Insurtech Slide picking up policies from insolvent St. Johns
The move provides coverage continuity for nearly 150,000 policyholders and voluntary appointments to more than 2,700 agents.
Insurtech Slide Insurance Company is acquiring $400 million in premiums from St. Johns Insurance Company as part of the latter’s insolvency and subsequent liquidation after nearly 20 years of business in Florida and South Carolina, according to the acquiring firm. The deal will provide uninterrupted coverage to around 150,000 policyholders and voluntary appointments for more than 2,700 agents in Florida and South Carolina.
The policies transitioned to Slide Insurance shortly after midnight on March 1, 2022, according to the Florida Department of Financial Services. The department noted there will be no gaps in coverage and policyholders’ coverage and premium policy will remain unchanged after the transition.
The Florida Department of Financial Services reported that St. John insureds that are due unearned premiums from a policy that is transferred to Slide will have those unearned premiums transferred to their transition policy.
For policyholders that canceled their coverage before the transition and that haven’t received premium refunds, the state financial services department noted unearned premiums are covered by the Guaranty Association. The state financial services department is calculating unearned premiums for policies canceled prior to March 1, 2022, and expects the process to take 30-60 days.
Slide saw ‘unique opportunity’
The downgrading of St. John Insurance’s Demotech financial rating created a “unique market opportunity,” according to the insurtech, which reported its proprietary AI technology allowed it to assess St. Johns’ portfolio quickly.
“I have done a lot of very successful deals in my career, but I have never been able to process millions of data points at this speed. We processed $73.7 billion in annual TIV (total insurable value), multiple years of claims data, projected reinsurance costs and forward modeled loss ratios in 48 hours,” Slide Founder and CEO Bruce Lucas said in a release.
Lucas added the deal increases Slide’s data set to cover almost $5 trillion in TIV and brings nearly two decades of historical claims data to the insurtech’s pool.
“Slide’s Big Data Advantage accelerated our business plan by five years and I believe it will make us the first full-stack insurtech to ever turn a profit, and we did it in our first three months,” Lucas said in a statement.
‘Home Harden’ legislation passes in Florida House
This news coincides with the Florida House of Representatives passing a tax package that includes a provision for the “Home Hardening” initiative, which provides tax relief to homeowners that make their dwellings more resilient to storms by installing impact-resistant items.
“In Florida, it’s not if, but when a storm will strike and I am committed to helping Florida families harden their homes against storms while lowering their insurance premiums,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patrons said in a release. “There is no doubt that this is a practical way of saving folks money while incentivizing homeowners to better protect their homes from hurricanes.”
The tax package is awaiting approval from the state Senate.
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