Property insurer ASI Lloyds, in St. Petersburg, Fla., said it will enter the Louisiana market to sell home and fire insurance after receiving a state grant.
ASI said it obtained a grant from the state-sponsored Insure Louisiana Incentive program. The insurer said it intends to begin writing policies in the second quarter of this year. The company was recently upgraded to an "A-minus (Excellent)" financial strength rating by A.M. Best.
"ASI is excited to enter the Louisiana marketplace," said John Auer, the insurer's president and chief executive officer.
"We look forward to working with the independent agency force to provide an additional market to Louisiana homeowners. We specialize in catastrophe exposure management and are proud to be a leading property insurer in Florida and Texas," he added.
ASI Lloyds Inc. is a subsidiary of American Strategic Insurance Corp., domiciled in Florida. The ASI group of companies specializes in homeowners insurance and has over 320,000 policyholders in Florida, Texas and Colorado.
The Louisiana program is providing $100 million in grant money to insurers that provide protection for homeowners along the state's hurricane-exposed coast.
The program provides matching funds to qualified property insurance companies, and grants allocated must be no less than $2 million nor in excess of $10 million.
Insurers taking part must have at least 50 percent of their net written premium coming from policyholders whose property is located in the 37 parishes included in the federal Gulf Opportunity Zone Act in Louisiana.
Insurers must also write 25 percent of the net written premium for policyholders whose property is insured by the state's insurers of last resort, Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. And at least half of this 25 percent must be policyholders whose property is located in parishes included in the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act in Louisiana.
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