An analysis of state data suggests legislative reforms that reduce litigation risks for insurers encouraged some carriers to expand their presence in the state.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Not all Florida-regulated property insurance companies are too financially troubled to take on new customers.
Thirty-two companies added customers between the second and third quarters of 2022, according to a South Florida Sun Sentinel analysis of market share data released by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. A few companies added significant numbers of what are called personal residential policies that cover single-family homes, condominiums and even renters.
Of 18,243 new policies written by State Farm Florida, currently the third-largest carrier in the state, 8,595 were homeowner policies, 2,538 were new tenant policies, and 7,110 were new condo policies.
Castle Key Indemnity, a subsidiary of Allstate, added 8,508 new policies, including 3,987 homeowner policies and 3,805 tenant policies.
Edison Insurance, owned by Boca Raton-based Florida Peninsula, added 4,766 policies, of which 4,176 were homeowner policies.
The analysis suggests that reforms enacted in two special legislative sessions to reduce litigation against insurers – though disliked by plaintiffs’ attorneys, repair contractors and public adjusters – are encouraging carriers to expand their presence here.
Insurance insiders contacted for this report said it’s a promising sign that so many companies are deciding to take on new business.
Restrictions intended to reduce lawsuits against insurers that were enacted during two special sessions have given some companies confidence to expand in the state, said Mark Friedlander, communications director for the industry-funded Insurance Information Institute.
“The data shows some positive signs for Florida’s property insurance market,” Friedlander said in an email. “Several private insurers have indicated they are willing to take on more risk based on the property insurance reform that was passed in December and the new tort reform bill that was passed in March.
“Based on the Q3/Q4 2022 data, it appears a few insurers were willing to assume more risk even before the market reforms were enacted. Insurance agents are also starting to see more options when trying to place a customer’s business.”
The Sun Sentinel’s analysis compares market share data that insurance companies have tried to keep confidential over the past six years. Since 2017, more than 60 private-market companies, including most of the largest, have blocked quarterly release of their county-by-county and – until this year – statewide market data after State Farm won a court battle that allowed companies to declare the information a “trade secret.”
State Farm objected to county-level dissemination of its policy counts, saying it provided competitors with too much insight into markets where the company was targeting its marketing efforts.
But last May, lawmakers included, among reforms desired by insurers, the required disclosure of aggregated statewide policy data with no option to declare it a trade secret.
