HCI Group to go Ahead with Flood Insurance

With a nod from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Company Inc., the wholly owned subsidiary of Florida based insurer HCI Group Inc. (HCI) will now be able to provide flood insurance coverage to policyholders nationwide.

The Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2012 reauthorizes and extends the National Flood Insurance Program (:NFIP) through 2017, enabling annual limit on premiums to be increased from 10% to 20% on an average. In fact for certain cases, rates might also go up to as much as 25% per year. But HCI Group is focused on providing policyholders with flood coverage at prices that were prevalent before the Biggert-Waters Act. The approval from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation will thus provide a respite to the policyholders of HCI Group by lessening their premium burden.

Homeowners Choice, the principal operating subsidiary of HCI Group started its operations in 2007. Homeowners Choice provides property and casualty homeowners’ insurance, condominium-owners’ insurance and tenants’ insurance to property owners in Florida. The company’s revenues have been showing consistent improvement over the past few years, driven by its strong product portfolio. Now with this approval, the addition of flood insurance coverage should boost its product portfolio thereby making way for further revenue generation.

HCI Group currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Some other stocks worth considering in the property and casualty insurance space include Alleghany Corporation (Y), Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF) and CNA Financial Corporation (CNA). All these stocks carry the same Zacks Rank as HCI Group.

Read the Full Research Report on CINF
Read the Full Research Report on CNA
Read the Full Research Report on Y
Read the Full Research Report on HCI


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