Security First Touts 5% Rate Decrease for HO-3, Renters Policies in Florida

Citing the stabilizing impact that legislative reforms have had on the Florida market, Security First Insurance Co. executives this week announced two residential property rate reductions of more than 5%.

“For the first time in nine years, we’re going to be reducing our Signature Home Insurance (HO3) rates by 5.2%. This represents a major shift for our customers,” the Ormond Beach-based carrier said in a statement this week.

The company, which had some 139,000 policies in force at the end of April — a drop of 20,000 policies in the last two years — also announced a 5.9% average reduction in renters, or HO-4 rates, effective at the end of August. Earlier this year, Security First’s DP-3 rates also were dropped by 2.5%.

The three rate decreases could result in an average premium reduction of $160 to $230 for policyholders.

Security First CEO Locke Burt, himself a former state senator, credited statutory changes made in 2022 and 2023 that appear to have had a limiting effect on claims litigation, roof claims and attorney fees that insurers had blamed for major losses and premium increases.

“The result of this legislation has been an improvement in the financial results for companies like mine and we’re happy to pass along the benefits to our customers in the form of reduced rates,” Burt said in a statement.

“This filing reflects all premium savings that are reasonably expected to result from legislative enactments and are in accordance with generally accepted and reasonable actuarial techniques,” the Davies North America actuarial firm wrote in Security First’s Feb. 2 HO-3 filing with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

Florida’s CFO, Jimmy Patronis, joined Burt and other company leaders at a storm response showcase event this week, which also highlighted the carrier’s network of repair contractors.

“We’re at 15 months right now and days like today are the good days in the process, where the Legislature can look at our partners and the regulated industries like insurance and say thank you for helping us do the right thing for the policyholders of this state,” Patronis said.

The rate news comes a month after Boca Raton-based Florida Peninsula Insurance announced an average 2% decrease in homeowners and condominium policy rates. Six other carriers have filed for slight decreases this year, and 10 have made filings that ask for no increase or decrease, the OIR reported.

Policyholders across the state have hoped for rate decreases following the 2022 legislative reforms, but some in the industry had predicted that cuts would not materialize – only that the changes would help to limit further premium increases.

Now, though, industry advocates have suggested that more carriers will soon follow with their own rate filings, giving homeowners at least some small measure of relief. The average annual homeowners’ premium in the admitted market is about $3,600, according to OIR.

Topics Florida Trends Pricing Trends