Royal Palm to Offer Coverage to Allstate Floridian Customers

St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Allstate Floridian has reached an agreement with Royal Palm Insurance Co., a new property insurer in the state, to offer Allstate Floridian customers and Florida consumers property insurance coverage.

Starting in November 2006, Royal Palm will provide property insurance options through the more than 900 Allstate agencies across Florida. Under the agreement, which is subject to closing conditions, the vast majority of the 120,000 Allstate Floridian policyholders who will not be offered renewal by Allstate Floridian as their current policies expire will be offered homeowners coverage from Royal Palm Insurance.

“We welcome Royal Palm to Florida,” said Phil Lawson, president of Allstate Floridian. “This is the nation’s most challenging property insurance market, and helping to bring a new company to the state will improve insurance availability in many communities. In the wake of two devastating hurricane seasons, Allstate Floridian is taking steps to help better protect its customers in the future from the threat of Katrina like storms.”

“We have been working hard to help arrange another option for affected customers to obtain property coverage. We understand that our customers’ relationship with their Allstate agent is a large part of the reason they do business with us. Although Royal Palm is not an Allstate affiliate, customers who accept Royal Palm’s offer will be able to continue to work with their Allstate agency and may contact that agency for more information on their specific homeowner’s policy. We are pleased that our agents will have new solutions for the state and our customers.”

Source: Allstate Floridian

The announcement is the continuation of a highly successful effort launched last year to make homeowners insurance more available in Florida. Allstate agents have been able to write new property insurance with up to 12 other companies besides Allstate Floridian – giving consumers more choices. Under this strategy, these agents are currently helping almost twice as many homeowners find policies in the private market today than they were prior to the 2004 hurricanes.

Allstate Floridian will continue to pursue other actions such as another transaction of a similar size or nature with other alternative carriers, as well as additional reinsurance and underwriting actions. In addition, following the 2006 hurricane season, Allstate Floridian intends to no longer renew its smaller property lines – its landlord package policies, residential fire policies, and manufactured home policies. The company insures only about four percent of the manufactured home market in Florida.

“Royal Palm is proud to be working with one of the strongest insurance agency forces in the state,” Locke Burt, Royal Palm Insurance Co. president and a former Florida State Senator, said. “We are committed to providing customers with a strong level of protection and confidence. Royal Palm brings significant capital and reinsurance to the Florida market, and is looking to grow its customer base across the state.”

“The Allstate group of companies remains committed to giving our valued customers in Florida access to products that help them meet their auto and financial services needs,” Lawson said. “Allstate Floridian remains one of the largest insurers of private property in the state, and we are focusing our resources to help ensure that as many of our homeowners customers as possible remain protected. Allstate agencies will be available to help affected customers obtain coverage from another carrier.”

The Allstate Corporation is also working with others to advance partnerships that provide long-term solutions to better prepare and protect Americans from catastrophe.

“We all have a role to play in this effort,” Lawson said. “Under legislation passed last week in Florida, homeowners will be provided with tools to better prepare their properties to withstand hurricanes. And we are encouraged that policymakers across the country are beginning to recognize that this is not just an insurance issue. Catastrophe risk presents a homeland security and national economic challenge. We believe that comprehensive, integrated reform is needed to create a stronger public-private partnership to help prepare and protect consumers in Florida and across the country.”

Allstate supports the leadership of policymakers that are calling for the creation of a comprehensive national catastrophe plan. The company also endorses the campaign to better prepare and protect America being led by ProtectingAmerica.org, a coalition working to raise awareness, educate the public and policymakers, and offer long-term solutions that will better prepare and protect America from major catastrophes in a sensible, cost effective fashion.

Allstate Floridian Insurance Co. and Allstate Floridian Indemnity Co. are separately capitalized subsidiaries of The Allstate Corporation and are the primary providers of personal lines residential property insurance in Florida for the Allstate group, through more than 900 agencies in the state of Florida. Property insurance policies sold by Allstate Floridian Insurance Company and Allstate Floridian Indemnity Company are not underwritten or reinsured by any other company in the Allstate group.