Suddenly insurance companies seem to be falling out of the sky in Florida.
Another new company — it would be the 15th since lawmakers enacted reforms in 2022 and 2023 to quell litigation costs — has been permitted by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and will begin to sell homeowner insurance in the state if the company’s application for a Certificate of Authority is approved.
Vision Insurance Exchange, headquartered in Cape Coral, plans to begin operating in November. According to its website, the company will offer coverage to homeowners in every Florida county except Monroe, where the Florida Keys are located.
Officials of the company did not immediately respond to an email and text message seeking comment late Monday.
The new company will build its initial book of business by participating in efforts to depopulate state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Company, the website says. It will offer all-perils home and condo insurance policies as well as dwelling/fire policies to Citizens customers.
Next year, the company will offer policies on the voluntary market, the website says. What that means is that independent agents will be able to offer the company’s policies to customers who are shopping for insurance.
The website describes the company as “designed exclusively with the independent agent in mind,” adding, “we intend to stand alongside our policyholders in delivering peace-of-mind insurance solutions.”
The company’s CEO is Roger Desjadon, who served in that role at Boca Raton-based Florida Peninsula for nearly 18 years before retiring in 2022. Prior to that, he was CEO of Prudential Property & Casualty from 2001 to 2004, according to his LinkedIn page.
Stacey Giulianti, chief legal officer at Florida Peninsula, praised Desjadon in an email on Monday.
“Roger was our CEO for many years and is one of the most knowledgeable minds in the property insurance field,” Giulianti wrote. “More competition is better for the Florida consumer and insurance marketplace, and this is more evidence that the state’s insurance market is stabilizing.”
Mark Friedlander, senior director of media relations for the industry funded Insurance Information Institute, said more insurers have entered Florida than any other state because the reforms “curbed legal system abuse and the rampant volume of frivolous lawsuits being driven by billboard attorneys.”
He added, “Florida now has an environment conducive to writing profitable business in all areas of the state, despite the ongoing risk of incurring more landfalling hurricanes than other coastal states.”
Plaintiffs attorneys counter that insurers are making more money in Florida because the reforms made it more difficult for homeowners to find attorneys willing to file lawsuits involving small claims.
Like several of the other newcomers, Vision Insurance Exchange will be a reciprocal insurer, meaning that the company will be operated by an “attorney in fact” and its finances will be supervised by a subscriber advisory committee.
Policyholders will be known as “subscribers” and be required to contribute a surplus payment equal to 10% of their policy costs.
While the website does not make such a promise, some reciprocal insurers provide surplus refunds if they collect more in premiums and investment income than they pay out in claims.
Approval of the company’s business plan was formalized in a consent order that lists further conditions that the company must meet before the state will issue a Certificate of Authority that allows sale of insurance.
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.
Originally Published:
Clinton Mora is a reporter for Trending Insurance News. He has previously worked for the Forbes. As a contributor to Trending Insurance News, Clinton covers emerging a wide range of property and casualty insurance related stories.