The House Always Wins (Continued)

Efficient, yes. Especially if your metric is reducing the state’s financial exposure.

Since peaking in 2023, Citizens has slashed its policy count by 63%, with projections to drop below 500,000 by year’s end. Sixteen new private insurers have re-entered the market, lured by the state’s friendlier legal climate. On paper, it looks like a policy win.

Unless you’re Peter Kilfoil. Unless you’re Linda, waking up alone to black mold under the drywall. Unless “resilience” means learning to take the five hundred bucks and die before the paperwork clears.

Cassel, now out of office, still gets calls. “People think they’re going to court,” she said. “They don’t realize they’ve been walked into arbitration disguised as justice.”⁸

Alvarez does realize it. And this fall, as tile mildew crept back through his hallway from another burst pipe, he filed a second claim. This time, he told his lawyer, they’re not settling. He wants a jury. He wants to look someone in the eye. He wants a room that doesn’t smell like surrender.

Bibliography

1. Allaire Conte, Citizens Insurance Wins 90% of Disputes. Is the System Rigged? , Realtor.com (2025). Florida’s insurer of last resort, Citizens, has become a legal battleground amid skyrocketing disasters and insurer retreat.

2. ProPublica , Florida Lawmakers Give Citizens Power to Reroute Disputes (2023). Covers legislative debates over shifting legal processes to DOAH and includes Rep. Cassel’s dissent.

3. ProPublica &amp Sun Sentinel Investigation, Citizens’ DOAH Win Rate (2025). Findings show Citizens wins over 90% of cases in DOAH vs. 55% in circuit court.

4. Ibid., Settlement Outcomes in DOAH (2025). Details statistics about average settlement amounts and premature case endings.

5. Sun Sentinel , Interview with Jeffery McShane (2025). Reveals the human impact and personal story behind the numbers.

6. Sun Sentinel , Judge Blocks Citizens’ Use of DOAH (2025). Describes Judge Polo’s ruling and the structural bias found in DOAH proceedings.

7. Citizens Board Minutes , CEO Tim Cerio Remarks (2025). Cerio’s defense of DOAH process and framing of critics as politically motivated.

8. Florida House Floor Record , Hillary Cassel Testimony (2023). Original testimony warning about conflict of interest and constitutional risks.