United Insurance Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq:UIHC) (UPC Insurance or
the Company), a property and casualty insurance holding company, today
announced that United Property & Casualty Insurance Company (UPC), one
of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, has initiated the takeout of more than
37,000 personal and commercial residential policies from Citizens
Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens), the State of Florida’s
primary residual market property insurance entity. The personal
residential assumptions will occur on November 5, 2014, and the
commercial residential assumptions will occur on November 18, 2014. UPC
Insurance has also been approved for an additional commercial
residential takeout on December 9, 2014, but has yet to receive final
policy allocations from Citizens. The policies allocated to UPC by
Citizens for the November assumptions represent in-force premiums of
approximately $470M; however, the total amount of assumed policies and
premiums may be reduced by additional opt outs and cancellations by
policyholders.
“We are pleased to be able to assume these policies from Citizens. While
Citizens takeouts represent a small part of our book of business, we are
confident that the rigorous selection process we have adopted will allow
them to diversify and strengthen our overall portfolio, which continues
to be founded on our partnerships with a large and loyal independent
agent distribution network,” said John Forney, President & Chief
Executive Officer of UPC Insurance.
The Company also announced that UPC recently received regulatory
approval to write property and casualty insurance as an admitted carrier
in the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland,
Mississippi, and Virginia. This brings the total number of states in the
U.S. in which UPC is licensed to fifteen, including its existing states
of Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North
Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Texas.
United Property & Casualty Insurance Company expects to continue its
expansion program and is in varying stages of discussion with other
state insurance regulatory authorities regarding its desire to write
property insurance in other states.
About UPC Insurance
Founded in 1999, UPC Insurance is an insurance holding company that
sources, writes and services residential property and casualty insurance
policies using a network of independent agents and a group of wholly
owned insurance subsidiaries. United Property & Casualty Insurance
Company, the primary operating subsidiary of UPC Insurance, writes and
services property and casualty insurance in Florida, Massachusetts, New
Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Texas, and is
licensed to write in Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana,
Maryland, Mississippi, Virginia and New Hampshire. From its headquarters
in St. Petersburg, UPC Insurance's team of dedicated professionals
manages a completely integrated insurance company, including sales,
underwriting, customer service and claims.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ
materially from those discussed herein. Without limiting the generality
of the foregoing, words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “believe,”
“anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “would,” “estimate,” “or “continue” or
the other negative variations thereof or comparable terminology are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. The risks and
uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ from those
expressed or implied herein include, without limitation, the success of
the Company's marketing initiatives, inflation and other changes in
economic conditions (including changes in interest rates and financial
markets);the impact from policies assumed from Citizens, and the
Company’s expansion into new states, the impact of new Federal and State
regulations that affect the property and casualty insurance market; the
costs of reinsurance and the collectability of reinsurance, assessments
charged by various governmental agencies; pricing competition and other
initiatives by competitors; our ability to obtain regulatory approval
for requested rate changes, and the timing thereof; legislative and
regulatory developments; the outcome of litigation pending against us,
including the terms of any settlements; risks related to the nature of
our business; dependence on investment income and the composition of our
investment portfolio; the adequacy of our liability for losses and loss
adjustment expense; insurance agents; claims experience; ratings by
industry services; catastrophe losses; reliance on key personnel;
weather conditions (including the severity and frequency of storms,
hurricanes, tornadoes and hail); changes in loss trends; acts of war and
terrorist activities; court decisions and trends in litigation, and
health care; and other matters described from time to time by us in our
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not
limited to, the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2013. In addition, investors should be aware that generally
accepted accounting principles prescribe when a company may reserve for
particular risks, including litigation exposures. Accordingly, results
for a given reporting period could be significantly affected if and when
a reserve is established for a major contingency. Reported results may
therefore, appear to be volatile in certain accounting periods. The
Company undertakes no obligations to update, change or revise any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
additional or subsequent developments or otherwise.
Copyright Business Wire 2014