WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Among the new homeowner insurance companies coming to Florida this year is Melbourne-based Orion180.
"The Florida market is a market I'd love to come and bring some solutions to. I'm from here and grew up here," Orion180 CEO Ken Gregg said.
Orion180 is one of the six new companies entering Florida after legislative reforms were passed to curb fraudulent insurance litigation.
Republicans in control are hoping it will lure more companies and create competition to try to lower premiums, which have skyrocketed across the state.
"We’re looking to probably enter the market sometime this summer and we will be looking to enter and write coastal areas," Gregg said.
Specifically, he says they plan to write policies from Tampa to South Florida and north toward Brevard County.
"Excluding of course Monroe County as everybody else," Gregg said, referring to the Florida Keys.
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This week Florida lawmakers are still working on some proposals regarding insurance, including a bill to ban all insurance cancellations within 90 days of finishing storm repairs.
Gregg said if passed, it could deter more companies from coming into the Florida market.
"What if the risk has changed, there could be a lot of characteristics about the risk," he said, referring to a ban on even raising premiums in those 90 days.
Gregg said that provision along with other issues are, "All detrimental factors for a carrier to come into the market and be in this market long term."