This Week in Programs: Landlord & Homeowners

Slide added HO5, HO3 and HO6 forms in South Carolina. Slide Insurance Holdings said on September 23 that Slide Specialty Insurance Company now writes HO5 policies for higher-value homes, HO3 homeowners and HO6 condominium policies across South Carolina, pointing to coastal growth in Horry County and the Myrtle Beach area, sold through its network of more than 5,000 independent agents. Slide has written South Carolina homeowners since 2022; the release gives no limits, insured value caps or effective dates. CEO Bruce Lucas said "Coastal property insurance is where Slide has a distinct advantage." (GlobeNewswire)

→ For HNW incumbents: An HO5 open-perils form from a Florida-built carrier in Horry County puts Slide against the national high-value writers on Grand Strand homes, and Slide's first South Carolina rate filing for the HO5 form is the document that will show how hard it prices.

Enstar said it has begun fronting for ILS capital, including some of Nephila's Florida Citizens lines. Enstar's Anguel Zaprianov told Artemis in an interview published September 21 that Enstar has started fronting for ILS managers and reinsurance capital providers in a few select cases. Artemis noted that Florida Citizens' signed-lines disclosure after its mid-year renewal listed Enstar's Cavello Bay as the fronting entity for some of Nephila Capital's participations. Enstar also fronts a casualty MGA in Bermuda on a 100% reinsured basis and wants to add fronting "with a forward exit option," taking on reserves after a set period. "When fronting for ILS managers or ILS capital, in property catastrophe risks, we need to try to balance how much tail-risk we take as part of the engagement," Zaprianov said. (Artemis)

→ For fronting carriers and reinsurers/ILS: A run-off specialist fronting Nephila on Citizens lines gives ILS funds a rated route onto Florida residential towers, and the forward exit option Zaprianov described is the term to ask for in any 2027 fronting proposal.

Marsh Re put property reinsurance rate decreases in the high teens and retro quota share limits above $20 billion. Marsh Re reported on September 21 that property aggregate excess of loss traded limits rose 50%, and that property retro quota share capacity rose 8% in 2026, with total quota share limits placed above $20 billion, up 30% over four years. "Excess capacity drove average risk-adjusted rate decreases settling in the high teens," Marsh Re said, adding that 2026 occurrence excess of loss pricing aligns with 2021 levels. The figures are global and do not break out U.S. residential business. (Artemis)

→ For MGA operators: A 50% jump in aggregate excess of loss traded limits, with occurrence pricing back at 2021 levels, means aggregate cover is available again, and a homeowners program that lost its aggregate protection after 2022 should put an aggregate quote into its January 1, 2027 submission.

Verisk's data shows U.S. property claims falling in number and rising in cost. Verisk reported on September 22 that second-quarter 2026 U.S. property claims assignment volume fell 12.21% from a year earlier while catastrophe claims rose to 43% of volume from 34% five years ago. Initial Q2 average severity was $17,085, but Q1 2026 severity matured to $18,185 from an initially reported $16,079, and Verisk projects Q2 to mature near $18,794, or above $19,400 if it follows Q1's development. "Property and reconstruction spend is consolidating into fewer, higher cost claims," Verisk said. (Artemis)

→ For reinsurers/ILS: Q1 severity rose 13.1% between first report and maturity, so a cedent quoting initially reported 2026 severity in a 2027 submission is showing reinsurers a figure Verisk's own data says will rise.

Bamboo postponed its IPO. Bamboo Insurance Services, the Midvale, Utah homeowners managing general underwriter controlled by CVC Capital Partners, postponed its NYSE IPO on September 22, citing market conditions, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Claims Journal; it had been marketing 35,000,000 Class A shares under the ticker BMB at $18.00 to $20.00, all to be sold by CVC and White Mountains affiliates. CVC bought control from White Mountains at a $1.75 billion valuation, and Insurance Journal reported the IPO targeted a $3.24 billion valuation. No new timeline was announced, and JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley were the lead underwriters. (Insurance Journal, Insurance Journal, Claims Journal, StockTitan launch release)

→ For PE-VC investors: CVC and White Mountains keep their full Bamboo stakes for now, and until a revived BMB deal prices, Orion180's $12.00 offer and its trading since are the freshest public marks for a homeowners program business.

Orion180 traded below its $12.00 offer price in its first full week. Orion180 Insurance Group reported in an 8-K filed September 21 that it completed its offering of 20,000,000 shares at $12.00 for $240.0 million of gross proceeds, and the filing makes no mention of the underwriters' 3,000,000-share option. StockAnalysis listed a $9.57 close on September 25, after an intraday low of $9.03, for a market value of about $948 million, against the roughly $1.14 billion Reuters reported at the September 18 debut. (SEC 8-K, StockAnalysis, Investing.com)

→ For PE-VC investors and HNW incumbents: Orion180 at about $948 million against roughly $601 million of premium written or placed in the 12 months to June 30 is the price public buyers set on an excess and surplus homeowners platform, and with the stock under $12.00, underwriters have little reason to exercise the 3,000,000-share option.

Florida approved homeowners rate cuts on more than 62,000 policies. Commissioner Michael Yaworsky announced on September 22 approved average decreases of 10.4% for One Alliance North America Insurance Company (17,148 policies), 4.1% for Safe Harbor Insurance Company (10,501), 3.2% for Unique Insurance Company (8,266) and 10.4% for Vyrd Insurance Company (26,751). The 30-day average requested homeowners rate change was negative 4.8%, and since January 2024, 48 companies have filed for decreases and 53 for no change. "I expect to see more aggressive rate cuts in the near future and going into 2027," Yaworsky said. (Florida OIR, Insurance Journal)

→ For state entrants: Vyrd and One Alliance North America each cut 10.4% while Florida domestic residential insurers ran an 83% combined ratio in 2025, per Morningstar DBRS data cited by Insurance Business, so a carrier entering Florida in 2027 prices against falling rates from incumbents with margin to spare. (Insurance Business)

Florida Citizens' commercial clearinghouse stalled on an OIR deficiency letter. Insurance Journal reported on September 24 that Deputy Commissioner Jane Nelson wrote on September 15 that OIR "has requested information to cure deficiencies in the submitted information" but "has yet to receive satisfactory responses," and that OIR cannot approve the program until Citizens amends its Plan of Operation and finalizes administrator contracts. Brown & Brown's Bridge Specialty Group won the administrator award, and Exzeo, majority owned by HCI Group, was chosen to manage one of the clearinghouse platforms. Chairman Carlos Beruff said "I looked at the numbers and the numbers make no sense and the implementation makes no sense." Senate Bill 1028, signed in June, sets a January 1 deadline, and no contract value has been disclosed. (Insurance Journal)

→ For wholesalers: HCI's Exzeo sits inside the Citizens commercial takeout pipe alongside Brown & Brown's Bridge, and the January 1, 2027 statutory date now runs against an unamended Plan of Operation.

California signed six insurance bills, including a nonrenewal rewrite, and vetoed two claims bills. Governor Gavin Newsom announced on September 27 that he signed AB 1680 (California FAIR Plan Association), AB 69 (FAIR Plan policy notices and renewals), SB 876 (fire and residential property insurance), SB 1301 (residential property insurance nonrenewals), SB 1206 (insurance omnibus) and AB 1931 (home protection companies), and vetoed SB 877 (loss estimate transparency) and SB 878 (insurance business practices). As enrolled, SB 1301 requires nonrenewal notice at least 90 days before expiration, up from 75, gives policyholders at least 90 days to fix conditions that breach underwriting guidelines, and bars nonrenewal based on certain claims, a prior inquiry, or roof age in certain circumstances. The vetoed SB 878 would have required insurers to "pay the actual cash value of a total loss within 30 days, with interest due," as the California Department of Insurance summarized it. The California Department of Insurance describes SB 876 as doubling penalties for claims settlement violations during declared emergencies. (Governor of California, SB 1301 text, CDI)

→ For MGA operators and fronting carriers: SB 1301's 90-day notice and 90-day cure period lengthen the exit on any California homeowners program a fronting carrier decides to cut, and its roof-age limit lands in the same month TDI said it will propose one for Texas.

Texas published home declination and nonrenewal counts and reasons by ZIP code. The Texas Department of Insurance launched a webpage on September 23 showing, for each ZIP code, active policy, nonrenewal, cancellation and declination counts reported by companies and the reasons given, implementing House Bill 2067 from 2025. TDI will update it at least quarterly, and Insurance Journal reported more than 350,000 notices in the system through June. "This new tool puts more information directly in consumers' hands," Commissioner Amanda Crawford said. (EIN Presswire/TDI, Insurance Journal)

→ For MGA operators: Texas declination reasons are now public by ZIP code, next to TDI's announced plan to propose a rule on roof-age declinations, so each quarterly update of the HB 2067 page is data regulators and plaintiffs can read.

Louisiana added $20 million of HUD money to FORTIFIED roof grants, taking 2026 investment to $100 million. Governor Jeff Landry announced a $20 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allocation to the Office of Community Development's Restore ROOF program, reported September 24, bringing total 2026 investment in state FORTIFIED projects to $100 million; Restore ROOF grants run up to $10,000 per homeowner. The legislature this year also moved $50 million of Katrina and Rita bond funds held by Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation to the Department of Insurance's Louisiana Fortify Homes Program, which receives about $30 million a year from insurer taxes and fees. (Insurance Journal)

→ For MGA operators and state entrants: A $100 million year of grant-funded FORTIFIED roofs grows the pool of Louisiana homes that qualify for the FORTIFIED discounts Regulation 136 mandates from January 1, 2027, and that roof data belongs in a Louisiana homeowners program's 2027 rate filing. (Louisiana Department of Insurance)