Hundreds of thousands of policyholders with Florida'slast-resort insurer have a chance to return to the private marketafter an approval from regulators for 10 private carriers to assumepolicies.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. says nearly 400,000 of itspolicyholders will receive letters from private companies, tellingthese homeowners they have been selected. Each homeowner has theoption to remain with Citizens but the state-run insurer is hopingthe policies find a home in the private market.

Citizens, which is meant to be the state's last resort insurer,has grown to become its largest writer of property insurance.Mandated rate freezes made Citizens a cheap option for homeownersand the insurer competed with the private market. But that has beenslowly been changing since laws to allow Citizens to increase ratesto better match the risk have been passed.

CEO Barry Gilways says, “Citizens policies are becoming moreattractive to private carriers. We have had success but still havea ways to go.”

Citizens has been attempting to educate the public onassessments and other risks of remaining with Citizens. Homeownersreturning to the private market would no longer be subject toCitizens' assessment of as much as 45 percent if money is needed topay claims after a major catastrophe. Instead, they would be inline to be assessed 2 percent if Citizens finds itself with adeficit after a storm.

The Citizens depopulation program has been in place in Floridafor years but just now is price becoming less of an obstacle.Citizens is not the glaring cheapest option, especially whenconsidering the coverage available in the private market, Citizenshas said.

A law passed during the last Legislative Session alsoestablished a consumer clearinghouse to depopulate the insurer andreduce its exposure.

“The clearinghouse will provide policyholders with more privatemarket options so they do not need to enter Citizens in the firstplace,” Gilway says.