The Palm Beach Post: Start-up insurer and Scott donor bans business in 18 South Florida Zip Codes
…hits brakes before hurricane season…
By Charles Elmore
April 19, 2014
A start-up insurer that gave $110,000 to Gov. Rick Scott’s political committee and won a lucrative contract to take customers from state-run insurer Citizens is telling agents as of Monday it will write no new business in 18 South Florida ZIP codes, including two in Lake Worth.
Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Co. of St. Petersburg marks another example of a fast-growing Florida insurer hitting the brakes before hurricane season. People’s Trust Insurance of Deerfield Beach said it was canceling thousands of policies to reduce risk exposure, many of whom had signed up less than 90 days before.
“We’re not canceling policies,” said Ernie Garateix, a Heritage executive vice president. He said the company wants to avoid too much concentrated risk. He called that a “normal business practice” that many companies follow, related to making sure reinsurance or back-up coverage that insurers buy adequately covers potential payouts after a storm. Read more: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/start-up-insurer-and-scott-donor-bans-business-in-/nfcm2