Gallagher Re sees signs of recovery in Florida’s insurance market

According to the 2024 Year-End Florida Market Watch Report released by reinsurance broker Gallagher Re, Florida’s property insurance market ended the year showing progress across several key financial indicators despite ongoing underwriting pressure.

Drawing from statutory data provided via S&P Global Market Intelligence, Gallagher Re’s analysis highlights both improvement in capital positions and continued volatility in core operations.

Gallagher Re reports that while the market posted a net underwriting loss of $730.5 million—reversing the previous year’s gain of $234.2 million—it still achieved a modest net income of $177.2 million in 2024.

Total direct written premium grew to $21.0 billion, marking a 9.6% year-over-year increase. Gallagher Re attributes this growth to rate adjustments and policy volume gains.

Policyholder surplus also expanded by 7%, ending the year at $13.1 billion, reflecting strong capitalisation levels despite loss activity.

The report categorises performance by three distinct groups: Florida Specialists, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, and the ANTSP carriers (Allstate, Nationwide, Travelers, State Farm, and Progressive).

Florida Specialists, as detailed by Gallagher Re, led the market in both policy count and premium volume, writing $19.7 billion in direct premium and closing 2024 with $6.4 billion in surplus. The group recorded an underwriting gain of $235.6 million and net income of $537.1 million, paired with a combined ratio of 95.1%—a sign of improving operational discipline.

Citizens, Florida’s state-backed insurer, recorded a significantly higher combined ratio of 141.8%, leading to a $1.2 billion net loss despite $4.6 billion in premium.

Gallagher Re notes that this result heavily influenced the market’s overall underwriting outcome. Still, Citizens maintained a stable surplus of $4.2 billion and remained a central part of the property insurance landscape with 1.2 million policies in force.

Gallagher Re also highlights the performance of the ANTSP group, which wrote $8.7 billion in direct premium with 1 million policies, yielding net income of $371 million and a combined ratio of 94.2%. These large national carriers continued to contribute to stability in Florida’s market with lower volatility and more diversified business models.

Depopulation trends continued, and Gallagher Re documents significant activity in Citizens takeouts, with 1.3 million policies approved for assumption. Leading participants in this effort included Slide with over 265,000 policies, followed by American Integrity, Monarch National, and Safepoint.

Gallagher Re further identifies new market entrants—such as Manatee Insurance Exchange, Ovation Home Exchange, and Trident Reciprocal Exchange—as positive signs of returning investor confidence. Mangrove Property Insurance Company was also approved to begin writing in 2025, indicating sustained interest in the Florida market.

The report also examines reinsurance strategy, noting that Florida Specialists ceded 47.3% of their premium, while ANTSP carriers ceded only 10%, reflecting differing approaches to risk retention.

Gallagher Re points out that Citizens’ cession rate stood at 41%, with a notably low premium leverage ratio of 0.6 compared to 1.5 and 1.6 for ANTSP and Specialists respectively.

Overall, Gallagher Re concludes that while the Florida insurance market still faces operational headwinds, especially in underwriting, there are clear signs of recovery.

The combination of capital strength, improved private carrier results, and growing participation in depopulation efforts suggests a stabilising environment.

Gallagher Re emphasises that continued moderation in catastrophic events, regulatory consistency, and the arrival of new market entrants will be key factors shaping the trajectory in 2025 and beyond.

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