Monarch National was founded just over 8 years ago in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This home insurance infant got its start as a subsidiary company of Federated National (Fednat) Insurance. Coincidentally, Monarch is now the only surviving brand of Fednat.
Fednat was an insurance company founded in 1992. Unfortunately, after 27 years of business, they became insolvent in September 2022. A few agreements and a million-dollar investment later, Monarch National took over Fednat’s remaining policies.
Even after taking on 83,000 policies from its bankrupted parent company, Monarch still holds high ratings with reputable businesses. Furthermore, their thousands of original customers have very little to say about any issues with this young insurer.
Keep reading as we delve into Monarch National home insurance. We’ll try to determine their coverage and average premium prices. Let’s see if Monarch National holds industry standards without heading toward the same hole as Federated National.
Monarch National homeowners insurance coverages & premiums
In order for us to see just how much basic Monarch coverage would cost us, we took to Fednat’s leftover online quote tool. It asked us basic questions, including some that could have led to some discounts.
For this quote, we used a Florida address we’ve used before in another review. This house is worth $695,000 for 2,100 square feet in Vero Beach. After plugging it in, we were quoted a yearly premium of $5,150 with Fednat, and $6,020 with Monarch. They were even so bold as to note that the “competitive options” were $4,042 and $4,449 – notably cheaper than what they offered.
For the same home, we were quoted $5,192 with another Floridian home insurance company, Kin. While Monarch’s rate is a few bucks cheaper, Kin’s discounts and coverage customization option allowed us to get a much lower yearly premium.
That said, Monarch doesn’t disclose what this cost entails, other than dwelling coverage between $300,000 and $400,000.
For homeowners, Monarch National offers standard HO-3 coverage. We would have to call a Monarch National agent to discover our total coverage options and availability.
Monarch National’s standard HO-3 policy might look a little like this:
- Coverage A – Dwelling: provides insurance for the loss of or damage to your home and attached structures.
- Coverage B – Other Structures: protects you from the costs of the physical loss of or damage to other structures on your property.
- Coverage C – Personal Property: helps cover the cost of the loss or damage to your personal items and certain household inventory.
- Coverage D – Loss of Use: pays for the cost incurred from finding shelter or transportation in the case of a total loss.
- Coverage E – Personal Liability: protects you from paying legal, medical, or other fees you are liable for in case of loss or damage.
- Coverage F – Medical Payments to Others: provides minor medical payments to an injured person on your property.
Their website is very void of information. Even Fednat’s defunct site shares very little information regarding the kinds of homeowners insurance packages offered. One source claims there are at least 3 packages under Monarch National’s HO-3 open-peril policy: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The Bronze package includes the following coverages and limits:
Coverage | Limits |
Increased personal property | 50% of your dwelling coverage |
Personal property loss settlement | Replacement cost of your dwelling coverage |
Special limits for jewelry and furs | $2,500 |
Silverware special limits | $2,500 |
Business property increased limits | $2,500 |
Credit card fraud protection | $2,500 |
Refrigerated personal property | $500 |
Water backup sump pump overflow | $5,000 |
Additional personal liability | $300,000 |
Medical payments | $5,000 |
A silver package will look nearly the same, except for:
- A 10% increase in personal property to 60% of your dwelling coverage
- $2,500 more business property coverage to $5,000
- $2,500 more credit card fraud coverage to $5,000
A gold package is considered the most inclusive. It would provide a homeowner with:
- 70% increased personal property
- Replacement cost for personal property loss
- $5,000 limit for jewelry and furs
- $5,000 limit for silverware
- $10,000 for business property increased limits
- $10,000 for credit card fraud
- $500 for refrigerated personal property
- $5,000 for water backup and sump pump overflow
- $500,000 personal liability coverage
- Identity fraud coverage
- Dog liability coverage
We’ve encountered a few other home insurance providers that provide these coverages and then some. We noticed on this list of coverages, service line protection wasn’t one of them. They may feel validated for leaving this part out and replacing it with dog liability coverage instead.
Monarch National homeowners insurance discounts
As we mentioned before, the quote tool prompted us for some discounts. The quote tool asked us if our home had:
- A fire extinguisher
- Smoke detectors
- Hurricane glass
- A new roof
- A security alarm
- Hurricane shutters
- Placement in a gated community
These prompts led us to believe that Monarch National provides basic incentives for customers. Most of these appear to be catalysts for safety features added to prevent potential dangers and damage.
Monarch National’s claims process
To file a claim with Monarch National, you can report your incident with their 24/7 online claims tool. All you need is your policy number and property zip code. When you submit your online claim, they simply give you a loss number and let you know that an adjuster will be in contact with you as soon as possible.
If you don’t want to report your claim online, you can call their customer service representatives from Monday through Friday, 9 am-5 pm.
We don’t expect to ever find an abundance of positive reviews about home insurance claims. In the case of Monarch National, there aren’t many reviews to sift through, to begin with. Many of the issues regarding claims are in regards to steep or non-existent claims due to Federation National’s insolvency.
The NAIC has recorded a few complaints about Monarch National homeowner insurance. The majority of these complaints in 2022 were about state-specific claims handling. This seems to be a trend for most Floridian home insurance companies. The next level of complaints came from marketing and sales, underwriting, and policyholder service.
What customers think about Monarch National
Many customers (or ex-customers) still have chips on their shoulders about being dropped without warning as a business tactic. Monarch National seems to still be picking up the pieces of Fednat’s foundering. Plenty of claims have been denied or simply not paid in full, denied by the bank, and more according to customers.
According to the NAIC, Monarch National bared 2.42 on the National Complaint Index for the year 2022. This is just 3 points lower than their 5.36 score on the same scale the year prior. A company with a complaint index of 2.00 is considered to have double the normal amount of home insurance complaints.
Nevertheless, negative customer reviews for Monarch as a home insurance business are far and few in between.
Some have taken to social media 6 months after Hurricane Ian as they continue to go without help or communication from Monarch. Others vaguely recommend Monarch National based on their easy experience. Regardless, their customers don’t have much to say about them compared to their competition.
Monarch National’s financial strength
Despite the unfortunate circumstances of its predecessor, Monarch National has relatively favorable ratings with insurance reviewers.
Monarch National has had an A “Exceptional” financial stability rating since January 2023. After September 2022, Monarch National took on over $190,000,000 in net admitted assets. Plus, they inherited just over $30,260,000 in policyholder surpluses and over $155,675,000 gross in written premiums.
As for the BBB, Monarch National has been an accredited business since its infant stages in 2015. They have an A+ rating, having closed 12 complaints in the last year.
According to Weiss Ratings, Monarch National may be under some pressure. Since 2018, they’ve given Monarch National a D+ insurance safety rating.
This means Weiss Ratings views Monarch National as a company with significant weaknesses. Such insecurities could negatively impact policyholders, especially in an unfavorable economic environment.
Weiss came to this conclusion based on:
- A weak profitability index
- An average return on equity over the last 5 years
- Vulnerable liquidity
The next rating under a D- for Weiss Ratings is, of course, an F for failure. This is just the rating provided to Fednat, which is listed as Monarch National’s only group affiliate.
Monarch National is not yet rated by AM Best.
Final verdict
Federation National’s demise was due in part to high instances of fraud. Claims litigation and state-specific claims from hurricanes and high winds didn’t help much either. Still, Monarch National was there to help pick up some of the pieces for Fednat’s dropped clients.
Homeowners had very little to say about Monarch at the time this article was written. Of the reviews available, it’s clear that many homeowners are still unhappy with pending claims from Fednat.
The proof is in the pudding, though. The NAIC still records a high number of complaints for homeowners insurance. After the years pass, we might be able to see less of the negative impact of Fednat’s bankruptcy.
Until then, we can only give you the information we’re provided from Monarch Nationa’s website. They offer basic HO-3 homeowners insurance for Florida residents only. This comes with a pretty price tag, also.
In summary, take caution when requesting a policy with Monarch National. If you have the money to spend, you might appreciate the basic coverage offered. Otherwise, you might want to look elsewhere for a more secure and experienced insurance company.