Citizens takeouts begin in December: Two more home insurers approved to sell policies in Florida

Ron Hurtibise, South Florida Sun-SentinelSouth Florida Sun Sentinel

Two more new home insurers — one opened by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and another founded by a Tampa-area philanthropist — have been approved to sell policies in Florida.

Stand Insurance Exchange, a California-based insurer, and Praxis Reciprocal Exchange, headquartered in Tampa, are the 16th and 17th new entities to enter Florida’s market since legislative reforms were enacted in 2022 and 2023, the state Office of Insurance Regulation announced in a news release on Thursday.

The 17 companies bring a combined $574 million in policyholder surplus to further shift coverage burdens away from state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp. and into the private sector.

Insurance lines that will be offered by the two new companies include fire, allied lines, homeowners multi-peril, inland marine, other liability. Praxis will also sell boiler and machinery coverage.

Each will participate in Citizens’ depopulation program by taking out 25,000 Citizens policies in December, the release said.

Both companies will operate as reciprocal exchanges, meaning the companies are owned by their policyholders, known as subscribers, and operated by subscriber advisory committees and attorneys-in-fact.

Subscribers will be required to deposit amounts equal to 10% of their premiums to the companies’ policyholder surplus funds, consent orders issued by the office state.

According to its website, Stand was formed by a quartet of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs “determined to find a solution for the nearly half a million Californians dropped by insurance companies because their homes were classified as high fire risks.” The company began offering wildfire coverage to California homeowners in 2024.

While the Florida division’s principal office is in Tallahassee, the state’s Division of Corporations website lists its managing member as Stand Protect Inc., of San Francisco.

Stand’s co-founder Dan Preston is named as president and chairman of its subscribers advisory committee on a Sept. 6 consent order authorizing Stand’s operation.

Praxis Reciprocal Exchange, by contrast, is based in Tampa and is part of a network of companies founded by Dr. Kiran C. Patel, whose name is atop Nova Southeastern University’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Praxis will be operated by its attorney-in-fact, Pre Risk Management LLC, the consent order states. It also identifies Richard Ficca, director of risk management for Florida Coastal Insurance Agency, as chairman of Praxis’ subscriber advisory committee.

Praxis’ manager is listed in state records as Creative Risk Group LLC, and that company’s manager is identified as Aureate Comprehensive LLC, a Tampa-based real estate development company formed in 2022. Its manager is listed as Aureate Group.

Developments pictured on Aureate’s portfolio page include the Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine, JW Marriott Clearwater Beach, Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach, and a college, a high school and an elementary school in the Tampa area all named after Dr. Kiran C. Patel, Aureate’s founder.

The Aureate Group’s website identifies the company as a division of the Patel Family Office.

Patelfamily.com, the Patel Family Office’s website, identifies Patel as a “cardiologist, philanthropist, community leader, entrepreneur, (and) hotelier.” He moved to Tampa in 1982 and began his practice in cardiology, the site says.

Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071 or by email at [email protected].