Property owners in Florida who have Progressive insurance may have to find a new policy soon.
The company announced Friday they are undergoing "changes to help rebalance" their business in Florida starting next year.
"These rebalancing actions include only insuring owner-occupied properties (i.e., no longer providing dwelling/fire or DP3 coverage) and nonrenewing certain high-risk property policies," according to a statement from the company.
This will affect about 100,000 policies in Florida.
However, Progressive said Loggerhead Insurance has agreed to offer replacement coverage to affected customers.
The company also said that select agents will no longer represent Progressive Home.
"Florida is a priority for Progressive Home and we are not leaving the property market," Progressive said in a statement. "We look forward to realizing the benefits of the recent state market reforms while we continue to insure more than 200,000 Floridians and their homes."
Progressive said they were "grateful" for the work of Florida lawmakers who recently enacted legislative reforms in an effort to stabilize the insurance market. A spokesperson provided the following statement:
Florida property remains an important part of our Progressive Home business, and we have no plans to leave the state. However, we have been working collaboratively with state officials and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation to implement changes that allow us to rebalance our exposure while continuing to serve Florida homeowners. While we know these changes are not welcome news for those that are directly affected. we're encouraged by and grateful for the work of Florida state officials who recently helped enact needed legislative reforms that are stabilizing the insurance business environment and encouraging new carriers to enter the market.
We've been able to identify a current property carrier, Loggerhead Reciprocal Interinsurance Exchange, in which we have entered into an agreement with to offer replacement policies to affected policyholders of our rebalancing decision subject to their underwriting and financial standards.
The actions we're taking are necessary to ensure that we can continue to write business in Florida in a meaningful way — and we expect these actions will better position us to build a stronger, more stable, and more competative Progressive Home business for consumers and independent agents in the long run.
