Hendrickson Insurance
Hendrickson Insurance
Commercial property insurance in Orlando covers an office, retail, flex, industrial or mixed-use building in Orange County for the structure, the business personal property inside it, and the rent or income it earns while a covered loss keeps it closed. Hendrickson Insurance writes it for Orlando, Winter Park, Kissimmee, Lake Nona, Sanford and the I-4 corridor from Sarasota, through admitted carriers that still like inland Florida and the wholesale markets for what they will not take. Orlando is a different underwriting problem from the coast, and the next paragraph says how. This is the Orlando chapter of commercial building insurance in Florida; the plaza-specific version is Orlando strip mall insurance.
Commercial property insurance in Orlando is priced on inland wind, not surge. Orange County has no coastline, no High-Velocity Hurricane Zone and no wind-only pool to speak of, and the admitted market writes more of it than anywhere on the Gulf Coast. The storms still arrive: Hurricane Milton crossed the peninsula on October 10, 2024 and Orlando International Airport recorded 49-knot sustained winds with a 76-knot gust and 14.83 inches of rain fell at a site near Orlando. That is a wind and water-intrusion claim under the named storm deductible, which on an Orlando building is still a percentage of the insured value. The building needs the property policy with the deductible priced in dollars, flood under it for the low spots along the chain of lakes and the Econlockhatchee, and a roof the carrier will accept. The application is here.
Hurricane Milton made landfall on Siesta Key as a Category 3 at 0030 UTC on October 10, 2024 and crossed the peninsula east-northeastward, emerging near Cape Canaveral. Orlando International recorded 49-knot sustained winds with a gust of 76 knots and a 4.28-inch rainfall total at the airport, while a cooperative observer site near Orlando measured 14.83 inches for the storm. Hurricane Irma in September 2017 made its final landfall near Marco Island and continued northward across central Florida with hurricane conditions. Orlando does not get the surge; it gets the eyewall's remnants 70 miles inland, the tornadoes on the leading edge, and the rain.
That shapes the policy. The named storm deductible on an Orlando building is still a percentage of the insured value, usually 2 to 5 percent per building, and it is still the first line we price in dollars. But the all-other-perils deductible matters more here than on the coast, because the ordinary Orange County loss is a roof leak after a June thunderstorm, a lightning strike to the rooftop units, or wind-driven rain through a loading dock, not a storm surge. Equipment breakdown and water damage sublimits earn their premium in Orlando.
The code line. Under the Florida Building Code's Chapter 2 definition, the wind-borne debris region covers areas within 1 mile of the coastal mean high-water line at 130 mph or greater, and any area where the ultimate design wind speed is 140 mph or greater. Orange County has no coast, so whether a given Orlando building sits in the region depends only on the wind speed map in Figure 1609.3(1), and most of the county does not. Carriers still read the roof: age, attachment, and the permit history are the three items that decide whether an Orlando building is admitted or surplus lines.Citizens' August 31, 2026 county report shows a state carrier that barely exists in Orange County's commercial market:
| Citizens, Orange County, Aug 31, 2026 | Policies in force |
|---|---|
| Personal residential, multiperil | 3,749 |
| Commercial residential, multiperil | 1 |
| Commercial nonresidential, multiperil | 5 |
| Wind-only (any line) | none listed |
Six commercial policies. Orlando commercial buildings are written in the private market, and more of them in the admitted market than in the coastal counties, because inland Florida is where admitted carriers still deploy capacity. That is the practical advantage of an Orlando address: more carriers quote, the roof rules are the same, and the premium per $100 of value is lower than the same building would carry in Tampa or Miami.
The tenant side is strong. Cushman & Wakefield's Q3 2026 Orlando retail report puts overall vacancy at 3.9 percent on 158.8 million square feet, strip centers at 3.9 percent, malls at 7.3 percent, power centers at 5.8 percent, asking rent at $31.19 a square foot, 855,235 square feet under construction, and retail investment sales nearing the $1.5 billion recorded in full-year 2025. Malls, power centers and strip centers gave back space in the quarter; neighborhood centers and general retail did not. A full rent roll with national and regional tenants is what the underwriter wants to see, and Orlando's submarkets mostly have one.
Where Citizens fits. Citizens writes commercial nonresidential coverage, multiperil and wind-only where available, only for a building that cannot get any offer from an authorized insurer; its May 2025 submission guide says the 20 percent premium rule that applies to residential risks does not apply to commercial nonresidential, and the agent has to shop the private market first. Commercial residential buildings (apartments and condominium associations) can get only wind-only from Citizens for new business under section 627.351(6)(b)2.c. Buildings valued over $10 million are submitted for individual rating. Starting January 1, 2027, under section 627.3518, commercial applications route through a clearinghouse first, and a surplus lines offer within 15 percent of Citizens' total cost blocks a new Citizens policy. Citizens is the floor of the market, not a plan. Surplus lines is normal here. Coastal commercial buildings with older roofs, a loss, or a restaurant tenant are often placed with a surplus lines carrier through a wholesaler. The policy comes with Florida's 4.94 percent surplus lines premium tax and the service office fee on top, no guaranty fund behind the carrier, and, very often, a protective safeguards or roof endorsement that has to be read before binding. We submit to Amwins Access, Halcyon and the other wholesalers we use for the rest of the commercial book, and we show the taxes and fees as separate lines on every proposal. Flood is a separate policy everywhere. The property form excludes rising water and storm surge. The NFIP writes a non-residential building up to $500,000 and contents up to $500,000; above that the building needs excess flood from a private or Lloyd's market, stacked over the NFIP policy, never instead of it. All of Florida is a flood zone, hazardous or not.Send it through the commercial property application or email the declarations to dennis@hendricksonins.com, 60 to 90 days before renewal. Dennis Hendrickson managed shopping centers before he sold insurance and reads every submission himself.
Less per $100 of value than the same building on the coast, because inland Florida still has admitted carriers deploying capacity. It is rated on replacement cost, then moved by roof age and type, construction, occupancy, protection class, loss history and the named storm deductible you choose. A 2016 tilt-wall warehouse near the airport with a logistics tenant and a 1978 frame retail strip on Orange Blossom Trail with a restaurant are different markets. The only real number is a quote off the current declarations and the rent roll.
Orange County has no surge, but it has the Econlockhatchee, the chain of lakes, and 14.83 inches of rain from one storm in October 2024. The property form excludes rising water from any source. The NFIP writes a non-residential building to $500,000 and contents to $500,000; an Orlando building on low ground or next to a lake carries it, and a building worth more needs excess flood above the cap.
Only if no authorized insurer will make any offer at all, and in Orange County that is rare. As of August 31, 2026 Citizens had five commercial nonresidential policies in the whole county. Commercial nonresidential eligibility does not use the 20 percent premium rule; it requires that the private market has been shopped and declined.
Only where the ultimate design wind speed on the Florida Building Code map reaches 140 mph, since the 1-mile coastal rule cannot apply to a county with no coast. Most of Orange County sits below that line. Carriers still underwrite the roof the same way: age, attachment and permit history decide whether the building is admitted or surplus lines.
Yes. Hendrickson Insurance is licensed statewide and places Orlando and Orange County commercial property through the same admitted carriers and wholesalers as the Gulf Coast book. The owner sends the documents, Dennis reads them, and the quote comes back the same business day in most cases.
Apply online or call 941-957-2796. Have your rent roll, current dec pages, roof age and loss runs ready.
Dennis Hendrickson changed a New Jersey state tennis rule at 17 and played four years of Division I tennis at UNC Charlotte. Today he writes both the commercial and the personal insurance for Gulf Coast owners himself, and he works a renewal or a claim the way he played: nothing conceded, no point given away.
When you apply, he answers. Every application goes straight to Dennis. He reads it himself and responds the same business day in most cases, always within 48 hours.
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