ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Progressive has joined AAA and Farmers as the latest major insurer with plans to offload homeowners’ insurance policies in Florida, aiming to reduce their risk exposure as the state’s shaky market continues to take hits.
Progressive is planning on sending out nonrenewal notices to roughly 100,000 policyholders, around half of all their Florida customers, beginning in May of next year.
“Florida property remains an important part of our Progressive Home business,” the statement reads.
A spokesperson for the company also acknowledges it’s “not welcome news” for those directly affected but adds it puts the company in a better position in the long run and that they are, “encouraged by and grateful for the work of Florida state officials who recently helped enact needed legislative reforms that are stabilizing the insurance business environment.”
“Progressive has been steadily reducing its risk exposure here in Florida, and in its message to agents last Friday indicated it's still overexposed in Florida, compared to the rest of the country, and it needs to cut back,” said Mark Friedlander with the Insurance Information Institute.
While those impacted will get nonbinding offers for coverage from a new Florida-based insurer, Loggerhead, Friedlander says more nonrenewals from major players add to the volatility of the market as a whole.
Volatility is among some of the reasons many homeowners see continually rising costs or trouble finding elsewhere to turn than the state-backed Citizens.
“While we are seeing some positive steps such as new companies being approved [to write business], depopulation starting for Citizens, we see other companies cutting back on their risk,” Friedlander explained. “That's why Citizens continues to grow at a record level of 30 to 40,000 new customers a month, it makes it very challenging to get the market back to a stable position when you continue to see volatility that is driven by decisions of nonrenewals.”
The offload includes roughly 47,000 seasonal homes and 53,000 homes in high-risk or coastal areas.
For those with Progressive policies due to renew before May 2024, it’s likely you won’t be impacted by this right away.