Citizens Insurance Rate Decrease 2026: What the Cut Actually Means at Your Renewal

Q: Is Citizens insurance really going down in 2026?

Yes. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation approved an average 5.9% decrease across Citizens' personal lines for 2026, including an 8.7% average cut for HO-3 homeowners policies, effective July 1, 2026 for new business and at each policy's first renewal on or after that date.

Q: What is the 1% FIGA assessment on my Florida policy, and when does it end?

It is an emergency charge the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association added to most property and casualty policies to pay claims of insolvent insurers. FIGA announced it ends for policies with effective dates of October 1, 2026 or later, two years ahead of its original 2028 schedule.

Q: Can I stay with Citizens if a private company offers to take my policy?

Not always. Under Florida Statute 627.351, if a private insurer's offer at renewal is within 20% of your Citizens premium, you are no longer eligible to remain with Citizens. Compare the offer's coverage and price before the response deadline.

Q: Do I have to buy flood insurance to keep my Citizens policy?

If your policy includes wind coverage, yes. The requirement has been phasing in since 2023 and reaches all Citizens personal lines policies with wind coverage on January 1, 2027, regardless of flood zone. Only policies without wind coverage and condo unit-owner policies are exempt.

By Ricardo Alonso, Founder, Atesa Risk Advisors · September 8, 2026

Key Takeaways

Citizens Property Insurance rates fell for 2026: an average 5.9% decrease across all personal lines, effective July 1, 2026 for new business and at each policy's renewal [1]
By product: HO-3 homeowners down 8.7% statewide, HO-6 condo unit-owner down 10.4%, dwelling-fire (DP) down 4.2%, wind-only (HW-2) down 4.8% [1]
Citizens' board filed for a 2.6% average cut in December 2025 — its first requested decrease since 2015; the Office of Insurance Regulation's order more than doubled it, to 5.9% [1][2]
A second charge disappears this fall: the 1% FIGA emergency assessment comes off policies with effective dates of October 1, 2026 or later, two years ahead of its original 2028 schedule [4]
The decrease comes with a condition: under FS 627.351, a private carrier's takeout offer within 20% of your Citizens premium at renewal ends your eligibility to stay [5]
Flood insurance is still phasing in for Citizens policyholders; the requirement reaches every personal lines policy with wind coverage on January 1, 2027 [5]
Citizens' book has shrunk from 1,407,805 policies at the end of September 2023 to 266,117 as of September 4, 2026, as depopulation continues [6]

Yes, the Citizens rate decrease is real. The Office of Insurance Regulation approved an average 5.9% cut across Citizens Property Insurance's personal lines for 2026 — with standard HO-3 homeowners policies down 8.7% statewide — effective July 1, 2026 for new business and for each existing policy as it renews [1][3]. Those figures are averages, though, spread across hundreds of thousands of policies and dozens of rating territories. The average is not your renewal. What your own bill does this year depends on your territory, your policy form, and two other changes arriving in the same envelope.

For the first time since 2015, Citizens asked its regulator for a rate decrease instead of an increase [2]. That sentence would have sounded like a misprint in 2022, when the state-backed carrier of last resort — the insurer Florida law created to cover homes the private market won't — was absorbing more than a million policies and filing for the maximum increase the law allowed. So here is what was actually approved, why your number will differ, and the two other moving pieces in the same envelope.

The 2026 Citizens Rate Decrease, Line by Line

The Office of Insurance Regulation's order sets different changes for each Citizens personal lines product [1]:

Citizens product	What it covers	2026 approved change (statewide average)
HO-3	Standard homeowners policy on a house you live in	−8.7%
HO-6	Condo unit-owner policy (interior and contents)	−10.4%
DP	Dwelling-fire policy, typically rental houses	−4.2%
HW-2	Wind-only policy paired with separate non-wind coverage	−4.8%
All personal lines combined		−5.9%

The path to those numbers matters, because it says something about where rates are headed. Citizens' Board of Governors voted in December 2025 to file for an average 2.6% personal lines decrease — modest, but the first decrease the board had requested in a decade [2]. The regulator then went further: the Office of Insurance Regulation's order more than doubled the combined cut, to 5.9%, and set the HO-3 cut at 8.7% [1][3].

The changes took effect July 1, 2026 for new business, and each existing policy picks up its new rate at its first renewal on or after that date [3]. If your policy renewed in May 2026, you're still paying the old rate — your decrease arrives at the next renewal, not before.

Why now? The 2022 and 2023 legislative reforms cut the litigation costs that had been driving Florida property rates, quiet storm seasons let carriers rebuild, and private insurers came back willing to compete. Citizens says those reforms have been instrumental in the market's recovery, and its filing and OIR's order both rest on those trends [2][3].

Why Your Renewal May Not Show 8.7%

A rate decrease and a premium decrease are not the same thing. Your premium is the rate multiplied by what's being insured, and both halves can move at once. Three things pull your renewal away from the statewide average:

1. The average is built from territories. Citizens prices by rating territory — coastal Duval is not inland Marion, and a barrier island is not a suburb. The −8.7% HO-3 figure is the average of all of those territory-level changes. Some territories fall by more, some by much less. The order sets an average, not a uniform cut for every address [1].

2. Your Coverage A probably went up. Coverage A is the amount the policy would pay to rebuild your house. Insurers adjust it at renewal to track construction costs, and an inflation adjustment raises the number the rate gets multiplied against. Simple arithmetic: an 8.7% rate cut against a Coverage A that rose 4% nets out to roughly a 5% premium drop, not 8.7%. The decrease is in there — it's underneath the rebuilding-cost update.

3. Your product has its own number. A wind-only HW-2 policy fell 4.8%, not 8.7%. A dwelling-fire policy on a rental fell 4.2%. The headline figure everyone quotes is the HO-3 number, and it only applies to the HO-3 form [1].

I've read a stack of Citizens renewals since the new rates took effect in July, and no two moved by the same percentage — a few barely moved at all once the Coverage A adjustment washed through. Territory and form decide the number, not the statewide average. Every one of those owners had heard "8.7 percent" on the news.

— Ricardo Alonso, Founder, Atesa Risk Advisors

The practical test: put this year's declarations page — the summary sheet at the front of the policy showing your coverage amounts and premium — next to last year's, and compare premium and Coverage A. The average is not your renewal; the two documents side by side are.

The Second Line Item Falling: FIGA's 1% Assessment Ends October 1

There's a second decrease coming that has nothing to do with Citizens' rate order, and it lands on nearly every property policy in the state.

FIGA — the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, the fund that pays claims when a Florida insurer goes broke — has been collecting a 1% emergency assessment on property and casualty policies to pay the claims left behind by the insurer failures of 2022 and early 2023. FIGA announced in February 2026 that the assessment, originally scheduled to run until 2028, ends after September 30, 2026: policies with effective dates of October 1, 2026 or later no longer carry the charge, while policies effective through September 30 still pay it [4]. FIGA's explanation is plain: collections came in above projections, the bonds the assessment was servicing were repaid early, and FIGA has taken on no new insurer insolvencies since February 2023 [4]. If your renewal falls on or after October 1, look for the FIGA line item to be gone — a modest 1%, but it stacks on top of whatever rate change your renewal carries.

A Takeout Offer Within 20% Can End Your Citizens Eligibility

I am not suggesting the rate decrease makes Citizens a place to settle in. The state designed Citizens to shrink, and the mechanism doing the shrinking — depopulation, or "takeout," where a private carrier picks policies from Citizens' book and mails those policyholders an offer to assume the coverage — doesn't pause because rates fell. The scale is large: Citizens' own policies-in-force count went from a peak of 1,407,805 at the end of September 2023 to 395,337 at the end of 2025 and 266,117 as of September 4, 2026 [6].

Staying with Citizens is not always your choice. Under FS 627.351, if a private authorized insurer offers you coverage at renewal at a premium within 20% of your Citizens premium, you are no longer eligible to remain with Citizens [5]. The offer letter isn't junk mail — it can be the notice that your Citizens era is ending, and it carries a stated response deadline. Read it, compare the offered premium and coverage terms against your current policy, and answer on time. I've walked through the mechanics in the Citizens exit guide.

Flood Insurance Is Still Phasing In — January 1, 2027 Is the Last Step

One requirement keeps tightening while rates loosen. The 2022 reform law conditioned Citizens coverage on flood insurance, phased in over several years, and the final step arrives January 1, 2027: from that date the requirement reaches every Citizens personal lines policy that includes wind coverage, regardless of flood zone; the statute exempts only policies without wind coverage and condo unit-owner policies [5].

If yours is one of the policies picking up the requirement, don't wait for the renewal letter to force the issue. An NFIP flood policy — the federal program's standard coverage, with limits of $250,000 on the building and $100,000 on contents — carries a 30-day waiting period before it takes effect. Buying in late December for a January 1 deadline doesn't work; buying by late November does. The full schedule and the private-flood alternatives are in the Citizens flood deadline guide.

What to Do When the Renewal Arrives

Pull both declarations pages. This year's and last year's, side by side. Note the total premium, Coverage A, and every fee line.
Separate the rate change from the exposure change. If Coverage A rose, part of your rate decrease is being spent on higher rebuilding coverage — which you probably want. Judge the rate cut after accounting for it.
Check the FIGA line. Renewals effective October 1, 2026 or later should no longer show the 1% emergency assessment [4].
Open every takeout letter and answer by its deadline. An offer within 20% of your Citizens premium ends your eligibility to stay, so the decision needs to be made on coverage, not made by default [5].
Confirm your flood plan before January 1, 2027. Count backward 30 days for the NFIP waiting period.
Get a private-market comparison anyway. The same market recovery that let OIR cut Citizens' rates has private carriers competing again. Citizens' 2026 price is the benchmark to beat, not the automatic answer.

FAQ for Citizens Policyholders

Q: Is Citizens insurance really going down in 2026?

A: Yes. The Office of Insurance Regulation approved an average 5.9% decrease across Citizens' personal lines for 2026, including an 8.7% average cut for HO-3 homeowners policies, effective July 1, 2026 for new business and at each policy's renewal [1][3].

Q: Why didn't my Citizens renewal go down 8.7%?

A: The 8.7% figure is a statewide average for the HO-3 form only. Your change depends on your rating territory, your policy form, and whether your Coverage A rebuilding limit was adjusted upward at renewal, which offsets part of the rate cut.

Q: When does the Citizens rate decrease take effect?

A: July 1, 2026 for new business. Existing policies receive the new rates at their first renewal on or after July 1, 2026 — a policy that renewed in May 2026 sees the change at its next renewal [1].

Q: What is the 1% FIGA assessment on my Florida policy, and when does it end?

A: It's an emergency charge the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association added to most property and casualty policies to pay claims of insolvent insurers. FIGA announced it ends for policies with effective dates of October 1, 2026 or later, two years early [4].

Q: Can I stay with Citizens if a private company offers to take my policy?

A: Not always. Under FS 627.351, if a private insurer's offer at renewal is within 20% of your Citizens premium, you are no longer eligible to remain with Citizens. Compare the offer's coverage and price before the response deadline [5].

Q: Do I have to buy flood insurance to keep my Citizens policy?

A: If your policy includes wind coverage, yes — the requirement has been phasing in since 2023 and reaches all Citizens personal lines policies with wind coverage on January 1, 2027, regardless of flood zone; only policies without wind coverage and condo unit-owner policies are exempt [5].

Q: Will Citizens rates keep going down in 2027?

A: Unknown. Future rates depend on storm seasons, litigation trends, and reinsurance costs, and none of those are predictable a year out. What is knowable: your 2026 rate, your takeout options, and your flood deadline — act on those.

How Atesa Risk Advisors Can Help

A rate order, a disappearing assessment, a takeout letter, and a flood deadline can all hit one household in the same six months, and each one changes the math on the others. We review Citizens renewals line by line — rate change against Coverage A adjustment, takeout offer against the current policy's forms, flood options against the January 2027 requirement — and tell you plainly whether staying, switching, or accepting the takeout is the better position. Atesa is an independent Florida brokerage, so the comparison runs across the private market and Citizens, not toward any one carrier — and if your current setup is already right, that's the answer you'll get.

Want your Citizens renewal reviewed before you pay it? Get your free quote and consultation at atesariskadvisors.com/get-quote or call (904) 900-5063.

Sources

[1] Citizens Property Insurance Corporation — 2026 Approved Rate Changes by County (March 2026)

[2] Citizens Property Insurance Corporation — Citizens Recommends Rate Cuts for Most Policyholders (Dec. 10, 2025)

[3] Citizens Property Insurance Corporation — Citizens' 2026 Multiperil Rates to Drop Statewide (Mar. 4, 2026)

[4] Florida Insurance Guaranty Association — Assessments: Current FIGA Emergency Assessment Is Ending

[5] Florida Statutes §627.351 — Insurance risk apportionment plans

[6] Citizens Property Insurance Corporation — Policies in Force

External Resources for Florida homeowners:

Ricardo Alonso is the Founder of Atesa Risk Advisors, a Florida independent insurance agency. Licensed 2-20 General Lines Agent and 2-15 Health & Life Agent, with a Master of Liberal Arts in Finance from Harvard University. He reviews Citizens renewals and takeout offers for homeowners across Florida.

Educational disclaimer: This article is general educational information about insurance and is not insurance advice, a quote, or an offer of coverage. Rates, discounts, deadlines, and requirements change and vary by property; confirm current figures with primary sources and a licensed agent before relying on them. Coverage is subject to the terms of your policy. For a personalized review, contact Atesa Risk Advisors, an independent, RamseyTrusted brokerage licensed in Florida (2-20 General Lines).