Citizens Property Insurance Corp Selling $2 Billion In Tax-exempt Bonds
Citizens Property Insurance Corp., expecting an “above normal” hurricane season is planning to raise funds by selling $2 billion in tax-exempt bonds by the end of this week. Citizens is Florida government-owned which is a major player in the Florida market with around 22% market share.
It comes under the backdrop of forecasts for around 5 hurricanes to strike Florida during this year’s hurricane season from June 1 to November 30. Citizens has benefited from the past 4 years of hurricane free season though some private insurers withdrew from the Florida’s residential market after huge losses in 2004 and 2005.
Citizens was created in 2002 for providing Home Insurance to those who couldn’t get it anywhere else. As many insurers have pulled out of the Florida market due to its uncertain hurricanes, Citizens has become the major player there.
It would be interesting to watch how the insurance companies fare this year with the prediction of quite a few hurricanes. One can expect quite a few companies to withdraw from the Florida market if the hurricane forecasts turn out to be true.