New property insurer approved for Florida, plans 81,040 Citizens takeouts

Ron Hurtibise, South Florida Sun-SentinelSouth Florida Sun Sentinel

Another new property insurer has been approved by Florida regulators to offer coverage in the state — the 11th since the Legislature enacted reforms to shore up insurers’ bottom lines.

Mangrove Property Insurance, based in St. Petersburg, was approved on Jan. 15 by the Office of Insurance Regulation for a certificate of authority to operate within the state, the company announced Monday.

In a news release, the office said the company will offer coverage through licensed independent agents across all of Florida’s 67 counties.

On the same date, the office approved Mangrove’s application to assume up to 81,040 personal residential insurance policies in April from state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state’s so-called “insurer of last resort.”

Thanks to its depopulation program, Citizens’ policy count has declined by more than 400,000 policies since peaking at 1.4 million in September 2023. Customers who are selected for takeout are ineligible to stay with Citizens if any company pledges to renew their policy for a premium that’s within 20% over the projected cost of the Citizens policy.

Mangrove was approved by the secretary of state to operate as a Florida corporation on Jan. 8. A statement uploaded with its filing says the company will not begin transacting business until it accumulates at least $15 million in capital and surplus.

Mangrove is headed by Stephen Weinstein, former executive vice president and chief legal officer of Bermuda-based reinsurer RenaissanceRe and current chairman of the board of Itasca Re Ltd., also based in Bermuda. He also serves as chair of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), a nonprofit scientific research and educational organization.

A news release by the company on Monday quoted Weinstein as saying, “Smart legislative and regulatory reforms have stabilized Florida’s marketplace, giving us confidence to enter the market with new capital and capacity to help homeowners meet their property insurance needs. Just as mangroves protect Florida’s coastlines from erosion and storm surge, Mangrove Property Insurance Company is committed to being a permanent solution Floridians can turn to in protecting their property.”

The news release recognized “partners who have supported our launch,” including GallagherRe, identified as the company’s reinsurance broker of record, and Gallagher Securities, its capital markets adviser and sole structuring and placement agent.

The company has applied for a Financial Strength Rating from ratings firm Demotech Inc. and plans to begin writing homeowners coverage as soon as it secures the rating, the release said.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky said that the 10 new companies have brought more than $297 million in policyholder surplus to support additional growth in the state’s property insurance market. Domestic companies reported more than $389 million in net income as of September 2024, according to the news release by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

The other 10 new companies named in the release are 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.

The reforms of 2022-23 made it possible for new companies to enter Florida’s insurance market under new laws that restrict the ability of attorneys to collect hefty legal fees that often far exceeded the amount in dispute. Under the old law, insurers were forced to pay all legal fees generated by plaintiffs whenever insurers agreed to settle disputed claims for any amount over their initial offers.

Mark Friedlander, director of corporate communications for the industry-funded Insurance Information Institute, said the announcement further confirms that Florida’s insurance market has rebounded since 2022.

“We continue to see strong interest from existing property insurers and start-ups wanting to write home insurance in Florida,” Friedlander said. “This is because the market has vastly improved over the past year due to legislative reforms that addressed the man-made risk crisis of legal system abuse and assignment of benefits claim fraud.

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 rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.