A Florida home and flood insurer files to go public

Orion180 Insurance Group, headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, filed for a US initial public offering. Insurance Journal reported the filing, noting the company wants a larger share of the specialty homeowners and flood market and that it posted net income of $13.5 million.

A carrier raising capital is not the kind of headline most homeowners read, but it matters to your renewal. Florida premiums got as high as they did partly because carriers left the state and the ones that stayed had limited capacity to write new homes. Capital moving back in is what reverses that, slowly. More carriers willing to quote your address is the only thing that reliably brings a price down. The catch is that competition only helps the people who shop. If your policy auto-renews every year, a softer market passes you by completely, because your carrier has no reason to volunteer a lower number.

If you have not compared quotes since your last big increase, an independent agent can put your current policy next to several carriers and tell you whether the market has moved in your favor.