Neptune Flood Insurance in Florida
Neptune Flood was built in St. Petersburg in 2016 to do one thing differently: price flood insurance the way the water actually behaves — property by property, from elevation and terrain data, with no human underwriter in the loop. A decade later it describes itself, in its own SEC filings, as the largest private flood insurance provider in the country: 316,106 policies and $419 million in premium in force at mid-2026, sold almost entirely through independent agents, listed on the NYSE since October 2025 — and still headquartered in downtown St. Petersburg, in the same county Helene and Milton flooded. Here is who actually insures you behind the Neptune name, the storm record, how the coverage compares with the NFIP, and how we quote it beside the rest of our 8+ flood markets.
Neptune at a glance
Carrier ratings verified directly with each rating agency.
A St. Petersburg company that got flooded with its customers
Neptune was founded in 2016 by insurance and technology veterans Jim Albert and Bill Martin, launched its first Florida policies in 2017 with Lloyd’s of London capacity, and grew on the strength of one engineering decision: Triton, its in-house underwriting engine, prices every risk instantly from hundreds of property-level data points — the company states plainly that it has no human underwriters. Trevor Burgess, the St. Petersburg banker who led its first funding round, became CEO in 2019 and took the company onto the New York Stock Exchange in October 2025. The whole operation runs on about five dozen employees.
The hometown fact stopped being trivia in the fall of 2024, when Helene and Milton flooded Pinellas County — Neptune’s own county, where a county survey counted more than 40,000 flooded buildings, tens of thousands of them uninsured. Neptune’s response included standing up a public research group whose reports on those storms are now cited across the industry press. The carrier writing this page’s subject matter lives inside the risk it prices, and its book kept growing straight through both storms.
Who actually insures you — the structure, told straight
Neptune itself is not an insurance company — it is the underwriting and technology operation, and it says so plainly in its SEC filings: the balance-sheet risk on every policy is carried by its panel of capacity providers, eight insurance programs supported by thirty-two reinsurers, built over eight years. Neptune reports that its insurance carriers are all rated A- or higher by AM Best; the publicly named relationships include Lloyd’s of London syndicates and Palomar — whose insurers carry an AM Best A (Excellent), affirmed September 2025 and which appointed Neptune its exclusive flood MGA in June 2025.
Because Neptune is not an insurer, it carries no AM Best or Demotech rating of its own — and any review site showing one is wrong by construction. The reading habit our carrier library teaches applies here with one adjustment: the company named on your declarations page is the insurer behind your policy, and that is where the rating attaches. We read that page with you before anything is bound — working with your agent, the structure takes two minutes to understand and holds no surprises after.
The storm record, from its own filings
A flood book earns its reputation in the seasons that test it, and Neptune’s filings lay the record out: its policies have been in force through four of the ten largest flooding events in U.S. history as measured by NFIP insured losses — Ida in 2021, Ian in 2022, and Helene and Milton in 2024, when it had over 102,000 and 80,000 policies in force in the affected states respectively. Its lifetime written loss ratio from inception through mid-2025: 24.7%.
One head-to-head number stands out. For Hurricane Helene — the fourth-most-expensive flooding event in NFIP history — Neptune reports a written loss ratio of 17.0%, against the NFIP’s 169.6%. Property-level risk selection is the company’s explanation, and the disciplined book is the reason a panel of A-rated insurers keeps expanding its capacity behind the brand. It also kept selling new Florida policies through both 2024 storms rather than pausing — worth remembering in a market where binding suspensions are routine when a storm approaches.
What the coverage looks like beside the NFIP
The federal flood program caps residential coverage at $250,000 for the building and $100,000 for contents. Neptune’s residential policy — per its June 2026 product expansion — writes building coverage up to $15 million and contents up to $500,000, and fills several gaps the NFIP form simply doesn’t address:
- Temporary living expenses up to $50,000 while the home is uninhabitable — the NFIP offers none.
- Replacement cost on contents as an option, instead of depreciated actual-cash-value settlements.
- Unattached structures up to $100,000 in addition to the building limit, plus options for basement contents, pool repair and refill, and landscaping.
- A 10-day waiting period instead of the NFIP’s 30 — and no waiting period at all on a real-estate closing or a rollover from another flood policy.
- No elevation certificate required — the engine prices from its own elevation and terrain data; a certificate is optional if you have one.
- Excess flood over the NFIP: for homes keeping their NFIP policy, Neptune writes an excess layer above the federal limits with a $0 deductible on the excess layer — the practical answer for houses whose rebuild cost left $250,000 behind years ago.
Condo unit-owners are served by the residential product above the association’s master flood coverage — our guide to condo building flood coverage explains why upper-floor units still carry the exposure. On lender acceptance, Neptune’s own materials state the policy meets the federal definition of private flood insurance under 42 U.S.C. 4012a(b)(7) and advise confirming with your lender — which we handle as part of the quote.
The question is how much — and what your property’s facts say
Every Florida home carries some flood exposure — FEMA’s own data shows more than a quarter of NFIP claims come from outside high-risk zones — so the working question is never whether to carry flood coverage but how much, priced off the property itself: the distance to a source of flooding, the cost to rebuild, the height of the first floor. That is precisely the data Neptune’s engine prices on, which is why two houses on the same street can quote very differently — and why the right amount of coverage is a per-home answer, not a zone-map answer. Our guide to flood insurance in Zone X covers the “low-risk” misconception in full.
One honest note that makes the two-minute quote work in your favor: fast application questions still matter, and the one that trips applicants up industry-wide is prior flood losses. Working with your agent, the answers go in right the first time — that is precisely the kind of detail an agent-placed policy gets correct that a hurried self-serve purchase can miss, and it is the difference between a smooth claim and a disputed one.
Claims — 24 hours a day, carrier-direct
Flood claims on a Neptune policy are reported through Neptune’s channels around the clock — 727-202-4815, the claim chat on neptuneflood.com, or through your agent — and handled by the adjusting operations of the insurers behind the policy, per the carrier’s instructions. Neptune states many claims resolve within about 14 days of the first report. Your agent’s part comes before any water arrives: the coverage-amount conversation, the deductible choices, whether the contents option fits — questions for 813.920.8181 on any quiet day. What a policy pays in a particular loss is governed by its own terms, which is the best reason to walk through them before the season, not after the storm.
Two ways to use this page
Already a Neptune policyholder?
Then you hold private flood coverage in the era when NFIP pricing is still climbing toward full risk rates year by year — and the annual review is where the policy keeps pace: rebuild cost, contents option, deductibles, and the renewal number set beside what our other flood markets return for the same property. Share the current policy through Canopy Connect — the secure link that reads your declarations page so nothing gets retyped — and working with your agent, the whole picture lands on one sheet.
Shopping for flood coverage — or never carried it?
One entry prices the property across our flood markets — Neptune, the NFIP, and the rest of our 8+ flood lineup — beside your home quote if you want the whole account in one sitting, with a licensed Florida agent on the differences. Two minutes of property facts; the market does the rest.
Neptune Flood in Florida: your questions, answered
Is Neptune Flood legitimate — and who is actually behind it?
Fully — and the structure is worth two minutes. Neptune is the underwriting and technology company: founded in St. Petersburg in 2016, listed on the NYSE since October 2025, with its Triton engine pricing every risk from property-level data. The insurance itself is carried by its panel of capacity providers — eight insurance programs supported by thirty-two reinsurers — which Neptune reports are all rated A- or higher by AM Best, including Lloyd’s of London syndicates and A-rated Palomar. The insurer behind your specific policy is named on your declarations page, and we read that page with you before anything is bound.
Is Neptune Flood rated by AM Best?
Neptune itself carries no rating — it is not an insurance company, so there is nothing for a rating agency to grade. The ratings attach to the insurers on its panel, which Neptune reports as all A- or higher from AM Best; its publicly named partners include Lloyd’s syndicates and Palomar, whose insurers carry an AM Best A (Excellent) affirmed in September 2025. If you see a site assigning Neptune its own rating, that is a sign the site hasn’t read the structure.
How is Neptune different from NFIP flood insurance?
Higher limits and broader options: building coverage to $15 million versus the NFIP’s $250,000, contents to $500,000 versus $100,000, temporary living expenses up to $50,000 where the NFIP offers none, optional replacement cost on contents, a 10-day waiting period versus 30 — waived entirely at a real-estate closing or on a rollover — and no elevation certificate required. The NFIP remains the right answer for some properties, which is why we quote both and let the numbers and the property decide.
Will my mortgage lender accept a Neptune policy?
Neptune’s own materials state the policy meets the federal definition of private flood insurance under 42 U.S.C. 4012a(b)(7) — the standard lenders look to — and advise confirming acceptance with your lender, which we handle as part of placing the policy. On a purchase, the timing works in your favor: there is no waiting period when coverage starts at a real-estate closing.
How fast can flood coverage start?
The quote takes about two minutes, and coverage carries a 10-day waiting period — except at a real-estate closing or when you’re rolling over from another flood policy, where there is no wait at all. That makes switching carriers or covering a new purchase seamless; the 10-day clock only matters when a home has been going without coverage, which is its own argument for not waiting until a storm has a name.
I’m in Zone X — do I really need flood insurance?
Zone X means lower-risk on a map, not no-risk on the ground — FEMA’s own data shows more than a quarter of NFIP claims come from outside high-risk zones, and homeowners policies exclude flood entirely. The honest question is how much coverage the property calls for, priced off its real facts: distance to water, rebuild cost, first-floor height. Zone X pricing is often modest for exactly the reason the zone is drawn where it is — our guide to flood insurance in Zone X walks the whole decision.
What happened to my Palomar flood policy?
In June 2025, Palomar appointed Neptune as its exclusive flood MGA, and Palomar’s flood policies began transitioning to Neptune’s servicing at renewal starting October 2025 — with Palomar staying on as the insurance carrier. Transitioned policy numbers start with PFN. Coverage questions about a transitioned policy work the same as any other review: bring it to your agent, and the whole account gets read in one sitting.
How do I file a Neptune Flood claim?
Around the clock, directly through Neptune’s channels: 727-202-4815, the claim chat on neptuneflood.com, or through your agent, per the carrier’s instructions — with adjusting handled by the insurers behind the policy. Neptune states many claims resolve within about 14 days of first report. Your agent’s work comes before the loss: coverage amounts, deductibles, and options, settled on a quiet day at 813.920.8181. What a policy pays in any particular loss is always governed by its own terms.
