their commercial insurance policy, which means they’ve had to pass it along to him as an increase in rent.

“It’s gone up you know, our insurance," Barrios said. "The landlord has went up, so that, of course, reflects on us as well, because he’s gotta raise it up for us so rent goes up."

According to Citizens Property Insurance, the company makes more than $571 million in commercial policy premiums across the state. Now they are proposing a 10.3% increase in rates of commercial policies beginning in 2025.

“I think it affects everybody, because when their prices go up, then we gotta try to adjust it,” Barrios said.

For a small business like his, Barrios said any insurance rate increase ends up impacting his customers.

“We’ve got to keep paying the bills, but everything is going up," he said. "And then if we try to raise the prices, the customers are not happy."

The new Citizens Insurance rates still need to be approved by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. If approved, they will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.