“To remain in Florida and continue serving as many homeowners as possible here, we have been gradually reducing the size of our business in the state,” says spokesman Michael Grimes. “As part of this effort we are exiting a variety of commercial lines so that other carriers specializing in this type of coverage can provide such services in the future.”

Grimes says the insurance market for churches is “very competitive” and there are “numerous companies that specialize in the coverage.

“We are a small carrier” in this line, he adds.

Grimes could not say which of its 500,000 homeowners' policyholders would receive nonrenewal notices. The decision to drop the policies was made to help the insurer manage its exposure while creating “as little disruption as possible,” he says.

State-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is the state's largest writer of personal property insurance in Florida, with a 15.3 percent market share in 2010, according to Highline Data.

State Farm is next with 13 percent of the market, followed by Universal Insurance Holdings Group (8 percent), Tower Hill Insurance Group (4.7 percent) and USAA Group (4.6 percent).

In April state regulators approved an average statewide homeowners rate increase of 18.8 percent for State Farm though the company asked for more than 25 percent.