DAVIE, Fla. (WTXL) — On Monday, Florida's governor offered up his plans for property insurance next session, and they were: stay the course.
Gov. Ron DeSantis says recent reforms have the market in good shape and getting better, announcing rate cuts for Citizens' policyholders this morning.
But those who just got booted from the state-backed insurer aren't feeling it.
Watch the report from Capitol reporter Forrest Saunders:
At a news conference in Davie, Governor Ron DeSantis declared a win in Florida’s bruising property insurance fight — rolling out what he called historic rate cuts for Citizens Property Insurance, the state-backed insurer of last resort.
“The vast, vast majority of Citizens policyholders will receive a significant reduction," DeSantis said.
Statewide, the average cut is nearly 9%.
In Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach, the epicenter of years of insurance lawsuits, homeowners are set to see double-digit drops.
The Tampa Bay area: 5-7%.
Most set to take effect during spring renewals.
Tort reforms from 2023, say the governor and insurance commissioner, are the having their intended effect.
And Monday’s announcement, they think, should silence critics whom want a repeal.
Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky said, “All the good news that you're hearing today is expected to continue, barring either some sort of dramatic legislative action that spooks the market in some way, or outside of a major, cataclysmic nationwide or beyond systemic economic issue.”
But the rate cuts come with a catch.
Citizens is shrinking fast, slashed from a peak of about 1.4 million policies to, now, under 400,000.
That’s as the state forces homeowners into the private market.
DeSantis says it’s necessary, warning a bloated Citizens could collapse after a major hurricane and leave all Floridians holding the bag.
For homeowners like Eric Clauss in Safety Harbor, the transition is less victory lap, more leap of faith.
He recently spoke with Tampa Bay 28’s Nadeen Yanes.
“I heard stories that people were getting de-popped from Citizens. I figured, 'Oh, it’s just our turn. I mean, what are you going to do?'" Clauss said.
“Your reaction to that—I mean for the state leaders, they say that’s great—but your reaction to that?” Yanes asked.
“The politicians may say things are going to get better, but are they really?” Clauss said.
Clauss was moved off Citizens into a private insurer, with a small rate bump.
He says the real test comes when the next renewal or next storm hits.
“Citizens’ depopulation shows the private market is recovering, but the improvement is fragile," Democratic state rep Kelly Skidmore said.
Democrats say the governor is spiking the football too early.
They’ve been warning for months Florida’s insurance market is still fragile and dangerously exposed to hurricanes.
They’ve pitched a slate of bills to reform property insurance, including an interstate risk-pooling compact, that could lower prices.
“If we could just get our Republican colleagues to focus on the things that the people of Florida ask them to focus on, namely, property insurance, I think we could find better pathways to affordability," State House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell said.
The plan is unlikely to get traction given the party’s superminority status.
Meanwhile, DeSantis and company say the numbers are good and getting better pointing to new insurers entering Florida and rate filings finally moving down, albeit incrementally.
Whether any of these policy goals on insurance get traction this year will ultimately be up to the legislature and GOP supermajorities in both chambers.
They’re set to start the 2026 session in just hours, Tuesday morning, with the governor’s state of the state address at 11:00 a.m.
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