Insurance
Home›Insurance›Industry & Deals›DeSantis courts Lloyd's reinsurance capital amid Flori…
DeSantis courts Lloyd's reinsurance capital amid Florida insurer recovery
The Florida governor and insurance commissioner met Lloyd's leadership in London and discussed a potential research tie-up with the Lloyd's Lab innovation incubator.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis brought Florida's insurance recovery story to London, meeting Lloyd's of London leadership and City of London officials as part of a broader UK trade mission, while also pitching the state as a destination for reinsurance capital. DeSantis and Florida Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky discussed a possible research tie-up between Florida and the Lloyd's Lab innovation incubator, according to Insurance Business.
The visit followed earlier UK coordination, including a Memorandum of Understanding Florida signed with the UK in November 2023 after DeSantis's first London trip in April that year. The discussions also included a fireside chat with the Lady Mayor of the City of London, Dame Susan Langley, with Florida International University President Jeanette Nuñez joining to highlight FIU's Wall of Wind facility and its Florida Public Hurricane Loss Model used to estimate storm-related insurance losses.
Insurance Business notes that the timing is meant to contrast Florida's earlier period of insurance market dysfunction with signs of stabilization in the property sector. During the worst stretch, more than a dozen Florida property insurers became insolvent or stopped writing new business, and the state's insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, grew to roughly 1.4 million policies by late 2023.
The article also points to litigation as a key structural issue, saying Florida represented about 7-8% of US homeowners insurance claims but as much as 76-80% of related lawsuits nationwide. Florida lawmakers responded with two legislative waves, including a December 2022 special session that produced Senate Bill 2A, which eliminated one-way attorney fees in property claims and banned assignment-of-benefits practices.