CITIZEN's DEFICIT to cost ALL FL HOMEOWNERS

CITIZEN’s DEFICIT to cost ALL FL HOMEOWNERS

A one-time charge of $20.70 for every $1000 of annual homeowner insurance premiums due for Florida homeowners with their next renewal bills, added to rate hikes that have already appeared. This is to HELP cover Citizen’s Property Insurance Corp’s $1.7-Billion deficit from 2005, to shore up the state’s home insurer of last resort and now its biggest property insurer.

This is the second time in 2 years that all Florida home insurance policyholders are being forced to bail out Citizens, which has been drained by hurricane-related claims.

Once the assessment gets the go-ahead from the state Office of Insurance Regulation, homeowner insurance companies will pay Citizens and pass the charge on to their customers when the policies are renewed.

This assessment, already approved, is expected to raise $163-MM, and combined with $715-MM in sales tax money already set aside, plus the assessment Citizens is to consider next month which is expected to raise $822-MM.

This information is from the 9-17-06 issue of the Sun-Sentinel newspaper.