Local insurers assuming 39,000 Citizens policies

TAMPA BAY — Two Gulf Coast area insurance firms have agreed to take over additional policies as the state run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. (Citizens) continued reducing its liabilities.

St. Petersburg-based United Insurance Holdings Corp.'s (symbol: UIHC; recent price: $15.48) subsidiary United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. is taking on more than 37,000 personal and commercial residential policies from Citizens. It will assume the residential policies Nov. 5, and the commercial residential Nov. 18. United Property & Casualty has also received approval for an additional commercial residential takeout Dec. 9 but has not received the final number of policies that will be allocated from Citizens.

The policies allocated to United Property & Casualty by Citizens for the November assumptions represent in-force premiums of about $74 million; however, the total amount of assumed policies and premiums may be reduced by additional opt outs and cancellations by policyholders.

Earlier this week, Clearwater-based Heritage Insurance Holdings Inc. (symbol: HRTG; recent price: $15.22) announced that its subsidiary Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Co. assumed more than 2,000 commercial residential policies from Citizens. The assumed policies represent more than $80 million in gross written premiums.