Trident Reciprocal Exchange is one of the new kids on the Florida block. It was launched in 2024 as the long-distressed Florida property insurance market began to thaw following statutory changes that clamped down on spiraling claims lawsuits in the state.
By this summer, the reciprocal held more than 24,000 policies, mostly homeowners’ policies. That’s a 45% increase from the year before, state data reports show.
“We’re doing well,” said Trident Board Chairman Chris Johnson.
But the firm’s journey has been marked by a big distraction and lots of litigation that had nothing to do with claims or coverage: Trident’s former CEO and co-founder, Maria Moller, a veteran of the Florida insurance business, was fired in early 2025. In a lawsuit, Trident Group Holdings accused Moller of a “brazen self-dealing scheme” in which she allegedly sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to an information technology company owned by her and her husband—all without Trident board knowledge or approval.
That lawsuit in Seminole County is still pending. A judge has agreed to send it to arbitration. In a separate legal action, Moller sued Trident over her termination, alleging a breach of an employment agreement, and seeking compensation.
That case also went to arbitration. In July, the arbitrator awarded Moller nothing.
“Since Claimant’s termination was properly authorized and legally effective, Claimant has no right to recover any compensation and benefits after her termination date pursuant to the Executive Agreement. For different reasons, Claimant also has no right to recover any incentive compensation,” the arbitrator, Orlando attorney Garly Salzman, wrote in his decision.
The big question then was whether Moller, the losing party in the case, would have to pay the other side’s attorney fees accumulated in the months-long lawsuit and arbitration. On Oct. 16, Salzman answered that, ordering Moller to pay some $337,800 in Trident attorneys’ fees plus another $127,476 in compensation and expenses for the arbitrator himself.
“The award you reference relates solely to my employment arbitration, which we are challenging due to serious concerns regarding arbitrator bias and failure to disclose conflicts of interest,” Moller wrote in an email to Insurance Journal.
Arbitration awards cannot often be appealed to a court. And a disqualification demand may have little chance of succeeding, attorneys said.
Other legal wrangling is expected to continue for months or more. Moller, who previously was compliance officer for Florida-based Frontline Insurance and for Cabrillo Coastal General Insurance Agency, said this week that she has opened another front. She’s now asking a circuit judge in Orange County to dissolve Trident Group Holdings, the holding company for Trident Reciprocal.
“That proceeding has an accelerated statutory framework, and we expect it to move forward expeditiously,” she said.
The Lake Mary-based Trident insurance company has called the suit “nonsense” and noted that Moller had previously filed a similar suit in the same county. The judge has consolidated the suits.
Johnson, the Trident Reciprocal chairman, has said that the whole episode is “sad” and ironic: The insurer had offered to settle with Moller early on. Now she finds herself facing hefty legal fees and more potentially costly litigation.
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