Florida welcomes more P&C insurers into the state

Florida Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky announced another property and casualty insurer approved to enter Florida—marking over 10 insurers entering the market since legislative reforms were enacted.

Mangrove Property Insurance Company, based out of St. Petersburg, is the most recent approval, the commissioner said in a news release. The company will offer coverage through licensed independent agents across all of Florida’s 67 counties. The new companies bring more than $297 million in policyholder surplus to support additional growth in the state’s property market.

Yaworsky said: “We are working hard every day to recruit more insurers to our state. Thanks to recent historic legislative reforms, Florida’s insurance market is stabilizing, and more companies are entering the market. Domestic companies reported more than $389 million in net income as of September 2024. We will continue to emphasize the encouraging signs of the resilience and growth of our market to attract more business to our state.”

Mangrove joins ASI Select Insurance Corp., Trident Reciprocal Exchange, Ovation Home Insurance Exchange, Manatee Insurance Exchange, Condo Owners Reciprocal Exchange, Orange Insurance Exchange, Orion180 Select Insurance Company, Orion180 Insurance Company, Mainsail Insurance Company, and Tailrow Insurance Exchange as the new property and casualty insurers that have entered the market since legislative reforms.

There are currently more than 7.55 million residential insurance policies in force in Florida. The 30-day average request for homeowners’ rates is 0.8%, compared to 21.8% two years ago. The 180-day average request for homeowners’ rates is 1.0%, compared to 12.87% two years ago. Among the top ten national carriers in Florida, 60% have expanded their book of business and 40% filed rate decreases. Since January 2024, 17 companies have filed for a rate decrease and 34 companies have requested no change or 0% increase.

As the market continues to stabilize, OIR is seeing a continued interest from authorized insurers in the Citizens Depopulation program. For the first time in more than two years, Ctizens’ policy count is below 1 million. In 2024, OIR approved 18 companies to assume more than 1.2 million policies from Citizens, reducing Citizen’s exposure by more than $170 billion.

OIR encourages companies to learn how to become authorized to sell insurance in Florida. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and OIR strives to conclude the review process of all complete applications within 60 days of submission.