Hci Group Inc 's

We operate in highly competitive markets where we face competition from national, regional and residual market insurance companies. We believe that we have approximately 19 significant competitors writing homeowners’ property and casualty insurance in the state of Florida. Based on September 30, 2015 annualized premiums written data from the FLOIR, we are the fifth largest provider of homeowners’ property and casualty insurance in the state.

Our competitors may have larger financial capacities, greater resource availability, and more diversification in terms of insurance coverage. Our competitors include companies which market their products through agents, as well as companies which sell insurance directly to their customers. In addition, large national insurers may reenter the Florida homeowners’ property and casualty insurance market and they may have certain competitive advantages such as increased name recognition, increased loyalty of their customer base, and reduced policy acquisition costs. We may also face competition from new or temporary entrants in our niche markets. In some cases, such entrants may, because of inexperience, desire for new business, or other reasons, price their insurance products below ours. This pricing pressure may lead to overall premium reductions across the Florida market. In fact, the FLOIR recently approved a rate decrease that was effective January 1, 2016 for our new and renewal homeowners multi-peril business. Rates for our homeowners multi-peril policies will have an average overall decrease in premiums of approximately five percent while condominiums and renters multi-peril policies will receive uniform rate decreases in premiums of two percent and eight percent, respectively. Based on our current book of business, we estimate the overall reduction in 2016 net income will range from $4,500,000 to $5,500,000 with an impact on gross premiums earned of approximately $14,000,000.