[heydade]

I am about to buy a home and confused on whether or not I should go with the state Citizens insurance or a private insurance company. Citizens would be about 500.00 more per year. I heard Citizens is hear to stay...they cannot go under, unlike private insurance which can. What do you recommend ? I need to make a decision soon !

THANKS

[Lilybeans]

Get insurance with a regular insurance company. Citizen's is a last resort.

[Mike1306]

Citizen's is not last resort but that being said just as long as all coverage is the same go with the cheapest.
You can check the companies rating but even if an insurance company goes insolvent all claims are covered by a state fund that all insurance companies pay into.

[HowDeDo]

Citizens is backed by the State of Florida in case you have a claim . Many millions of Floridians are with Citizens .

[Ladywithafan]

In the event of a catastrophe, you'll wish you went with Citizens.

[HowDeDo]

'Citizens....the peoples choice ; we care about your possesions because you do . With Citizens, its like having a faithful Neighbor in time of need . Citizens....because we care' .

[maggiekate]

check out the private company on the florida web site, if you get to save 500.00 and it is a good company, go for it, also consider flood insurance. You may be where it is not needed, however,then
it is cheap.

[riveree]

I had a house that was difficult to insure due to it's age (though condition was excellent). I was ultimately able to find a private insurer to cover the house and though I paid a higher than normal rate, it was still less than Citizen's.

My understanding is that once you go with Citizen's, private insurance companies will read your file as "high risk" in the future and will not be interested in insuring you (so you're stuck with Citizen's). I wasn't willing to take that chance.

Another consideration is Lloyd's of London. You can pay a flat rate for insurance with them. It can be costly, but it might be a better option than Citizen's (depending on how much insurance you need).

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by riveree

I had a house that was difficult to insure due to it's age (though condition was excellent). I was ultimately able to find a private insurer to cover the house and though I paid a higher than normal rate, it was still less than Citizen's.

My understanding is that once you go with Citizen's, private insurance companies will read your file as "high risk" in the future and will not be interested in insuring you (so you're stuck with Citizen's). I wasn't willing to take that chance.

Another consideration is Lloyd's of London. You can pay a flat rate for insurance with them. It can be costly, but it might be a better option than Citizen's (depending on how much insurance you need).

I went with Citizens originally because it was 33% of what State Farm was going to charge me to renew.

It has since gone down another 50%.

I had not heard anything at all about other insurers regarding you as high risk and I get new quotes every year. So far no one has come close to Citizens.

I may be different in other metro areas.

[TampaKaren]

It's too bad that Citizens is stigmatized. Though I don't have it, I know it's helped many. They are now permitted to compete with private insurors for premiums. Citizens is also selling off policies to private insurors, most recent article follows: Six insurers to pull 110,000 more policies from Citizens - St. Petersburg Times