Does Citizens Cover Your Screen Enclosure or Carport?

If you have a pool cage, lanai, carport or awning on your home, Citizens screen enclosure coverage is one of the first things you should check before the next storm season. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Florida’s state-created residual market insurer, does not provide Coverage A (dwelling) or Coverage B (other structures) for a long list of lightweight, open-to-the-weather structures. That is not a rumor or a one-time memo from years ago. It is how the Citizens policy form is written today, and after Hurricanes Helene and Milton tore through Tampa Bay in 2024, it is one of the most painful coverage gaps we explain to homeowners.

We are an independent Florida agency, so we are not here to defend Citizens or attack it. We are here to tell you plainly what your policy does and does not cover, and what options you have if a screen enclosure or carport matters to you.

What Citizens screen enclosure coverage actually excludes

Under the current Citizens homeowners and wind-only forms, the carrier will not provide Coverage A or Coverage B for the following structures, whether or not they are attached to the dwelling:

• Screened enclosures that are aluminum-framed, or that are not covered by the same (or substantially the same) materials as the primary dwelling, this is your typical pool cage or screened lanai.
• Carports that are aluminum, or not built of the same materials as the home.
• Patios and open-sided porches with a roof covering that is not the same material as the dwelling.
• Awnings of any kind.
• Structures with a roof or wall covering of thatch, lattice, slats or similar material.
• Slat houses, chickees, tiki huts, gazebos, cabanas, canopies, pergolas and similar structures built to be open to the weather.

In short: the aluminum-and-screen pool cage that a huge share of Florida homes have is generally not protected by your base Citizens policy. If one of these structures was previously scheduled under Coverage B with an increased limit, Citizens removes that increased limit and the related coverage at renewal.

A note on how we got here

This exclusion is not new. A state-hosted coverage comparison from 2011 already listed screened enclosures as not available on Citizens policies. What has changed is the market around it, so the practical question for a homeowner today is what to do about it now.

Can you add any Citizens screen enclosure coverage back?

No. Citizens sells no screened-enclosure or carport buy-back on its homeowners, dwelling or wind-only forms. Its own coverage worksheets carry the same note on Coverage A and Coverage B, that aluminum-framed screened enclosures, screen pool cages, carports and open porches are not covered, and the column that asks whether the coverage can be added or the limit increased reads “No.” The exclusion is about the structure, not the storm: it applies to every cause of loss, not only hurricanes. The one exception is a Citizens mobile home policy, where enclosures and carports attached to the home fall under Coverage A.

The selectable-limit hurricane endorsement people ask about, typically $10,000 to $50,000, is a private-carrier feature. Florida’s Insurance Consumer Advocate describes it as coverage for screened enclosures and aluminum-framed carports damaged by a hurricane, offered by some carriers in those limit steps. If a pool cage matters to you, that is where the comparison goes.

Private carriers that cover screened enclosures

This is where an independent agency earns its keep. Unlike Citizens, private Florida carriers each file their own forms and set their own appetite. Some will schedule a screened pool enclosure or aluminum carport under Coverage B with a meaningful limit; others sublimit it heavily or require an endorsement and specific conditions (for example, that the structure has an opening so wind-driven rain damage qualifies). Deductibles, especially the separate hurricane deductible, also differ.

The only way to know what your pool cage is worth on paper is to compare. We compare your home across 20+ A-rated carriers and tell you honestly which ones treat your screen enclosure or carport the way you expect, and at what premium. If you want background on how Florida policies handle structures like these, our Florida homeowners insurance guide walks through the coverage parts in plain English.

Why comparing the private market matters now

Three current realities make this more than an academic exercise for Citizens policyholders.

Depopulation and takeout offers. Citizens is actively moving policies to private insurers. Citizens’ policy count fell by about half during 2025, to roughly 395,000 at year-end, largely through depopulation. Under Florida’s eligibility rules, if a participating private carrier offers you a renewal premium within 20 percent of your projected Citizens renewal, you generally cannot decline it and stay with Citizens. We explain how this works, and how to evaluate an offer, in our guide to Citizens takeout offers in Florida. The upside: the carrier you get moved to may actually cover structures Citizens won’t.

The flood-coverage requirement. Citizens requires flood insurance on its wind-covered personal residential policies under s. 627.351(6)(aa), Florida Statutes, phased in by dwelling replacement cost: $400,000 or more from January 1, 2026 outside a special flood hazard area, any value inside one, and every remaining policy from January 1, 2027, with condo unit-owner and tenant contents policies exempt. If you are buying flood coverage anyway, it is worth pricing the whole package in the private market at the same time.

The eligibility rule itself. Citizens is meant to be a last resort. If the private market will write you at a competitive rate, that is usually the better long-term home for your policy, and often the better answer for the screen enclosure or carport Citizens simply will not insure.

What to do if you have a pool cage or carport on a Citizens policy

• Pull out your declarations page and look for screen enclosures, carports or awnings under Coverage B. If they are not listed, assume they are not covered.
• Estimate what it would actually cost to rebuild your pool cage or carport today. For many Florida homes that is a five-figure number you would otherwise pay out of pocket.
• Ask whether a Citizens optional endorsement is available and exactly what perils it covers, then weigh it against a private policy.
• Compare the private market before renewal, especially if you have already received a takeout offer or a flood-coverage notice.

If you are facing a different Citizens problem, such as a non-renewal because your home’s rebuild value exceeds the maximum insurable value, see our related explainer on Citizens insurance cancellation in Florida. And if you are a Tampa Bay homeowner, our Hillsborough County insurance page covers the local carriers we work with most.

Talk to a Florida-licensed advisor

Cornerstone Insurance is an independent, Florida-licensed agency that compares 20+ A-rated carriers to find coverage that fits your home, including, where it is available, real protection for your screen enclosure, carport or lanai. We will review your current Citizens policy with you, walk through what it does and does not cover, and show you side-by-side options. Request a no-obligation quote and we will do the comparison shopping for you.