Citizens property insurance is ideal for Florida homeowners who’ve struggled to find home insurance with a standard insurer. But its coverage options and customer service aren’t the best.
Jennifer Gimbel is a senior managing editor and home insurance expert at Policygenius, where she oversees our homeowners insurance coverage. Previously, she was the managing editor at Finder.com and a content strategist at Babble.com.
Best for … Florida homeowners who’ve been denied home insurance coverage with traditional insurance companies.
Look elsewhere if … you can qualify for home insurance with a standard insurer — you can likely find more affordable, robust coverage with better customer service elsewhere.
Compare rates and shop affordable home insurance today
Citizens insurance is Florida’s state-run insurance group that offers home insurance to Floridians who’ve been denied coverage on the private market. With over 900,000 active policies as of June 2022, Citizens is the largest home insurer in Florida — adding nearly 100,000 policies since the beginning of the year. [1]
As Florida’s version of the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan, Citizens home insurance might be a good fit if you’ve struggled to qualify for coverage due to any of the following reasons:
Multiple past claims
Located in a high-risk coastal area
Roof is 15+ years old
Home is 50+ years old
Lapse in coverage
Poor or nonexistent credit score
Our licensed expert's take on Citizens
Pat Howard, licensed home insurance expert
"Although Citizens is often more expensive than home insurance through a traditional Florida company, it provides much-needed financial protection to homeowners who can't find coverage elsewhere. However, due to its limited coverage and high number of customer complaints with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, this is best utilized as a last-resort insurance option."
"Although Citizens is often more expensive than home insurance through a traditional Florida company, it provides much-needed financial protection to homeowners who can't find coverage elsewhere. However, due to its limited coverage and high number of customer complaints with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, this is best utilized as a last-resort insurance option."
Citizens home insurance eligibility requirements
To qualify for home insurance coverage from Citizens property insurance, you need to meet one of the following eligibility requirements:
You were denied coverage from at least one standard Florida home insurance company
You qualified for homeowners insurance with a standard Florida insurer but it was 20% more expensive than a comparable policy with Citizens
Does Citizens insurance accept homes with old roofs?
You’ll typically need to replace your roof to be eligible for coverage if any of these apply to your home:
You have a tile, slate, clay, concrete, or metal roof 50+ years old
You have a shingle or other type of roof 25+ years old
You have a mobile home with a roof 25+ years old
Pros and cons of Citizens property insurance
Pros
Covers high-risk homes that don’t qualify for coverage elsewhere
Wind-only policies available
Managed repair contractor network program
Free emergency water removal and drying services
24/7/365 claims filing online or over the phone
Cons
Annual rates are higher than standard insurers
Fewer coverage options and lower limits than competitors
No online quote tool
Average cost of Citizens homeowners insurance in Florida
The average cost of Citizens homeowners insurance in Florida is $3,024 per year or $252 per month, according to our analysis of Florida home insurance premiums provided by the Office of Insurance Regulation. [2]
To put this into perspective, the average cost of Citizens home insurance is:
13% higher than the state average ($2,643)
37% higher than the national average ($1,899)
Citizens home insurance quote comparison
Here’s how Citizens home insurance premiums compare to competitors in the private insurance market, as of March 31, 2022.
Citizens home insurance coverage options
Citizens property insurance offers the six standard coverages that you’ll get with any private home insurance company.
Covers the cost of rent, food, transportation, and other additional living expenses if you need to live elsewhere while your home is being repaired after a covered loss
Covers the cost of legal and medical bills if a guest is injured or their property is damaged while at your home and you’re found legally responsible for damages
Covers the cost of low-dollar medical bills if a guest is injured while at your home — regardless of who’s at fault
Up to $2,000
Additional coverage options available
Depending on your home and where you live, you might be able to add some of these additional coverage options — also known as endorsements — to your policy for an extra premium. One popular endorsement that you’ll notice Citizens insurance doesn’t offer is coverage for damage caused by water backup or sump overflow.
Additional coverage
What it is
Policy limits
Debris removal
Pays to remove fallen trees from your yard or a neighbor’s yard after a covered storm
$500
Trees, shrubs, and other plants
Pays to replace trees, shrubs, and plants damaged by fire, lightning, vandalism, theft, and more covered perils
Up to 5% of your dwelling limit for trees and plants — no more than $500 per plant
Fire department service charge
Covers fire department service fee if they come to your home to save covered property
$500
Credit or debit card, forgery, or counterfeit money
Covers loss resulting from the unauthorized use of your credit or debit cards
Your carport, pool enclosure, and porch might not be covered
Citizens insurance doesn’t cover carports, porches or patios open to the weather, or pool enclosures if the roof is made of any of the following materials:
Aluminum
Fiberglass panels
Plastic
Vinyl
Fabric
Screening
It also doesn’t cover any gazebos, cabanas, pergolas, or other structures designed to be open to the weather.
Compare rates and shop affordable home insurance today
You might score lower rates if you qualify for any of these home insurance discounts from Citizens:
Multipolicy discount. Save on rates by taking out multiple policies with Citizens property insurance, which might include flood, sinkhole, windstorm, or standard home insurance coverage.
Superior construction discount. Homes with fire-resistant or wind-resistant construction might earn a premium discount.
Roof construction discount. Hip roofs, those with secondary water resistance shingles, and homes with roof-to-wall wraps could qualify for up to 29% off your yearly premiums.
Window shutters discount. Earn up to 16% off the wind portion of your annual premiums if you have hurricane-proof shutters on your windows.
Protective devices discount. Save on premiums if your home is equipped with fire alarm, smoke alarm, or burglar alarm systems that are monitored by an outside company.
Sprinkler system discount. Trim some money off of your rate if your yard is fit with a sprinkler system.
Demotech downgrades several Florida insurance carriers — adding more chaos to the Florida home insurance crisis.
Citizens property insurance customer reviews
Better Business Bureau rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Consumer Affairs rating: 1.7 out of 5 stars
NAIC complaints: 872 complaints filed in 2021
Citizens property insurance doesn’t have the best customer reviews on third-party sites including the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Affairs as of June 2022. Chief complaints revolve around rude customer service representatives and claims adjusters, difficulty getting claims processed and paid out, and expensive rate hikes at time of renewal.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) also received a large number of complaints surrounding Citizens property insurance last year. [3] Here’s a breakdown of the number of complaints filed with the NAIC in 2021 broken down by reason:
Reason for complaint
Number of NAIC complaints in 2021
Claims handling
758 complaints
Underwriting
84 complaints
Policyholder services
26 complaints
Marketing & sales
5 complaints
Why does Citizens insurance have such bad reviews?
One reason for this negative customer sentiment of Citizens insurance is likely due to the sheer volume of policies the insurance company writes in Florida each year.
A licensed property insurance agent in Florida who asked not to be named had this to say about Citizens property insurance and the state of the insurance industry in Florida:
“Citizens was designed to be the insurer of last resort, but because the insurance industry in Florida is so volatile and unpredictable, it has now become the recycling bin for all of the policies that are being canceled or homeowners who no longer qualify for coverage from bigger companies due to their stricter underwriting guidelines. It’s a mess — there’s a surplus of people needing insurance and not enough carriers that will take them.”
Citizens property insurance deductible options
Your Citizens home insurance policy might come with several different deductibles depending on the coverages you purchase:
All perils deductible: Choose a fixed-dollar amount deductible that applies for damage caused by covered perils other than named hurricanes, windstorms, or sinkholes.
Hurricane deductible: Choose from a hurricane deductible that’s $500 (only for homes insured for less than $100,000) or 2%, 5%, or 10% of the insured value of your home. This applies to damage caused by a hurricane and is only paid once during a calendar year — regardless of how many hurricanes damaged your home.
Other windstorm deductible: For wind-only policies, this is usually a fixed-dollar deductible that applies for damage caused by a windstorm, tropical storm, tornado, or hail that is not a named hurricane.
Sinkhole deductible: Usually 10% of the insured value of your home — applied solely for damage caused by sinkholes.
Do I need an inspection to get Citizens insurance in Florida?
Citizens might require your home to undergo an inspection — or multiple ones — though it varies depending on the type of coverage you’re purchasing, discounts you’re trying to get, how old your home is, and where your home is located.
Here are a few different types of inspections you might be required to get, including whether you or Citizens will cover the cost.
Type of inspection
When it's required
Who pays for it
Exterior inspection
Varies — sometimes required to determine home’s replacement value, if you qualify for coverage, or to spot potential issues before they become problems
Citizens
Interior inspection
Varies — sometimes required to determine home’s replacement value, if you qualify for coverage, or to spot potential issues before they become problems
Citizens
Four-point inspection
If your home is more than 20 years old
Homeowner
High-value home inspection
If your home is valued at $650,000 or more
Homeowner
Roof inspection
If your roof is older than 25 years old (for shingle roofs) or 50 years old (for tile, slate, clay, concrete, or metal roofs)
If you’re trying to qualify for wind mitigation discounts
Homeowner
Sinkhole inspection
If you’re trying to purchase additional sinkhole loss coverage and either answer “yes” to questions on its application or live in one of the following counties: Alachua, Citrus, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lake, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Seminole, Sumter, Suwannee, Wakulla, or Washington
Homeowner
How do I sign up for a policy with Citizens property insurance?
To submit an application for a home insurance policy with Citizens insurance, you’ll first need to prove that you were unable to find coverage with a standard home insurance company or that the coverage you did qualify for was 20% more expensive than a similar policy with Citizens.
You can enter your ZIP code and click on the Start calculator button to get connected with a licensed Policygenius insurance agent who can help you compare quotes from different companies to see if Citizens is right for you.
Compare rates and shop affordable home insurance today
How do I file a claim with Citizens home insurance?
Citizens offers the option to file a claim over the phone or online 24/7/365.
How to file a claim online with Citizens
Log in to your Citizens account through myPolicy.
Navigate to the Claims tab.
Click Report a Claim to start the claims process.
How to file a claim over the phone with Citizens
Call the Citizens claims hotline at 866-411-2742.
Make sure you have the following information on hand: Your policy number, your contact information, damage description, and your mortgage company information (if applicable).
If you don’t have all of the information for your claim available or still aren’t sure the severity of the damage, Citizens encourages homeowners to still begin the claims process. A Citizens representative will work with you to help you fill in any missing information.
What other insurance policies does Citizens offer?
Aside from standard HO-3 home insurance policies, Citizens offers the following types of policies:
The phone number for the Citizens insurance customer care center is 866-411-2742. Customer service reps are available from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET on weekdays.
How do I log in to my Citizens insurance account?
To log in to your Citizens insurance account, go to the Citizens insurance website and click MyPolicy in the top navigation bar. You’ll then need to enter your username and password to sign into your account.
How much notice will Citizens give you if they plan to not renew your policy?
Citizens insurance is required by law to give you either 45 or 120 days notice of nonrenewal before the expiration date of your policy — it all depends on the reason for the nonrenewal.
Policygenius offers insurance policies from many of the nation's top insurers, who pay us a commission for our services. However, all editorial choices are made independently.
References
Policygenius uses external sources, including government data, industry studies, and reputable news organizations to supplement proprietary marketplace data and internal expertise. Learn more about how we use and vet external sources as part of our
Jennifer Gimbel is a senior managing editor and home insurance expert at Policygenius, where she oversees our homeowners insurance coverage. Previously, she was the managing editor at Finder.com and a content strategist at Babble.com.
