Safeco withdrawing from Florida homeowners market.Property/casualty insurer An individual or company who, through a contractual agreement, undertakes to compensate specified losses, liability, or damages incurred by another individual. An insurer is frequently an insurance company and is also known as an underwriter. Safeco Safeco Corporation (NYSE: SAF) is a major American national insurance company. It has naming rights to the Seattle Mariners' baseball stadium, Safeco Field. Safeco was founded in Seattle, Washington in 1923 by Hawthorne K. Corp. is withdrawing from the homeowners and other personal property insurance markets in Florida Florida, state, United States Florida (flôr`ĭdə, flŏr`–), state in the extreme SE United States. A long, low peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean (E) and the Gulf of Mexico (W), Florida is bordered by Georgia and , but policyholders are safe through this year's hurricane season Hurricane season refers to a period in a year when hurricanes usually form. For more information see: Tropical cyclone#Times of formation. For a lists of past seasons, see:
Safeco said it would stop renewing residential property policies beginning in 2006. It was to stop writing new policies July 26. The company will instead focus on growing its other personal-lines products--automobile, watercraft, recreational vehicles, motorcycle motorcycle, motor vehicle whose design is based on the bicycle. The German inventor Gottlieb Daimler is generally credited with building the first practical motorcycle in 1885. The motorcycle did not become dependable and popular, however, until after 1900. and umbrella insurance--and its commercial presence in Florida. Safeco said it only has about 30,000 homeowners policyholders in Florida. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. A.M. Best Co. state/line product information based on direct premiums written, Safeco was the 29th-largest homeowners multiperil insurer in Florida in 2004, with 0.65% of the market. In contrast, Safeco said its number of private-passenger auto insurance customers has doubled since 2002. The company ranked 17th in that market, with a 1.1% market share and about 136,000 policyholders, according to A.M. Best data. "Given our relatively small share of the Florida homeowners market, we don't expect our decision to have a broad impact," Jim Swegle, Safeco's vice president of personal lines property, said in a statement. Swegle said the 2006 start for nonrenewing should give consumers time to secure other coverage. Safeco decided to exit the Florida homeowners market "after months of careful consideration. Swegle said. The company decided. he said, it couldn't "effectively compete in Florida's unique and complex personal property market with our standardized product A product that conforms to specifications resulting from the same or equivalent technical requirements. NATO standardized products are identified by a NATO code number. approach." "It mostly surrounds the weather and the regulatory environment," Safeco spokesman Eric Trott said. Safeco Insurance Cos. Direct premiums by state, 2004: ($ Millions) California $996.4 Washington 656.0 Texas 435.4 Oregon 290.4 Florida 285.4 Note: Table made from bar graph. Source: A.M. Best's Executive Summary |
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