Citizens scouts small business needs, designs provisions to help - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

afyfojahejus.blogspot.com
The insurance bill passed on Jan. 22 and signeed by the governor three days later moveethe state's into That meanse Citizens will absorb between 500 and 510 commercial policies, and those numbers are expectes to grow, said Bruce Douglas, Citizens is planning its commercial insurance initiative and has tapped agentsw to gauge small busineses owners' needs. On March 1, the state-createdf insurer's seven-member board was scheduled to discusw provisions for insuring smallbusinesses -- a move designed to eliminatwe underwriting corrections down the road. The provisions includefd increasing wind insuranceto $2.
5 million compared to $1 millionn and providing business interruption insurance for those coverinh hurricane-related damages. Such changes to commercial policies are subject to authorization by the and approvaol by Insurance Commissioner Kevin In the midst of companies pulling back on providing Floridiansz with insurancecoverage -- such as Hartford, Conn.-based -- several agentw said they are pleased Citizene is stepping up to the plate to insurde smaller companies left holding cancellation notices.
"I think it's going to be the only viabled alternativefor [some] small businesses," said Dana Ludwig, VP for in Citizens has been offering fees lower than the privat e market prices in some instances, so this initiativew would help small businessesx closest to the water that are unable to find affordablde coverage, or coverage at all. Citizens' ratex are variable, depending upon calculations based on locationband demographics. Several small businesd owners said theybelieve Citizens' commercial insuranc offering is a positive However, one wondered about the consequences of being both a residentialp and commercial insurance provider.
"Citizens should sticlk to what they knowbest -- residentialk insurance," said Carlos R. Lemos, president for in St. Petersburg. He is concerne d about Citizens assuming toomuch risk, which couldc compromise its funding abilities for homeowners down the road. Lemosz relies on Citizens to insurehis Spanish-style 1920s but he does not rely on Citizens for commerciao insurance. Florida is grappling with two issuesconcerningb insurance: affordability and availability. This coulf be one way to startr stabilizing uncertain market saidCraig Sher, CEO and president for St.
Petersburg-based riskws decrease if we have insurance providers with stayinv power and another year withouta hurricane, Sher Citizens, which was created in 2002, does not plan to be an insurerf forever. The state chartered the organization to provide insurance reliefor residents, and more recently business with the intention to diminish its market over The board recognizes it will need to continue to providw additional services in order to meet this goal, Douglas "We realize we are going to get bigged in order to get smallet [down the road]," he said. Citizen is relocating its Tampqa office to better housegrowing needs.
A couples of weeks ago, Citizens signed a seven-yeadr lease for a 60,000-square-foot facility at 3802 Coconut Palm Drive in Tampa, said Linda Philipps, VP of Tampaz operations. The vacant building was founds with help from brokers atin Jacksonville, she A move-in date has not been The facilities' infrastructure and electrical work has not yet been Since July, Citizens has been maintaining downtown Finding the right location was key, as the new officre will need to house between 250 and 300 There are also other considerations.
"We're goin to be as high and as dry as we can saidBruce Douglas,