Property Insurance

United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. will exit Florida’s troubled homeowners’ insurance market, forcing customers to find new coverage as their policies come up for renewal, the insurer’s parent company announced Thursday.

The agency's board of directors made the decision to borrow $150 Million after five property insurers have gone insolvent in Florida since February.

The state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has surpassed 1 million policies for the first time since 2014. Citizens has been absorbing an influx of policies as private insurers drop customers and push for large rate increases.

A day after getting hit with a financial-rating downgrade, on Tuesday United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. became the first Florida property insurer to take part in a stopgap state program aimed at maintaining coverage for homeowners.

Florida regulators have announced a stopgap plan to try to make sure homeowners can maintain property insurance coverage. The plan involves the state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. acting as a financial backstop.

The financial-rating agency AM Best said Friday that changes passed during a special legislative session last month “are unlikely to alleviate immediate financial pressures” on Florida property insurers.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has approved new laws the state hopes will calm a chaotic property insurance market, and eventually lead to rate decreases for homeowners. But some lawmakers and industry analysts say they worry the packages don’t deliver relief fast enough and don’t go far enough for property owners to see a difference.

Moving quickly after a special legislative session, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed bills to try to stem problems in the property-insurance market and to bolster the safety of condominium buildings.

The Florida Senate on Tuesday approved a sweeping legislative package meant to combat rising property insurance rates and other problems in the state’s turbulent insurance market, creating a $2 billion reinsurance fund and writing new rules around coverage denials and attorney fees.

A Senate committee approved two bills Monday aimed at curbing rising property insurance rates. State lawmakers came back in a special session to address soaring insurance costs and market instability, yet even the sponsor says the proposed reforms may not produce immediate results.