American Coastal Insurance business insurance

Overview

American Coastal Insurance Company (AmCoastal) insures the buildings that Florida condominium associations, homeowners associations, apartment owners and assisted living operators are responsible for. It writes the association's master property policy: the roofs, exterior walls, structure and commonly owned property of a garden-style condo complex or HOA, rather than anything inside an owner's unit. The company says it is the largest voluntary-market writer of commercial residential property in Florida, meaning the largest private alternative to Citizens Property Insurance, the state-created insurer of last resort.

The American Coastal group was ranked No. 100 among U.S. business insurers by 2025 commercial lines direct premiums written, with $612.6 million, based on NAIC market share data. It has no line in the national top 10. All of that premium falls in allied lines, the NAIC category that holds windstorm and hurricane coverage, which tells you what this company really sells: wind capacity for Florida residential buildings.

The NAIC group has one insurer, American Coastal Insurance Company, an admitted Florida carrier. Its parent, American Coastal Insurance Corporation, trades on Nasdaq as ACIC and is based in St. Petersburg. B. Bradford (Brad) Martz is president and CEO, and R. Daniel Peed is executive chairman. In October 2026 the parent received an Arizona certificate of authority for a new surplus lines subsidiary, ACES Specialty Insurance Company.

History

American Coastal was founded in 2007 to insure Florida condominium and homeowners association properties, apartments and assisted living facilities. From the start it has worked with AmRisc Group, a large managing general agent specializing in hurricane-exposed property, as its exclusive distribution and underwriting partner.

The holding company has a more turbulent past. It was formerly United Insurance Holdings Corp. (UIHC), parent of UPC Insurance, a Florida homeowners insurer. UPC completed its merger with American Coastal in April 2017, adding the commercial residential book to its personal lines. After heavy hurricane losses, UPC entered an orderly runoff in August 2022, and in February 2023 Florida regulators placed it in receivership with the Department of Financial Services, ending the parent's ownership. The parent renamed itself American Coastal Insurance Corporation and began trading as ACIC on August 15, 2023. In May 2024 it agreed to sell Interboro Insurance Company, its New York personal lines subsidiary, to Forza Insurance Holdings. The sale closed on April 1, 2025, for about $26.4 million in cash, completing its exit from personal lines.

Since then the strategy has been to keep the Florida franchise and add specialty property elsewhere. In June 2024 AmCoastal extended its AmRisc agreement, and on September 14, 2026 the two restructured it, effective July 1, 2026, to renew automatically each year with 48 months' notice required to terminate. In 2026 AmCoastal began assuming a quota share of AmRisc's nationwide E&S commercial property book. The parent also built an in-house MGA, Skyway Underwriters, which handles apartments and assisted living and will run ACES.

Business insurance products

AmCoastal writes property coverage only, through three programs:

• Condominium and HOA (through AmRisc). A master policy for garden-style condo and HOA communities, built on a commercial property form for commonly owned association property. The ISO special perils form is standard (see special form), with ISO broad form, ordinance or law coverage and wind-driven precipitation available as options, plus several coverage extensions.
• Apartments (through Skyway). Building, contents, business income, sinkhole and wind-driven precipitation for Florida apartment communities, with inspection-driven pricing and flexible deductibles.
• Assisted and independent living (through Skyway). Property-only coverage for Florida facilities with characteristics similar to its apartment book.

Liability, directors and officers, crime and fidelity coverage for an association have to come from other carriers, and so does flood insurance, which is normally excluded from these property forms. Unit owners need their own HO-6 policy for interiors and personal property. Expect a percentage named storm deductible on every policy (see named storm deductibles: how percentage wind deductibles work).

E&S. AmCoastal also assumes up to 5% of AmRisc's E&S commercial property portfolio and supports the Skyway E&S program. ACES Specialty Insurance Company expects to start writing catastrophe-exposed commercial E&S property in Florida, Texas and South Carolina on or about December 1, 2026, subject to regulatory and rating requirements.

Who it insures

AmCoastal's target is the Florida community association: the board of a condominium association or HOA that must insure the buildings and common property under its governing documents and Florida law (see Condo and HOA insurance). It favors low-rise, garden-style properties built or updated to current Florida wind standards, with hip roofs, hurricane straps, impact-rated windows and documented wind mitigation, and it rewards those features with mitigation credits allowed under Florida law. It also looks at how the association is run, preferring active boards with current reserve studies. It says it underwrites the risk profile rather than the size of the property.

It also insures Landlord insurance that own Florida apartment communities, and assisted and independent living facilities. Its stated target is low-rise, garden-style property. It no longer writes personal lines, and its admitted paper covers only Florida.

How to buy

AmCoastal does not sell directly. Condo and HOA submissions go through AmRisc Group, which works with retail agents and brokers; any Florida-licensed agent can submit, and a property manager can usually recommend one active in this market. Apartment and assisted living business is placed through Skyway Underwriters by appointed wholesale brokers only. Have the association's current wind mitigation inspection report, building schedule, loss history and reserve study ready. If you updated the roof or installed impact windows, ask the agent to order a new mitigation inspection, because the credits can be significant. Both Managing general agents (MGAs): what they are and what they mean for buyers run their own appointment processes for producers.

Claims

Claims go through the MGA for your product line:

• Condo and HOA: AmRisc, online through the AmRisc claims portal, by phone at 252-247-8796 or by email at [email protected].
• Apartments and assisted living: Skyway Underwriters through Sedgwick, online through Sedgwick's self-service intake, by phone at 727-746-9896 or by email at [email protected].

AmCoastal's guidance is to make the property safe, photograph the damage before temporary repairs and file first notice of loss; an adjuster then contacts the insured. Damage inside an individual unit usually belongs on the owner's HO-6 policy, so boards should coordinate with the property manager before filing (see filing business insurance claims after a hurricane or wildfire).

Financial strength and ratings

AmCoastal is not rated by AM Best. Demotech rates it A (Exceptional) for financial stability, a rating accepted by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD for mortgage requirements. In July 2026 Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) upgraded its insurer financial strength rating to A from A-, with a stable outlook, citing materially improved capitalization. KBRA rates the parent's issuer credit BBB, stable.

The catastrophe reinsurance program is rebuilt every June 1, layering a retention shared with a captive, the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, reinsurers rated A- or better or fully collateralized, and Catastrophe bonds and ILS: how they work and who they affect. The company says it is designed to exceed Florida's statutory minimum.

For the second quarter of 2026, ACIC reported gross premiums written down 5.3% to $216.3 million, net income of $21.9 million and an underlying combined ratio of 68.7%. Management said Florida pricing is coming off a "generational peak" and that it will not chase business at inadequate rates. Book value per share grew more than 20% over the year to $7.21.

Strengths and weaknesses

AmCoastal is a profitable, narrowly focused Florida wind writer with a long-standing MGA partnership. It offers boards an admitted alternative to Citizens and the surplus lines market, but its fortunes ride on Florida hurricanes and reinsurance markets.

• Strengths: Florida's largest voluntary writer of commercial residential property, focused on condo and HOA business since 2007. Admitted paper with Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund participation, which the company says lowers its cost of capital compared with surplus lines carriers. KBRA upgrade to A in July 2026 and Demotech A (Exceptional). Clear mitigation credits that reward well-maintained, wind-resistant buildings.
• Weaknesses: No AM Best rating, which some lenders and contracts specify. Property only, so liability, D&O, crime and flood must be placed elsewhere. Single-state concentration in the most hurricane-exposed market in the country, with results tied to the reinsurance tower. Access only through two MGAs, and a parent company that went through a 2023 insolvency of its former homeowners subsidiary.

How to contact American Coastal Insurance