Committee advances bill to move eligible commercial risks out of Citizens via a clearinghouse

Representative Redondo told the subcommittee HB 943 would require Citizens Property Insurance Corporation to create a commercial-lines clearinghouse by Jan. 1, 2027, to allow larger commercial properties to access offers from private carriers rather than rely on Citizens as the insurer of last resort.

Redondo said Citizens has “the fewest policies since its inception” on the residential side but that a relatively small number of commercial policies account for an outsized share of liability exposure: "it's about 3,000 policies representing about $25,200,000,000 in exposure," he told the committee, and commercial exposure accounts for roughly 20% of Citizens' overall liability exposure.

Members asked whether there are enough private insurers to receive commercial risks and what safeguards would apply to participating carriers. Representative Redondo said the clearinghouse is designed to allow more carriers to compete and that Citizens would set strict financial-strength and capitalization requirements for participants; he described the approach as a "keep out" mechanism applying at renewal rather than an active takeout.

Sponsor and several members expressed support; Representative Overdorf and Representative Woodson said they expected private-market expansion and consumer protection benefits. The committee adopted the sponsor's strike-all amendment and reported HB 943 favorably with a committee substitute.

The bill will proceed under House rules for committee-reported measures.