• Slide Insurance is acquiring renewal rights for 86,000 homeowners insurance policies in Florida that were previously held by Farmers Insurance, which exited the Florida insurance market in July.
• This acquisition is limited to qualified homeowner policies and does not include renters, auto, or umbrella policies.
• The move comes several months after Slide was authorized to assume up to 25,000 lines of coverage from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation.

Slide Insurance is positioning itself to take on thousands of lines of property insurance policies from Farmers Insurance beginning in February.

Slide announced on Friday its acquisition of renewal rights for 86,000 homeowners insurance policies in Florida previously held by Farmers Insurance following the latter’s exit from the Florida insurance market. The acquisition only pertains to qualified homeowner policies and does not include renters, auto, or umbrella policies, according to Slide.

“We remain bullish on Florida’s insurance market and believe the market is ripe for an innovator like Slide,” said Bruce Lucas, Founder and CEO of Slide. “The recent reforms are working and the Florida insurance market is stabilizing.

Farmers, once serving as one of the state’s largest insurers, abruptly announced its exit from Florida’s insurance market in July, becoming the fourth company to do so this year. The insurer informed state officials that it was discontinuing home, car, and umbrella coverage in Florida, citing “risk exposure.” The revision impacts approximately 30 percent of the company’s business in Florida — close to 100,000 policies.

A spokesperson for Farmers, Trevor Chapman, told The Capitolist following the departure announcement that the company’s decision solely applies to insurance issued through the Farmers distribution channel. The insurer continues to provide policy coverage via its subsidiaries, which include Bristol West, Foremost Signature, and Farmers GroupSelect. The secondary branches account for almost 70 percent of the parent company’s business transactions in Florida.

In June, Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky signed orders authorizing Slide to assume as many as 25,000 policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, which has struggled in recent years with an overload of policies.