Heritage Sees Improved Profits, Plans to Resume Writing in Florida, Other States

Tampa-based Heritage Insurance, enjoying improved profits for the second quarter this year, said it plans to resume writing new policies in Florida and Northeastern states, two years after it ceased new business in the areas.

“Importantly, we have now reached an inflection point which positions us to selectively resume writing new business in these regions,” Heritage CEO Ernie Garateix said in a statement accompanying an earnings report this week. “This is an opportune time to accelerate growth given the disruption in many of our markets that is opening up significant market share…”

Garateix did not elaborate on the market disruptions. But he said the changes, along with the litigation reforms from the Florida Legislature and a stabilized reinsurance market have produced encouraging signs.

Heritage, part of publicly traded Heritage Insurance Holdings, announced in 2022 that it would pause writing new property coverage in Florida and a few other jurisdictions. The company held 182,673 policies in Florida at the end of 2022 and 529,907 policies in all 17 states in which it and its sister companies write.

Since then, Heritage has trimmed its policy count and now holds about 142,500 policies in Florida. In Q2 this year, in-force premium grew by 6%, to $1.4 billion, compared to Q2 last year, thanks to growth in commercial business and rate increases.

The holding company’s second-quarter net income was almost $19 million, up from $7.8 billion at this time last year, and up from $14 million in the first quarter this year, the company said. The combined ratio improved, from about 95% last year to 92.5% in Q2 2024.

Topics Profit Loss Florida