Mangrove, Florida’s Newest Home Insurer, Receives Demotech Rating

February 3, 2025

Brand new Florida home insurer Mangrove Property Insurance Co. has received a Financial Stability Rating (FSR) of “A, Exceptional” from Demotech, Inc., a financial analysis firm that specializes in rating regional and specialty insurers.

As previously reported by Insurance Journal, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) approved Mangrove’s certificate of authority to provide property/casualty insurance coverage in Florida on January 15, 2025. Mangrove applied for a financial strength rating from Demotech, a rating that is accepted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac secondary mortgage buyers. The OIR required the rating by February 25 or sooner.

Demotech said it assigns financial strength ratings of “A, Exceptional” to insurers that “possess exceptional financial stability related to maintaining positive surplus as regards policyholders, liquidity of invested assets, an acceptable level of financial leverage, reasonable loss and loss adjustment expense reserves, and realistic pricing.” Demotech currently rates and reviews 440 insurers operating in the U.S.

Stephen Weinstein, Itasca Re chairman and Mangrove’s chief executive officer, launched the Florida-domiciled insurance carrier with plans to begin writing homeowners coverage, exclusively in Florida’s admitted homeowners’ market, in the first quarter of 2025.

Mangrove, Another New Property Insurer, Enters Florida Market

Mangrove has been approved to participate in the April assumption of policies from the state-backed insurer Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Weinstein has indicated that Mangrove plans to assume 81,000 HO multiperil policies from Citizens by April 15. OIR data show that about 10% of takeout offers were accepted by policyholders in 2024.

Mangrove, with offices in Tallahassee, will be the 10th new insurer to enter the once-distressed Florida market since the 2022-2023 legislative changes – a package of laws that disincentivized excess claims litigation and stabilized much of the market, the OIR reported.

The company said it hopes to provide coverage through independent agents in all 67 Florida counties.

“Across my career, Demotech has been a leader in the Florida marketplace,” said CEO Weinstein. “We’re honored to earn this exceptional rating, and believe it reflects our strategy of building a permanent franchise in the Florida marketplace, committed to exceptional underwriting and claims service, and backed by robust capital and reinsurance protections.”

Weinstein is well-known in the industry, having served as chairman of the board at Itasca Re Ltd., a Bermuda-based specialty reinsurance company, as chief legal officer of Renaissance Re Holdings, and on the board of the R Street Institute.