Carmen Sifonte, a resident of Hypoluxo, has been hit hard by soaring insurance premiums in recent years. She expressed her distress upon receiving notice of yet another $300 hike in her Citizens Insurance policy, bringing her total increase since 2021 to $3,000.
“I cried about it; I took a whole day of crying about it,” Sifonte lamented, highlighting the significant burden of these escalating costs, particularly given her fixed income and ongoing battle with cancer.
Facing these relentless increases, Sifonte has reluctantly informed her family that she may need financial assistance to avoid having to sell her home, a prospect she deeply wishes to avoid.
Robert Norberg, an insurance agent at Arden Insurance in Lantana, acknowledged the broader trend of rising premiums affecting many homeowners in Florida. “It’s going to happen on everybody, Citizens is going to go up,” Norberg remarked, emphasizing the widespread impact of these adjustments.
Citizens Insurance, Florida’s state-run insurer, is currently undertaking measures to reduce its policy count and raise rates to align more closely with private market levels. CEO Tim Cerio highlighted the challenges faced by policyholders like Sifonte during a recent insurance roundtable in Clearwater.
“I’ve spoken to policyholders particularly in South Florida; folks don’t want to leave Citizens, sometimes and in many cases were cheaper,” Cerio noted, expressing concern over the implications of this situation.
For seniors such as Sifonte, alternative insurance options are scarce. Norberg explained that certain eligibility criteria, such as the age of the property and its location, often prevent homeowners like Sifonte from securing coverage elsewhere.
The confluence of rising insurance costs and limited alternatives underscores the pressing challenges faced by seniors on fixed incomes in Florida’s increasingly volatile insurance market.
