TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — If a pending request is approved by the state, policyholders with Citizens Property Insurance may see a double-digit rate hike in 2025. 

What You Need To Know

  • Citizens Insurance is seeking a double-digit rate hike
  • The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation must rule on the rate-hike request no later than Aug. 26

  • Citizens is the state's largest property insurer, despite originating as the state-backed insurer of last resort

Citizens — the state-backed insurer of last resort — is seeking a 13.5% rate hike and is asking the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) to approve it. The approval deadline is Aug. 26.

“The OIR has not made a decision on the filing and OIR is not advocating for or against Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s rate request at this hearing,” explained Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Deputy Director Virginia Christy at a Thursday hearing in Tallahassee.

The rate hike request comes as state regulators strive to transition Citizen’s policyholders into the private market. With roughly 1.2 million policyholders, the state-backed entity ranks as Florida’s largest insurer.

“It’s basically a form of subsidized insurance and we have to get our rates up,” said Citizens CEO Tim Cerio. "We’re the state-sponsored insurer of last resort, and the insurer of last resort in any state should never be competing with the private market.”

While some insurance leaders maintain rates are necessary to stabilize Florida’s property insurance market, many homeowners and association leaders are urging the state to reconsider. 

According to the National Association of Realtors, Florida is already home to the steepest premiums in the nation. The average Florida premium, according to the NAR, is nearly $11,000 a year — more than four times the national average of $2,377.

James Tynan is among those feeling the market’s weight and attended Thursday’s hearing. He serves as a condo association president in Ponte Vedra and traveled to Tallahassee to urge OIR to deny the request. 

“My wife hit me just yesterday, going, 'We gotta move because of everything that’s going on with all the costs and everything,'” said Tynan. “She walked into the bedroom and said, 'We’re done. We’re gonna have to move.'”