New home insurer with familiar ties approved to offer coverage in Florida

Ron Hurtibise, South Florida Sun-SentinelSouth Florida Sun Sentinel

Get ready for Viceroy Preferred Insurance Company, the latest in what’s shaping up to be a long line of fresh new property insurers competing for Florida homeowner policies.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation on Thursday announced Viceroy as the 15th insurer approved to operate in the state since Legislative reforms of 2022 and 2023 were enacted to reduce purported claims abuses and frivolous lawsuits.

The company shares its board of directors with Monarch National Insurance Company, according to the state’s Department of Corporations website.

Both companies list John David Lockhart as president and William B. Carter Jr. as secretary. Rounding out the boards are Steven Hale II, Peter Sherman, Jeffrey Stewart and Jacqlyn Piscetelli. Both companies share a Tallahassee mailing address.

The two companies are operated by HP Managing Agency, which is part of Hale Partnership Capital Management, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based investment firm.

In 2022, Hale invested $15 million to help facilitate Monarch’s assumption of 78,000 Florida policies from Sunrise-based FedNat Insurance. Hale became Monarch’s majority owner while FedNat Holding Company held a minority interest. The restructuring helped FedNat avoid insolvency.

A May 9 consent order permitting formation of Viceroy states that it will issue 500,000 shares of common voting stock, each valued at $50. Monarch will control 90,000 shares and 10,000 will be issued to funds managed by or entities affiliated with Hale Partnership Capital Management.

“We are thrilled that the Office has approved Viceroy Preferred Insurance Company to offer homeowners another option and additional capacity in Florida,” Kerrie A. Ruland, senior vice president of HP Managing Agency, said by email on Thursday. “The success of Monarch’s relaunch through new leadership paved the way for our affiliated new carrier — Viceroy, which will offer homeowners and dwelling fire products designed to provide broad coverage while maintaining competitive pricing.”

Unlike Monarch and many of the new Florida startups, Viceroy will not participate in efforts to depopulate state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp., Ruland said.

Through multiple rounds of Citizens takeouts since 2023, Monarch assumed more than 82,500 Citizens policies, according to data posted on Citizens’ website.

“Rather, we will look to grow organically by providing much needed capacity to the east coast of Florida and inland counties,” she said, adding that coverage will be offered through existing agent relationships.

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].