Full story in Newsweek

By Giulia Carbonaro

Two new property insurers received approval to operate in Florida this year, according to recent filings, showing that the state is solidly recovering from the crisis that nearly caused its private market to collapse.

Viceroy Preferred Insurance and Vision Insurance Exchange marked the 15th and 16th private insurers to enter the Florida property insurance market since state lawmakers introduced sweeping tort reform in 2022 and 2023, addressing excessive litigation and widespread fraud.

What Is Behind the Florida Property Insurance Market’s Comeback?

A little over three years ago, Florida’s property insurance sector was in the midst of a deep crisis caused by more frequent and more severe natural disasters, fraud, and unnecessary litigation disincentivizing carriers from operating in the state.

Between 2019 and 2022, several major insurers cut coverage in the state or introduced significant rate hikes to keep up with rising costs, leaving Florida homeowners with an increasingly limited number of options for coverage.

“Florida’s property insurance market has stabilized due to legislative reform that addressed the state’s man-made risk crisis caused by legal system abuse and assignment of benefits claim fraud,” Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute, or Triple-I, told Newsweek.

“Third-party litigation funding, in particular, has been a major contributor to Florida’s rising home insurance rates,” Bankrate Insurance Expert Natalie Todoroff told Newsweek. “One-way attorney fees led to excessive litigation, forcing insurance companies to pay expensive legal bills, which in turn pushed many insurance companies into bankruptcy,” she said.

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According to Florida’s Department of Corporations, Viceroy shares its board of directors with Monarch National Insurance Company. Both companies are operated by HP Managing Agency, part of Charlotte-based investment firm Hale Partnership Capital Management.

In a statement to Florida Realtors, Kerrie A. Ruland, senior vice president of HP Managing Agency, said: “We are thrilled that the Office has approved Viceroy Preferred Insurance Company to offer homeowners another option and additional capacity in Florida.

“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.”

Viceroy, according to Ruland, will not assume any policies from Citizens. Vision, on the other hand, said it will assume the first of its policies from Citizens in November. Under Florida law, Citizens’ policyholders are forced to switch to a private carrier if this offers them a policy that costs no more than 20 percent of what they paid Citizens.

Vision will offer coverage across all of Florida, with the exception of Monroe County. Viceroy said it will focus on Florida’s east coast.