Heritage Insurance reopens doors to Florida homeowners

Heritage Insurance will resume writing new personal lines policies in Florida and the Northeast after having reached what chief executive Ernie Garateix called an inflection point.

The decision to reopen its doors to homeowners was revealed when the insurer published its financial results for the second quarter.

In a statement accompanying Heritage’s earnings report, Garateix said: “Our strong results demonstrate the continued execution of our underwriting and rate adequacy initiatives over the last three years. Through our proactive actions to improve rates and organically grow our commercial residential business, we are achieving top-line growth while expanding our margins and delivering stronger earnings.

“A key component of this strategy was our decision in December of 2022 to largely cease writing new personal lines policies in Florida and the Northeast given the wavering profitability of our book of business, coupled with tightening reinsurance markets at that time.”

Highlighting Heritage’s progress and opportunities in the market, the CEO went on to cite several factors that influenced the company’s resumption decision.

“Importantly, we have now reached an inflection point which positions us to selectively resume writing new business in these regions,” Garateix stated. “Looking forward, we plan to pursue a strategy of controlled growth anchored by continued risk management and stringent underwriting.

“This is an opportune time to accelerate growth given the disruption in many of our markets that is opening up significant market share, combined with the positive impact of Florida legislative changes and a stabilized reinsurance market where we continue to receive support from our partners.”

In the second quarter, the insurer improved its net income from $7.8 million to $18.9 million. Net combined ratio, meanwhile, stood at 92.5%, better than 2023’s 95.1%.

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