A "milestone" generally refers to a landmark in your life or a special achievement that was your goal. Applying the word to the Florida insurance industry has an entirely different meaning which may not actually be considered a milestone.

In August the Citizens Property Insurance Corp. announced that it is expecting to reduce average rates in 2015, calling this a milestone for the Florida insurance market. Citizens' rates have increased every year since a rate freeze was lifted in 2009 giving them the highest rates in the nation. This indicates that the industry is finally approaching equilibrium after years of steady rate hikes. Citizens’ has stated that seven out of 10 customers of Citizens could see their bills go down assuming Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation gives their final approval. If the new rates are approved they will go into effect Feb. 1 well after this year’s hurricane season.

Statewide a typical “multi-peril” homeowner’s policy would see a price cut of 6.3 percent on average. However, rates for policyholders in coastal areas which are hardest hit by storms and for those who carry “wind-only” insurance are slated to go up since they are still considered to have bargain rates relative to the risk involved according to Citizens' chief risk officer John Rollins. Also, Florida condominium policies could see higher insurance rates.

Sarasota County had 47,785 Citizens policies as of December 2013 while Manatee County had 17,792 policies, according to published reports. According to the numbers provided by Citizens, 57 percent of homeowners’ policies in Sarasota County are expected to see a rate decrease and 43 percent will see an increase, and 90 percent of homeowners’ policies in Manatee County would see a decrease.

Citizens has stated that the company is benefiting from trends that are buoying the entire industry, including cheaper reinsurance, which is a kind of insurance for insurers. Also helping to stabilize the industry are an increase in cash reserves and the absence of hurricanes during the past eight years.

Because of the rate freeze that was in effect prior to 2009, rates were kept artificially low, causing private insurers to pull out of the Florida market arguing that Citizens’ rates were undercutting the private market and discouraging competition. However, after years of rate increases, Citizens’ premiums have come more in line with private insurers. As a result, Citizens has also been making a strong effort to bring private insurers back into the Florida market in recent years in an attempt to decrease its customer count and protect Florida citizens from risk in the event of a major storm.

This effort is ongoing and has resulted in reducing Citizens' policyholders who are placed on a clearinghouse website where private insurance agents can offer private insurance to homeowners. A customer is ineligible for Citizens coverage if one of the private insurers charges premiums within 15 percent of Citizens’ rates.

I’m still not convinced that “milestone” is an accurate way to describe what’s happening at Citizens. Certainly lower rates and a more stable insurance market is the objective and we may be on our way, but "milestone" denotes more than what has actually occurred. Nevertheless, the news is good and every homeowner should be gratified that we may at least be turning the corner on out of control insurance rates with a special thank you to the hurricane god.