TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation will hold a hearing Thursday to determine if rate hikes approved by Citizens Property Insurance can move forward.

Citizens board voted to increase rates at a statewide average of 14.6% this year.

Citizens Insurance is considered the insurance of last resort for Floridians who are transitioning between insurance companies or policies and can’t find coverage.

“Citizens went from 600 policies three years ago to 1.2 million policies now,” said Kevin Swanson, president of GreatFlorida Insurance of Brandon. "And that’s the result of seven carriers going bankrupt in Florida due to fraudulent roof claims and other issues in Florida that we’ve had.”

Swanson said Citizens Insurance was never created to carry long-term homeowners insurance policies, but as Florida’s property insurance has spiked and carriers have left the state, it has forced more people into Citizens Insurance.

At the same time, insurance rates in the private market have spiked, giving Citizens Insurance policy holders a discount of more than 40% compared to the private market.

Citizens Insurance says to remain solvent, the rate increases are necessary, however still allow cheaper insurance for those that can’t find insurance elsewhere.

The drawback for Citizens policy holders isn’t necessarily rate increases, rather it’s the threat of special assessment in the event Florida is hit with a major hurricane disaster this year.

“Citizens can assess the homeowner up to 40% of their premium in the next year if we have a disaster,” Swanson said. "And we are sitting right now on the edge of hurricane season, and I just hope to God we don’t have a storm.”