TAMPA, Florida — An important deadline is approaching for some homeowners who have Citizens Property Insurance, as the state’s “insurer of last resort” is looking to offload policies.
Over the past couple of weeks, Citizens has mailed letters to more than 300,000 policyholders – the last 1,600 being mailed out Tuesday – telling them they’ve been offered to switch to another insurer, and they need to make a decision quickly or Citizens will make the decision for them.
Citizens is approaching a record number of policies and is looking to sell some off to limit its risk exposure. While they say private insurers, like a new one named Slide that's buying up some policies in the Tampa Bay area that could offer better coverage, the premium costs are taking some by surprise.
"Premiums doubled and tripled to what they were paying for Citizens,” says Kathy Walsh, owner of the Coast to Coast Insurance Agency in Tampa.
Walsh says a number of her clients got the letter last week and in most cases, the difference in premium cost is way too high to warrant a switch.
"There is a 20% rule, if the premium is within 20% of the Citizens premium they must opt-out, if it is more than 20% of the premium, they can stay in Citizens,” Walsh explained.
She suggests you call your agent as soon as you get a letter so you aren't forced out and paying for it.
"Talk to your agent, make your agent explain it to you and make your best decision from there,” Walsh added.
Citizens tells 10 Tampa Bay they will continue to try to contact folks who haven’t responded before the Oct. 10 deadline.
The deadline to respond, as stated in the letters, was initially Oct. 5, but a spokesperson for the company says they’ve extended it because of vendor delays that caused letters to go out less than 30 days before the deadline.
You can also make your choice online, by clicking here.