Bermuda market veteran Stephen Weinstein is behind a new entrant into the Florida property insurance market.

Mr Weinstein, formerly of RenaissanceRe and now chairman of the board at Bermudian-based Itasca Re Ltd, is the founder and chief executive of Mangrove Property Insurance Company.

Mangrove has been approved by Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation to provide property and casualty insurance to Florida homeowners.

Armed with a strong initial capital base and a seasoned leadership team led by Mr Weinstein, Mangrove said it is excited to launch in the Florida property market with the intention of becoming a long-term franchise player providing Florida homeowners with high-quality P&C coverage.

Mr Weinstein said: “Smart legislative and regulatory reforms have stabilised Florida’s marketplace, giving us confidence to enter the market with new capital and capacity to help homeowners meet their property insurance needs.

“Just as mangroves protect Florida’s coastlines from erosion and storm surge, Mangrove Property Insurance Company is committed to being a permanent solution Floridians can turn to in protecting their property.”

Mangrove said it was established with the strategic vision of providing sustainable, long-term P&C solutions tailored to Florida’s unique market, and is designed to meet the evolving needs of policyholders and independent agents while fostering market stability and resilience.

While the prospects for Florida’s property insurance market conditions continue to strengthen, Mangrove said it believes the homeowners market is still in great need of additional capacity and competition.

Mr Weinstein said: “As the third most populated state in the US, and one of the largest economies in the world, Florida is a special state to me and our company.

“We want to help enhance Florida’s financial and physical resiliency as it safely continues to grow.”

Mangrove said it is committed to delivering efficient, customer-centric services through partnerships with local independent agents in all 67 Florida counties.

The company added that its disciplined, data-driven approach will provide homeowners with actuarially sound, competitive rates that are steeped in strong catastrophic event risk management.

Mr Weinstein added: “Mangrove intends to build a partnership culture, and we look forward to partnering with Florida’s independent agents to provide stability and security to our mutual customers – Florida’s homeowners.

“We also wish to acknowledge the many partners who have supported our launch to date, including Gallagher Re, our reinsurance broker of record, and Gallagher Securities, our capital markets adviser and sole structuring and placement agent, whose expertise, analytics, and Florida leadership position have been instrumental.”

The OIR approved Mangrove’s certificate of authority to provide P&C coverage in Florida on January 15.

In addition, Mangrove said it has been approved to participate in the April assumption of policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation.

Mangrove has applied for a financial stability rating from Demotech, Inc, and plans to begin writing homeowners coverage for policyholders outside of Citizens as soon as possible after receipt of that rating.

The company said homeowners will soon be able to apply for Mangrove coverage by connecting with a Florida licensed independent insurance agent appointed to represent Mangrove.