ABOUT 70,000 Citizens Property Insurance policyholders are expected to file an estimated $1.23 billion in claims because of Hurricane Irma.

But taxpayers might not have to foot bill for insurer

TALLAHASSEE — About 70,000 Citizens Property Insurance policyholders are expected to file an estimated $1.23 billion in claims because of damage from Hurricane Irma, the state-backed insurer said Wednesday, a lower-than-projected number that should keep taxpayers from having to foot any part of the bill.

“Even after Hurricane Irma, Citizens’ capital position is strong,” Citizens Chairman Chris Gardner said during a brief telephone meeting Wednesday.

If claims from a hurricane overwhelm the resources of Citizens, it can impose a surcharge on the insurance policies of all Floridians, something it had to do after storms pummeled Florida in 2004 and 2005.

Gardner credited “hard work and preparation over the last few years” for Citizens’ initial response to Hurricane Irma.

However, he cautioned that “given the magnitude of reported claims, we are sure to encounter unforeseen challenges.”

The company, which has estimated that a 100-year storm hitting Florida could result in up to $6.6 billion in claims, has $7.4 billion in surplus and additional reinsurance — backup coverage that insurers purchase.

With 453,339 policies statewide as of July 31, the company also has less exposure than it did five years ago when it covered nearly 1.5 million properties.

Gardner, calling the $1.23 billion figure an “early estimate,” said Citizens also expects to recoup about $193 million from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which also provides backup coverage.

As of Tuesday night, more than 45,600 Citizens claims had been filed since Irma made two Florida landfalls Sept. 10. About 56 percent of the claims were from MiamiDade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Monroe County, which includes the Florida Keys where the company has 60 percent of the coverage, was responsi-

ble for 15 percent of the claims that had been filed.

Days after powerful and deadly Hurricane Irma made its double landfall in Florida, the company was bracing for up to 125,000 claims.

But with 800 adjusters in the field, the number of claims filed is now expected to grow by only 15,000 over the next 18 to 24 months, Gardner said.

Last year, Citizens paid out $10.7 million in claims related to hurricanes Hermine and Matthew, with about 4,000 claims filed.

Meanwhile, the state Office of Insurance Regulation reported that as of Tuesday afternoon, an overall industry total of 605,520 Irma claims had been filed, with losses estimated at $3.86 billion.

Last year, Hermine, which made landfall south of Tallahassee as a Category 1 storm, resulted in 19,699 claims that totaled $139 million in losses.

Matthew — which never made landfall as it ran up Florida’s eastern shoreline — had 119,345 claims, with losses projected at $1.182 billion.

After the hurricanes of 2004-2005 produced a $1.7 billion Citizens deficit, lawmakers gave it a partial bailout of $800 million and an assessment of 1.7 percent was placed on property owners’ insurance premiums to recover the remaining $900 million. The assessment was reduced to 1 percent in 2011. It didn’t end until 2015.

Another concern is just how equipped some of the small, Florida-based insurers are able to handle a major hurricane.

If a company gets an influx of claims and becomes insolvent, the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association would cover those losses, but it could issue emergency assessments of up to 2 percent on policies statewide to pay for hurricane losses.

The last time the association approved a 2 percent assessment was in 2006, to cover $400 million in losses at Poe Financial Group. About a dozen companies went bankrupt after Hurricane Andrew slammed into South Florida in 1992. Tallahassee bureau reporter Gray Rohrer contributed to this report.