Policyholders at Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will receive an average statewide homeowners rate reduction of 8.7%, according to an announcement from Governor Ron DeSantis. Homeowners in South Florida are positioned for even steeper cuts under the new rate structure.
The reduction goes well beyond the 2.6% decrease Citizens filed for in December, which itself marked the first rate cut approved by the insurer’s board since 2015.
Under the revised plan, more than 330,000 policyholders will see lower premiums, and over 150,000 of them will receive reductions of at least 10%.
Multiperil homeowners policies will see an average statewide decrease of 8.7% when they renew this spring. The change marks the largest Citizens rate reduction in years and sharply exceeds the figure the insurer initially put forward.
DeSantis said the earlier filing included only modest relief and left too much on the table. Regulators declined to approve it as submitted and instead modified the proposal to deliver more meaningful savings to policyholders.
The announcement appeared to catch Citizens off guard. Spokesperson Michael Peltier said the company was still waiting for final orders from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and did not yet have county-level breakdowns showing how the revised rates would land.
DeSantis appeared alongside Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, focusing remarks on South Florida, where premiums have long ranked among the highest in the state.
DeSantis said the Citizens cuts follow a broader easing of insurance pricing across the state. He pointed to declining rates in both auto and homeowners coverage and said additional relief remains on the way, describing the Citizens reductions as the most significant in recent memory.
State officials tied the lower rates to tort reform and insurance legislation enacted over the past several years.
Chief financial officer Blaise Ingoglia said the changes reflect a deliberate effort to stabilise a market that stood close to failure only a few years ago.
Ingoglia said reforms aimed at reducing litigation, fraud, and abuse have reshaped the insurance environment and are now translating into tangible savings for homeowners. According to the governor’s office, admitted home and auto insurers in the private market are also filing for lower rates.
