As Florida Insurers Rake in Higher-Than-Expected Profits, Executives Pocket Millions While Homeowners Suffer
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As one of Florida’s leading property insurers announced third quarter financial results that exceeded estimates, Unlocking America’s Future is calling on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to stop protecting insurance companies funding his political operation and start protecting Florida families who are struggling with the nation’s highest home insurance premiums.
Florida homeowners are facing a crisis, with 20% currently without any home insurance coverage at all, meaning they could face devastating financial losses if hurricanes, flooding, or any other disasters strike their homes and property. Meanwhile, insurance executives continue to extract enormous compensation while homeowners suffer: Slide Insurance’s CEO Bruce Lucas and his wife pulled in over $50 million in compensation in 2024 alone, even as the company’s policyholders faced premium increases of 20% or more.
“Florida homeowners are being crushed by skyrocketing premiums and denied claims while insurance executives pocket millions and insurance companies report better-than-expected profits. Governor DeSantis needs to stop protecting the insurance companies funding his political operation and start protecting Florida families. It’s clear that if insurers outearn estimates and can pay millions in compensation to their executives while one in five Florida homeowners can’t afford coverage at all — this system is broken,” said Kyle Herrig, Unlocking America’s Future spokesperson.
The ability of insurance executives to extract such enormous compensation while homeowners suffer is enabled by a regulatory loophole that has been exploited for years. Insurance companies in Florida have been known to create “sister companies,” also called affiliates, to get around the state’s 4.5% profit cap on insurers. A study revealed that between 2017 and 2019, Florida insurers showed a net loss of $432 million, but their affiliate companies showed a net income of $1.8 billion during the same period, meaning insurance companies were generating nearly $2 billion in profits through corporate structures that were hidden from regulators and the public.
The situation has been made worse by 2023 legal reform legislation that experts conclude has “emboldened insurance companies to be aggressive with low payments or claim denials.” In 2024, 14 Florida property insurers closed more than 50% of the claims filed by homeowners without paying a penny to cover damages, while nine other Florida insurers closed between 40% and 50% of claims with no payment. Slide Insurance and its CEO Bruce Lucas have donated heavily to Republican politicians and organizations in Florida, with Lucas and his companies donating nearly $2.6 million over a six-year period to key Republican politicians, including those in the Florida legislature who spearheaded tort reform legislation that made it harder for homeowners to sue insurance companies.
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