For years, residential condominium associations occupied an uncomfortable corner of the commercial lines carriers market: too complex for generalist appetite, too concentrated for comfort, and too often left to the carrier of last resort. But market dynamics are shifting. As private carriers reassess their commercial books and submission volume in this segment begins to climb, a real question emerges: which carriers will be equipped to write this business well, and which will learn expensive lessons in the process?
Florida has become the most visible proving ground for this question. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s commercial book has long held a heavy concentration of condominium associations. This is a segment that private markets largely abandoned during the hardening cycle. That retreat made sense at the time. The combination of litigation exposure, aging infrastructure, hurricane volatility, and the legislative upheaval that followed the Champlain Towers South tragedy created a risk profile that most carriers weren’t willing to touch. The numbers tell the story: condo association premiums increased by more than 103% between mid-2022 and mid-2024, and Citizens’ policy count ballooned to over 1.4 million at its 2023 peak. [1][2]
But the private market doesn’t stay away forever. Tort reforms enacted in 2022 and 2023 have sharply reduced litigation costs, 17 new insurers have entered the Florida market since the reforms took hold, and Citizens’ policy count has plummeted toward 400,000 (the lowest level in over 20 years). [3][4] More than 677,000 policies have been transferred to the private market since January 2024 alone. [5] Appetite is returning, and submission volume in the condo association segment is following.
The carriers best positioned to capture this business profitably won’t simply be the ones who fill the vacuum. They’ll be the ones who’ve done the work.
Understanding What You’re Actually Insuring
Condominium associations aren’t monolithic. A 12-unit building in the Florida panhandle and a 300-unit high-rise on the Gulf Coast are categorically different risks wearing the same label. Carriers expanding into this space need underwriting guidelines that reflect that nuance, not a one-size approach that treats association business as a subcategory of standard commercial property.
The structural factors alone demand careful scrutiny: building age, envelope condition, roof vintage, reserve fund adequacy, and the quality of the association’s maintenance history. Post-Champlain, the industry has rightly turned attention toward Milestone Inspections and Structural Integrity Reserve Studies (SIRS), now required in Florida for buildings over three stories that are 30 years or older. [6] Associations that cannot demonstrate fully funded reserves or have significant deferred maintenance face difficulty securing private market coverage, and the carriers who ignore this distinction take on outsized risk. [7]
This isn’t just a Florida consideration. Aging condo stock exists across coastal markets, the Mid-Atlantic, the Great Lakes, and the Sun Belt. Multiple states have enacted tougher safety inspection laws and reserve requirements in the wake of Surfside. [8] The underlying risk drivers (i.e., deferred maintenance, underfunded reserves, aging mechanical systems, and governance gaps) travel with the product regardless of geography.
The Actuarial Foundation Has to Come First
One of the reasons private carriers struggled with condo association business in prior cycles is that pricing wasn’t keeping pace with loss experience. Actuarially sound rates aren’t a compliance checkbox, they’re the precondition for writing this business sustainably. That means carriers need credible loss data, realistic catastrophe load assumptions, and enough granularity in their rating approach to differentiate meaningfully between risk profiles within the same segment.
For carriers without deep historical exposure in this class, that’s harder than it sounds. Partnering with reinsurers who have relevant data, using industry loss development tools, and being deliberate about accumulation management are all non-negotiable starting points. Writing condo associations at inadequate rate because the competitive environment demands it isn’t an underwriting strategy, it’s a delayed loss. Florida’s market achieved its first collective underwriting profit in eight years in 2024, a milestone made possible by disciplined pricing combined with favorable legislative conditions. [1] That discipline must carry forward as the market softens and competition intensifies.
Servicing Complexity is a Differentiator, Not a Detail
Condominium associations come with operational complexity that tests the limits of standard commercial servicing models. These are accounts with boards of directors, property management companies, individual unit owners, and underlying unit owner policies, all interacting in ways that create coverage gaps, claims disputes, and customer service friction if not handled proactively.
Under Florida law, associations are responsible for insuring the building structure, common areas, drywall within individual units, and building equipment such as elevators and generators, while unit owners carry HO-6 policies covering their interior and personal property. [9] Confusion over this boundary is one of the most common sources of claims friction. Carriers who treat condo associations as standard commercial property accounts will create problems for themselves at claim time.
Defined protocols for coordinating with HOA boards, clarity on D&O coverage for association directors, and transparent communication standards around the relationship between the master policy and individual unit coverage are all areas where carriers can distinguish themselves or expose themselves. The servicing infrastructure matters as much as the product design. Carriers that can handle the complexity of these accounts efficiently, at scale, without requiring manual workarounds at every step, will be better positioned to grow the book profitably than those who treat servicing as an afterthought.
Regulatory and Legislative Exposure is Part of the Risk
Florida’s post-Champlain legislative environment illustrates a broader truth: the regulatory landscape around condominium associations is not static, and carriers writing this business need to track it as actively as they track weather. New reserve requirements, mandatory inspection regimes, and changes to association governance law all have downstream effects on risk profile, sometimes in ways that improve the underlying book, and sometimes in ways that create new coverage questions.
The tort reforms of 2022 and 2023 (eliminating one-way attorney fees, banning assignment of benefits abuse, and curbing runaway claims litigation) have materially changed the underwriting calculus in Florida. [3] Lawsuit filings against insurers are down 23% and back to pre-2018 levels. [4] But carriers shouldn’t be waiting for policy renewals to understand how legislative changes affect their books. Active monitoring, clear underwriting guideline updates, and transparent communication with policyholders and agents are table stakes for operating in this segment responsibly.
And as carriers look beyond Florida, to coastal markets in the Carolinas, the Gulf states, or aging urban condo stock in the Midwest and Northeast, they must account for each state’s distinct regulatory environment. The legislative tailwinds in Florida won’t exist everywhere. Carriers expanding geographically in this segment need state-specific guideline development, not a copy-paste of their Florida framework.
The Window is Open….For Now
When private markets pull back from a segment and submissions concentrate in residual markets, there’s always a period where conditions eventually improve: rates correct, legislation adapts, and appetite returns. That window is opening now for condo association commercial lines. Carriers who enter with defined guidelines, sound rates, and the infrastructure to service these accounts well will have a real opportunity to build a profitable book.
The ones who move too fast, underprice to win share, or underestimate the complexity of what they’re writing will simply replenish the next wave of losses. The segment has punished undisciplined underwriting before. Florida’s condo association premiums doubled in two years before private carriers largely walked away. [2] The conditions that drove that outcome such as, deferred maintenance, inadequate reserves, governance failures, and aggressive litigation, haven’t disappeared. They’ve been regulated, reformed, and in some cases priced into the market. But they require ongoing vigilance, not a one-time underwriting checklist.
The carriers who understand that and build their product, pricing, and servicing infrastructure accordingly, are the ones worth watching as this opportunity matures.
About WaterStreet
Carriers serious about this segment need more than appetite, they need infrastructure. WaterStreet Company builds cloud-based policy administration software purpose-built for P&C carriers, supporting the full policy lifecycle from submission and quoting through endorsements, renewals, and reporting. When the market moves fast, the carriers who can move with it are the ones who build lasting books.
To learn how WaterStreet can help your organization, visit waterstreetcompany.com.
Reach out to WaterStreet Company today to request a consultation and demo.
Sources:
[2] Homeowner Insurance Costs Fell in Q4 2024 — Florida Realtors (March 2025)
[3] Citizens Property Insurance Now Has Fewer Than 400,000 Policies — WUSF Public Media (December 2025)
[7] Condo Association Insurance Florida — Florida All Risk Insurance (December 2025)
[8] Why Did Condo Insurance Go Up in 2025? — Moshe’s Law / Real Estate Attorneys (December 2025)
[9] Key Insurance Considerations for Florida-Based Condominium Associations — FCAP / FLCAJ (2025)
