Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has secured $2.82 billion in reinsurance for the 2026 hurricane season, allowing it to pay claims following a 1-in-360-year hurricane without having to levy assessments on Florida insurance consumers.

The 2026 reinsurance package, outlined Tuesday at Citizens’ Board of Governors meeting, reflects the positive impact of legislative reforms, reduced litigation, and a resurgent private market that have allowed Citizens to reduce its policy count to historically low levels.

“It seems that we are really at an all-time low for probable maximum loss for Citizens policy insurance,” said Tim Cerio, Citizens President/CEO and Executive Director. “This is great news and attributable to the reforms and our small PIF (policies in force) count.” 

Like other insurance companies, Citizens goes to the global reinsurance market yearly to seek additional claims-paying coverage. In May, Citizens’ Board of Governors authorized Citizens to spend up to $280 million in 2026 on reinsurance. Citizens spent $276 million. 

The 2026 reinsurance package includes $1.29 billion in new coverage on top of $1.53 billion in existing coverage, combined with Citizens’ $5.34 billion surplus and $1.44 billion from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. Citizens has at least $9.6 billion in claims-paying ability for the 2026 hurricane season. 

“Both the catastrophe bond market and the traditional reinsurance market have ample capacity due to increased capital, improved earnings, and renewed confidence in the Florida market,” said Jennifer Montero, Citizens Chief Financial Officer.

Since 2022, 20 new companies have entered the state, and Citizens’ policy count has fallen from 1.4 million in late 2023 to approximately 274,000, about 2% of the Florida residential property insurance market. Reinsurance rates, the interest charged for reinsurance protection, have dropped nearly 30% over the past year.

The reinsurance package will allow Citizens to protect 77% of its surplus following a 1-in-100-year storm. For comparison, Hurricane Andrew was an approximately 1-in-43-year event, while Hurricane Ian was an approximately 1-in-20-year to 1-in-25-year hurricane. 

Details of Citizens’ 2026 reinsurance package are available in an Executive Summary with updated layer charts.