NEW YORK (BestWire) — The high net worth property insurance market in Florida has certain characteristics, like quality construction, which makes the risk acceptable to Bermuda-based Ironshore as it enters the Sunshine State.

"There is not a glaring void in the market but there is an opportunity and we will see how it progresses," Shaun Kelly, Ironshore chief executive officer of U.S. operations, told BestWire.

Ironshore was "up and going" as of May 1 and already there has been a good response, Kelly said. The company will approach the marketplace from a surplus lines basis. Surplus carriers cover high-risk businesses and their employees as well as boats, homes, condominiums and mobile homes.

About 40 percent of the business is personal lines and 60 percent is commercial. Surplus carriers have never been governed by the same laws as traditional insurers, but by a special Surplus Lines Law, which allows for more freedom on policies and rates because these carriers insure the higher risk.

Florida has a last-resort insurer, but does not service high-value homes. Ironshore's entry into the personal lines segment is a "viable alternative for clients," Kelly said. Ironshore distribution is done through the broker market.

The programme in Florida is a partnership with wholesale insurance intermediary, Hull & Co. Kelly said the announcement is part of a fulfillment of earlier comments he has made about organic growth within Ironshore in the United States. He said the company could get into one or two new businesses in the coming year and no acquisitions are currently in the pipeline.

Kelly said Ironshore will carefully spread throughout the state, "remaining open and available while monitoring and measuring exposure" to ensure the company is not over-concentrated in any one area of hurricane-prone Florida.

Vice-president Daniel Olmsted is going to lead the charge in Florida, having served as president of private risk services at Ace before joining Ironshore.