More South Florida homeowners may be using state-run Citizens Property Insurance. That's reportedly the message Professional Insurance Agents of Florida will be hearing at their annual "Agent Expo" in Orlando Thursday and Friday.
According Insurance Fraud Expert and attorney David Bierman, Governor Scott's state mandated 'depopulation' program offered incentives for private companies to absorb Citizens' policy count. He says the idea was to bring costs down by increasing competition and since that didn't happen the tables are turning.
"It really comes to no surprise to us in the business that Citizens would be getting a lot of policies back from these companies," said Bierman.
He said changes to major insurers started after Hurricane Andrew.
"The way insurance is supposed to work, All-State or State Farm [for example], they're nationwide. So if there's a catastrophe in Florida, people around the country, their premium is helping pay for that loss, but we don't have that anymore. Now we have insurance companies that are relying on premiums coming in from the state only and these are not enough to cover if a major storm happens and Citizens does become the insurer of last resort because no one is going to write the business," said Bierman.
The so-called insurer of last resort may continue to get more policies as insurance companies reportedly aren't writing new policies in risky South Florida.