Florida residential property insurers logged higher aggregate net income losses in 2021 than in the prior two years combined.
The 47 individual insurance subsidiaries identified by Citizens Property Insurance Corp. operating in the Florida homeowners market reported collective losses of $936.2 million in 2021, compared to losses of $590 million in 2020 and $245.3 million in 2019.
The yearly net income figures exclude four companies: St. Johns Insurance Co. Inc., Southern Fidelity Insurance Co. Inc., Lighthouse Property Insurance Corp. and Vault Reciprocal Exchange. Those companies were underwriting business at the end of the year and have yet to file their 2021 regulatory statements.
St. Johns stopped writing new policies in February and was placed into liquidation by Florida's regulators later that month. Florida's regulator expects to receive year-end statements for Vault and Southern Fidelity in the near future and anticipates that they will demonstrate compliance with all requirements of state law.
Lighthouse was granted a March 31 filing extension by its regulator in Louisiana, its state of domicile. No receivership proceedings have been initiated.
In total, those four companies recorded net losses of $177.1 million through the first nine months of 2021.
Lossmaking insurers double those posting profits
The number of Florida residential insurers recording quarterly net income losses continues to outnumber those reporting profits. During the fourth quarter of 2021, 26 insurers recorded losses compared to 21 showing gains.
For full year 2021, 32 individual insurers were in the red, while only 15 showed a profit.
Three insurers record losses in excess of $100 million
Universal Insurance Holdings Inc.'s Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Co. unit direct premiums written within the allied lines and homeowners lines of business was $1.37 billion in 2021, the highest within this group of insurers. It recorded net income losses of $106.2 million in 2021, up slightly from $100.3 million in the previous year.
Two other insurers reported larger losses than Universal. American Strategic Insurance Corp., a subsidiary of The Progressive Corp., logged the largest net loss at $147.8 million. It was followed by Tokio Marine Holdings Inc.'s Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange with net losses of $139.6 million.
Stillwater Property & Casualty Insurance Co. recorded a profit of $23.2 million in 2021, the highest during the year.
June renewals could make matters worse
Citizens President and CEO Barry Gilway during a March 23 board meeting said the environment getting worse for residential insurers in the Sunshine State.
There could be implications for forthcoming June 1 property-catastrophe reinsurance renewals for private Florida companies, Gilway said. Reinsurers may apply additional credit charges based on the financial condition of a cedant. Carriers are already "terrified of reinsurance costs" in the lowest layers of their 2022 reinsurance programs, Gilway said, based on initial indications of rates from reinsurers.