Poe Financial, Florida's top private homeowners' insurance writer, will cease writing new policies or renewing old ones in the subsidiary that covers condominiums and homeowners associations until it raises new capital, it told its agents last week.

The decision was prompted by more than $2 billion of gross losses and over 125,000 claims from the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, the company said.

The decision will likely force more people into the state-run insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance–already South Florida's largest insurer. The affected carrier, Southern Family Insurance, has about 40,000 customers, according to Tracy Upton, a company representative.

Two other Poe companies–Florida Preferred and Atlantic Preferred–will keep doing business as usual, Mr. Upton said.

Poe has 316,000 policyholders in Florida, most of them in Broward and Palm Beach counties, making it the state's second largest homeowners' writer, behind Citizens.

Poe is a privately-held company based in Tampa. It was started in late 1996 as a spin-off of the old Poe & Brown Insurance Co., now Brown & Brown. Its patriarch is a former mayor Tampa, Mr. Upton said.

“It should be no surprise that the activity from the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons has been substantial,” said Poe's president and CEO, Jim Wurdeman.

“The underwriting action we are taking will not affect our response to policyholders that have current or future claims with us,” he added. “Rather, we are taking necessary and appropriate action as stipulated by Florida statutes that are in the best interest to position the organization for the future.”

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