~ OIR announces the approval of a second new property and casualty insurer and the assumption of 280,000 policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation following historic legislative reforms ~

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Today, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) is issuing an update to Floridians regarding the continued positive signs in growth to Florida’s insurance market. The announcements follow the enactment of several reforms to strengthen Florida’s property insurance market.

On August 11, OIR approved Mainsail Insurance Company, a Texas-based property and casualty insurer, as the second company to be approved to become an authorized property and casualty domestic insurer following the passage of HB 837 earlier this year.

Mainsail joins Tailrow which was approved by OIR in April. OIR continues to accept and review applications and will announce new entrants on a rolling basis.

“OIR remains steadfast in its mission to promote a stable and competitive insurance market for consumers. The addition of Mainsail Insurance Company to the Florida market is evidence that recent legislative reforms are having a positive impact for consumers,” said Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky.

In addition to new market entrants, OIR is seeing greater participation and interest in the Citizens Depopulation program this year. This year, OIR has approved insurers to assume 280,000 policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) through October 2023. OIR encourages insurers to learn more about the Citizens Depopulation program and apply if interested. Takeout, or depopulation, is the program created by the Florida Legislature that was developed to reduce the number of Citizens’ insured properties and exposure.

In recent years, Florida has enacted historic and unprecedented reforms designed to promote market stability, including Senate Bill 2-A and Senate Bill 2-D. As a result of these reforms, there are additional opportunities in the market for insurers to sell insurance in the state of Florida.

For information on how companies can become authorized to sell insurance in the state of Florida, please visit OIR’s company admissions page. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. A full list of new entities approved to enter the Florida insurance market is available on OIR’s website here.

For more information about the takeout process, visit the Depopulation page on Citizens’ website or contact the Citizens Customer Care Center at (888) 685-1555. The requirements for requesting approval to participate in the takeout process is available here. The deadlines for companies to submit a request for approval to participate is available here.