Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Company Inc.will soon offer flood insurance in the state of Florida, havingalready submitted related forms and rate filings with the FloridaOffice of Insurance Regulation to jumpstart their efforts.

Homeowners Choice, a wholly-owned insurance subsidiary of HCIgroup Inc., based in Tampa, will provide rate relief to existingcustomers by applying to regulators to add an endorsement to itspolicies to include flood coverage. The additional coverage isexpected to be priced similarly to what property owners paid beforethe Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of2012.

As a result of the Biggert-Waters Act, Florida residents sawsubstantial increases in their flood insurance premiums. Thelegislation phased out subsidies for certain older properties andimposed large additional costs to property owners, most of whom hadnever filed a claim under the National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP).

Paresh Patel, HCI Group's chairman and chief executive officer,said in a press release that while HCI Group cannot provide asolution to all of Florida they will try and help policyholders hitthe hardest by hefty rate increases under the NFIP, citing them asthe company's top priority.