TAMPA, Fla. — The insurance premium battle is taking its toll on homeowners throughout Florida, including people with property in Tampa Bay.

What You Need To Know

  •  The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation is holding a hearing to discuss a rate hike

  •  Citizen's Property Insurance is seeking a 14.6% rate increase

  •  More that 1.2 million homes are insured by Citizen's 

With Citizen’s Property Insurance turning into the primary provider for Florida homeowners instead of the insurer of last resort, more than a million policy holders are facing a 14.6% hike in their premiums if it’s approved by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulators.

Chant Karqjian owns one of those homes, and has for there years when he and his family moved into their dream home in Seminole.

“We love the home,” he said. “It’s a very different style. It’s not a cookie cutter-style property in the neighborhood.”

When it came to buying homeowner’s insurance back in 2020, Karqjian says he was paying $2,500 in premiums. The following year, that premium doubled, and now he says the insurance premium is turning the house of their dreams into a nightmare.

“When the renewals came up, it was almost triple,” he said. “So it was almost $7,000 for the exact same policy and we had to re-shop it so we could make sense out of it and the best option was Citizen’s.”

And now, with premiums at Citizen's facing a potential price hike, Karqjian said he's got some troubling questions.

“When is this gonna stop? Where’s the end of it?" he asked. "Not only is there an increase, but now Citizen’s is requiring flood insurance whether you’re in a flood zone not, so it seems like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel."

Running a property management firm has taught Karqjian that he’s not alone in this insurance struggle. And although he thinks periodic rate hikes are understandable, he says these huge price jumps aren’t solving Florida’s current insurance crisis.

“(We’ve got) to get down to the bottom of it," he said. “Is it because of mismanagement from the company? Is it mismanagement from the state? Is it because there are too many lawsuits? Is it because they’re too many pay outs?

"Obviously, there is always going to be some liability, but I think that liability versus risk today is outweighing itself.”