American Coastal Insurance Corporation (ACIC), the St. Petersburg-based specialist that has written Florida commercial residential property without a loss year since 2007, reported net income of $19.4 million in the third quarter of 2026, down 40% on the same period last year, when hard-market pricing was still feeding through at full strength.
That headline drop is less revealing than two structural moves the company completed during the quarter: it put its distribution relationship with AmRisc on permanent footing, and it received the regulatory clearance to launch a new E&S carrier by December. Taken together, those two events describe where American Coastal expects the next phase of its business to come from.
The AmRisc partnership has been the foundation of ACIC’s Florida franchise since 2007. AmRisc is one of the largest catastrophe-focused managing general agencies in the country. It sources and underwrites the company’s core portfolio of condominium associations, apartment buildings, and assisted living facilities in the admitted Florida market.
In July, ACIC restructured the agreement to remove its fixed expiration date, replacing it with an arrangement that automatically renews on successive one-year terms and requires either party to give 48 months’ written notice to terminate. The prior contract had been set to run until January 2029. The practical effect is that any party wishing to exit cannot do so for at least four years from the date of notice.
Florida’s commercial property market has moved sharply from the hard pricing of 2022 and 2023. ACIC’s results show how much ground has given way. Net pricing fell more than 25% year-over-year in Q3, the company disclosed. Gross premiums earned declined 14.9% to $138.5 million, and net premiums earned fell 19% to $65.5 million.
Despite that, ACIC remained underwriting profitable, posting a combined ratio of 64.7%. That figure benefits from $5.5 million in favorable prior-year reserve development, which does not recur. Stripping out reserve releases and catastrophe losses, the underlying combined ratio was 68.4%, consistent with the first two quarters of the year and a cleaner measure of where the portfolio actually sits.
The more significant data point is that gross premiums written turned positive for the first time since early 2025, rising 3.2% year-over-year to $74.1 million. Through nine months, the E&S participation in AmRisc’s nationwide commercial property portfolio has contributed $37.3 million in written premium. That quota share, which gives ACIC a 6% participation in AmRisc’s E&S book across the country, commenced in March 2026.
The admitted Florida book, meanwhile, continues to shrink in earned premium terms as rates compress. The growth, such as it is, is coming from outside the core franchise.
The company received its certificate of authority for ACES Specialty Insurance Company from the Arizona Department of Insurance in early October, and intends to begin writing catastrophe-exposed commercial E&S property in Florida, Texas, and South Carolina on or about December 1. ACES will initially operate through Skyway Underwriters, ACIC’s managing general agency, using a fronting carrier partner while ACES builds its own track record for rating agency purposes.
Florida’s E&S commercial property premium fell 5.6% in the first half of 2026 while policy volume rose 14.4%, according to the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office. That split reflects new capacity entering a segment where rates are still declining. The softening is most pronounced in cleaner commercial risks where admitted carriers are also competing for the same placements. ACIC’s position, built on nearly two decades of underwriting condominium associations and similar habitational risks in hurricane-exposed territory, is that its loss experience and risk selection distinguish it from generalist entrants.
The company now has three distinct revenue streams in development: the admitted Florida book through AmRisc, the nationwide E&S quota share also through AmRisc, and ACES writing directly in three states. Book value per share reached $7.52 at September 30, up 15.5% from year-end 2025, supported by retained earnings from nine months of profitable underwriting.
