Property and casualty (P&C) insurance holding company, Kingstone Companies, Inc., is to enter the California market in the second quarter of 2026, President and Chief Executive Officer, Meryl Golden announced in a letter to shareholders.
The expansion, which marks the first phase of the company’s broader geographic diversification strategy, follows a record-breaking financial year 2025, which saw a net income of $40.8 million and a combined ratio of 75%.
The entry into California is a cornerstone of Kingstone’s five year growth plan, which aims to reach $500 million in written premiums by the end of 2029.
According to Golden, California was identified as the company’s primary expansion target due to its large scale, which at over $15 billion in premium is almost double the size of New York’s, and a significant capacity gap left by admitted carriers.
“California’s admitted carriers continue to experience substantial regulatory hurdles including a protracted rate approval process (the longest in the country), restrictions on the use of catastrophe modelling, and limitations on incorporating reinsurance costs into pricing, among other factors,” Golden explained.
Adding: “These factors have resulted in rate inadequacy and capacity restrictions by many of the largest carriers. Admitted market capacity is expected to remain constrained for years as it will take considerable time for regulatory change to take hold and for admitted carriers to get the rate they need”.
Due to admitted carriers pulling back, there is a strong need for capacity, the executive highlighted. This has been mostly met by Excess & Surplus (E&S) writers, who grew 32% in 2025 and now hold 7% of the California homeowners market.
The FAIR Plan also grew 55% in the last 15 months (42% CAGR). Many California E&S competitors are the same managing general agents and carriers we already outperform in downstate New York.
Carriers writing on an E&S basis are subject to less regulation than admitted carriers because the insurance products are not filed with the state. This gives Kingston the flexibility to set rates that accurately reflect risk.
“E&S carriers can properly match rate to risk, set prices that allow them to achieve targeted returns, and respond rapidly to changing market conditions. We plan to write in California on an E&S basis. The flexibility E&S affords us is a key reason we believe the California opportunity is so attractive,” said Golden.
Kingston’s expansion into California is set to be “deliberately structured”, and “tightly risk-control.” Key features will include selective underwriting which will use advanced wildlife models to target low-to-moderate exposure areas; and real-time monitoring.
The latest one aims to manage risk accumulation and prevent geographic over-concentration by implementing market-leading tools.
Financial safeguards are another key feature of the California strategy. Kingston has placed a 30% quota share on all California businesses to reduce volatility and will extend its robust reinsurance program to cover wildfire perils.
Kingstone will also manage all claims, using independent adjusters initially for field estimates. The company will ensure quick cycle times and excellent service while paying only what is contractually required.
The largest peril in California, non-weather water, is the same one the company manages daily in New York, giving them high confidence in their claims management capabilities.
Kingstone’s entry into California “is built on a different foundation,” Golden stated. “We project that California will represent less than 5% of 2026 premium, with New York remaining more than 95% of our business. Even in our current projections through 2029, New York would still represent 80% of our premium.”
The executive added: “We will scale only when we are confident that we are pricing and underwriting effectively and our results support it. We will not chase volume at the expense of underwriting discipline. If market conditions change or our results do not meet expectations, we can quickly adjust or curtail our writings given the flexibility of the E&S model. Our approach is intentionally incremental and reversible.”
Concluding: “California represents a tremendous opportunity to accelerate our profitable growth trajectory by tripling our addressable market while also providing meaningful diversification benefits. We have developed a strategy utilizing our proven strengths in pricing, claims, and distribution to capitalize on current market conditions and to build a winning business.”
