Citizens Property Insurance, the Florida state-run insurer of last resort, has come under pressure recently about its travel expenses, including trips to Zurich and Bermuda where it negotiated record-setting bond placements.In May, the Bermuda Stock Exchange gave listing approval to Citizens as sponsors of a $750-million single-peril catastrophe bond deal, the largest cat bond on record.Everglades Re Ltd, a Bermuda-based special purpose insurer, is the vehicle for those bonds, which provide hurricane reinsurance cover. It marks the first time that state-run Citizens has come to the ILS market.But after Citizens’ trip to Bermuda and Zurich, members of their board questioned if the organisation’s travel costs needed to be revamped.“I think you need to understand when you travel Bermuda or travel to London, you’re not going to find a $125 Marriott, they don’t exist,” said Barry Gilway, the new president of Citizens. “When you do have international travel, there are expenses associated with it.”Citizens is defending the costs of sending officials to those locations, which Sunshine State News reports resulted in $47 million in savings.Even Citizens’ board admitted that the group’s travel costs are “a fraction of a percentage point of the total administrative budget”.Independent studies are now looking into the need to maintain three corporate locations across Florida, the pay and benefits given to employees, travel costs, and the overall management structure.Mr Gilway said while he believes the organisational structure can be revamped, the group’s expense controls currently in place are working as they should.“My initial impression of expense controls is as good as I’ve seen,” he said.