TAMPA, Florida — The clock is ticking again for tens of thousands of Floridians with Citizens Property Insurance, the state's largest home insurer.
We’ve been keeping you informed for weeks about how new rounds of offers to switch from the state-backed insurer to the private market have already been sent out.
Citizens wants to cut back on their ballooning number of policies and limit their risk exposure in the state, giving dibs to some private companies to give offers to their existing customers. Many have a Nov. 6 deadline to respond.
David Bryant, who lives in the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa, is one of those with the fast-approaching deadline and he’s thankful he regularly checks the mail.
“You read the letter and it says, 'Great news,'” 10 Tampa Bay’s Aaron Parseghian asked Bryant.
“I thought that was really silly,” Bryant laughed. “I didn’t think it was great news at all.”
The letter gives Bryant the option to stick with Citizens or take an offer from Slide Insurance, which will take effect later this month.
It wasn’t great news because the premium cost being offered from Slide was $14,600, 431% higher – yes 431.5% – than the $3,403 premium from Citizens.
“I was like, 'What the heck,'" Bryant added. "I have an old 1926 bungalow, this house has stood for 100 years. I just thought it was ridiculous."
The letter reads, "Decide which is right for you,” which Bryant says was an obvious “no brainer.”
Since it's greater than a 20% increase, Bryant doesn't have to leave Citizens and he opted to stay with them, but he’s sharing his story to let folks know about the next deadline and with more policyholders getting offer letters soon.
“I want to encourage everybody to keep an eye on your mail,” Bryant said.
You can respond to Citizens’ offer letter either by getting ahold of your insurance agent or by filling out a form online found here.