Olympus updates Florida coastal underwriting rules to align with reinsurance

Olympus Insurance Company, a Florida homeowners specialist underwriter, has adopted new rules for property underwritten on the coast of the state, as it looks to align its inwards business more closely with the reinsurance models used.

We’ve learned that Olympus sent an update to its agents at the end of last week to explain the latest changes to its underwriting rules and guidelines, as the company looks to adjust its portfolio structure to better map to the conditions surrounding reinsurance it can secure.

Olympus is not an outlier here, as numerous Florida focused insurance carriers have been updating their underwriting guidelines in recent months.

We’ve documented some of these changes before, also here, including Olympus itself saying it would be “taking preemptive measures to ensure responsible continued growth throughout the state.”

The latest updates see Olympus explaining to its agency community that, “We’re updating some of our underwriting processes so that we can maintain the capacity and availability of superior coverage options for you statewide.”

The key rating related change announced at the end of last week, involves the distance a property is to the coastline, the update seen by Artemis explains.

Olympus said it is updating certain coastlines of Florida to better align with the reinsurance models used.

Saying that this will enable them to maintain capacity availability, without having to put in place specific distance to coast restrictions, or to revise its definition of barrier islands.

New mapping used will mean rate changes for properties directly on the coast, Olympus said, with the areas most impacted by the changes said to be Tampa Bay; Sarasota, Charlotte, & Lee Counties; Brevard, Indian River, & St. Lucie Counties; and the coastal Panhandle Counties of Florida.

There are also changes to the rating for masonry veneer construction walls, with certain construction types to be classified as built with frame techniques.

These changes are being implemented for new business from November 7th and renewal business from 2024, Olympus said.

Like the changes we’ve written about before, these show Olympus updating its underwriting to better manage exposure versus the costs of writing property insurance business in Florida, in particular due to the higher reinsurance pricing environment it now faces.

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