Florida regulators have approved two new homeowner insurance companies, one led by a San Francisco tech entrepreneur and former head of Metromile auto insurance company.
“I focus on companies that can successfully use machine learning and statistics to build great products,” Dan Preston, co-founder and CEO of Stand Insurance Exchange, said on his Linkedin page.
Stand was given tentative authority to operate in Florida on Sept. 8. A week later, Florida’s insurance commissioner approved a plan for Stand to take out 25,000 policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state’s insurer of last resort and still the largest property carrier in Florida.
Preston was CEO of Metromile for nine years until the company was acquired by Lemonade in 2002. Stand now has offices in Tallahassee and San Francisco.
In the same week that Stand received its certificate of authority, Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation approved Praxis Reciprocal Exchange, based in Tampa. Richard Ficca, an insurance agent and head of Florida Coastal Insurance Agency, is listed as chairman of Praxis. Jennifer Gravelle is president and chief financial officer, according to the OIR consent order signed Sept. 11.
Ficca and Praxis also are affiliated with Pre Risk Management, based in Tampa and founded in July, according to state business records and Linkedin. Praxis is part of a group of companies led by Dr. Kiran Patel, a physician and benefactor of Nova Southeastern University’s college of osteopathic medicine, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.
Both Praxis and Stand have been approved for homeowners multi-peril, fire, allied lines, inland marine and other liability coverage.
The number of new property insurers that have stepped into the once-troubled Florida market since major legislative insurance law changes took effect in 2023 now stands at 17. Those companies have a combined policyholder surplus of $574 million or an average of almost $34 million, OIR noted in the announcement about the new firms.
Citizens, the state-created insurer, is now down to about 770,000 policies in force – about half the number of policies it held in September 2023. Praxis also plans to make takeout offers on 25,000 Citizens policies, Commissioner Michael Yaworsky said in a statement.
“Florida’s insurance market is healthy and continues to grow,” Yaworsky said. “Since January 2024, 30 homeowners companies have filed for a rate decrease and 45 companies have requested no change or a 0% increase.”
Related: Another HO Insurer, Viceroy, Approved for Florida Market, Regulators Say
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