American Integrity Insurance Group said this week that it will begin offering homeowner insurance coverage in the two largest South Florida counties for the first time in more than a decade.
The Tampa-based company said state regulators had approved its plan to write policies in Miami-Dade and Broward counties later this month, but it did not provide specifics about rates or the types of coverage. A spokesperson did not immediately return an email requesting more information.
"This is a significant market opportunity, and we have the distribution in place to capitalize on it," CEO Robert Ritchie said in a statement.
With a population of about 6.5 million, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties represent the largest metropolitan area in the nation's third-largest state.
The announcement is more evidence of the turnaround of Florida's once beleaguered insurance market, advocates say.
A spike in insurance claim fraud and deep underwriting losses from a series of hurricanes in recent years left the market reeling.
'Growing confidence' in Florida
At one point, nearly every insurer offering residential property coverage in the state raised rates, reduced their footprint or stopped writing new business, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
But regulators said a dozen insurers had entered the Sunshine State since 2022, helping spread the risk and lower rates for all Floridians.
Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run insurer of last resort, saw its policy count swell as homeowners struggled to find affordable options among private carriers.
But Citizens announced in December its policy count had fallen below 1 million for the first time in more than two years. As of June 20, it said it had 777,592 policies, down 36% from a year ago and 44.9% lower than its October 2023 peak of 1.41 million.
State insurance reforms that took effect in 2022 helped remake the market, officials said. The changes included making it illegal for contractors to file insurance claims on behalf of homeowners, also known as "assignment of benefits," and eliminating one-way attorney fees that forced insurance companies to cover the legal costs of the plaintiffs suing them.
American Integrity's re-entry into Miami-Dade and Broward "shows the growing confidence" domestic carriers have in the state, according to Mark Friedlander, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute. The Malvern, Pennsylvania-based research and education group is made up of insurance company members.
"Several other Florida property insurers have indicated they plan to offer coverage in South Florida as well, creating a competitive environment where consumers can shop their coverage and get multiple quotes,” Friedlander told Homes.com in an email.
American Integrity said it has eclipsed 400,000 policies across the Southeast, assuming more than 7,300 policies from Citizens during the second quarter. American Integrity completed an initial public stock offering in May.
