The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR) has approved Southern Oak Insurance Co.’s application to assume 50,000 policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corp., as well as American Integrity Insurance Co.’s request to take over 1,500 Citizens policies.
According to the regulator’s order, Southern Oak will assume 45,000 personal residential multiperil policies and 5,000 residential wind-only policies. The policy transfers are anticipated to be completed by the end of the year.
American Integrity's approved assumption includes 1,500 personal residential multiperil policies, with the transaction expected to take place on or around Sept. 16. This follows a previous approval in May allowing American Integrity to assume 1,250 similar policies.
The recent approvals add to a broader set of efforts by state regulators to reduce the number of policies held by Citizens. In March, FLOIR approved three insurers – Mangrove Property Insurance Co., Patriot Select Property and Casualty Insurance Co., and Slide Insurance Co. – to collectively assume as many as 135,540 Citizens policies.
This followed a trend of multiple depopulation rounds initiated since 2022, as part of the state’s strategy to restore balance to Florida’s property insurance market by encouraging private market participation.
American Integrity has also been among the more active participants in the program. In October, it received approval to take over 102,923 Citizens policies, followed by another 35,000 approved in December. These prior assumptions position the company among the largest private carriers involved in Citizens depopulation to date.
Citizens had 820,882 policies in force as of June 13, a decrease from 936,182 at the end of 2024. The company reported having over 1 million policies in 2022 and did not fall below that level until November 2024. These figures reflect the ongoing impact of depopulation measures. As of the end of March, Citizens reported a further drop to 841,470 policies, compared to a peak of approximately 1.4 million in 2023.
The assumptions come as Florida’s personal property insurance sector begins to show signs of stabilization. According to AM Best, the market posted its first underwriting profit since 2016, driven in part by recent legislative reforms and the shift of risk from Citizens to private companies.
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