Through our Universal Cares initiative, Universal Insurance Holdings advances a sustainability strategy aligned with long-term value creation and industry leadership. Our focus on housing access, environmental and climate resilience, and youth financial literacy reflects core pillars of our mission. These areas connect and play an essential role in building stronger, more informed communities, reducing risk, and shaping a more resilient future. By integrating social responsibility with operational excellence, we reinforce our commitment to sustainable growth and meaningful impact.
A Letter from Our CEO
Universal Insurance Holdings exists to help people recover when life turns upside down. But resilience is not built only after an event, it is built every day, in the choices we make and the priorities we support.
Universal Cares is our commitment to do more than insure communities, we help strengthen them. We invest in housing access because stable housing anchors families. We support environmental and climate resilience because preparation saves lives and livelihoods. We promote youth financial literacy because long-term resilience depends on what the next generation knows and can do.
This work demands focus and follow-through. We set goals, track progress, and partner with organizations that deliver results. We also rely on our employees, who bring energy, time, and talent to the causes that matter most.
I am proud of what we have accomplished, and I expect us to keep raising the bar. We will keep learning, improving, and showing up with consistency, because that is what responsible leadership looks like.
Thank you,
Stephen J. Donaghy
Chief Executive Officer
HOUSING
As Florida’s leading property and casualty homeowner insurance carrier, Universal Insurance Holdings understands that housing is more than a structure, it’s the foundation of stability, security, and opportunity. Through our Universal Cares initiative, we are committed to addressing the critical challenges of homelessness, affordability, and accessibility in the communities we serve. These efforts are not only deeply aligned with our company mission but also reflect our strategic focus on issues that impact our industry and resonate with our employees. From building homes for those in need and for veterans, to supporting emergency housing and empowerment programs for individuals experiencing homelessness, Universal is proud to invest in housing solutions that build brighter futures and stronger communities.
2013-Current
Universal is proud to spotlight our enduring partnership with Habitat for Humanity, our longest-standing service collaborator under the Universal Cares banner. For more than two decades, this alliance has exemplified our shared commitment to housing stability, affordability, and community empowerment. Through volunteer home builds, educational outreach, and support for new homeowner transitions, our work with Habitat reflects a deep synergy in values and purpose. As a leading P&C homeowner insurance carrier, we understand the transformative impact of safe, affordable housing and are honored to help build resilient futures alongside Habitat.
2024-Current
Our partnership with United Way of Broward County through their Housing United initiative reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to affordable housing in South Florida. In support of this effort, we contributed toward the construction and gap financing of South Florida housing, an investment matched twofold by United Way. This collaboration helps create pathways to homeownership for households earning less than 80% of the area median income and aligns with our broader mission to strengthen community resilience. As a homeowner insurance provider deeply connected to the region, we recognize that stable housing is essential to economic mobility and long-term recovery.
2023-Current
Our collaboration with Chapman Partnership is a cornerstone of our Universal Cares housing focus area. As a strategic partner, Chapman plays a vital role in addressing homelessness in South Florida through emergency housing, job training, healthcare, and educational services. This partnership reflects a strong alignment between their mission and our values as a homeowner insurance provider committed to community resilience. Whether through Lunch & Learn sessions, wellness kit drives, or milestone celebrations like Chapman’s 30th anniversary, our engagement is rooted in shared purpose: restoring dignity, creating opportunity, and helping individuals rebuild their lives.
ENVIRONMENT/CLIMATE CHANGE
Rising seas, intensifying storms, and shifting climate patterns aren’t distant threats, they’re daily realities for the insurance industry. At Universal Insurance Holdings, our position as Florida’s leading property and casualty homeowner carrier gives us a front-row seat to the impacts of climate change. Through Universal Cares, we’re investing in environmental resilience and sustainability, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s essential to protecting our policyholders and our business. From supporting youth climate education to restoring coastal ecosystems, our environmental initiatives reflect a proactive stance on risk reduction and long-term community well-being.
2021-Current
Universal Insurance Holdings is proud to be an EPA Green Power Partner, demonstrating our commitment to sustainability and climate leadership. Through this program, we source a significant portion of our electricity from renewable resources, reducing our carbon footprint and supporting cleaner energy markets. Our progress speaks for itself: green power use has grown steadily from approximately 650,000 kWh in 2021 to nearly 850,000 kWh in 2024, driven primarily by wind and solar energy. Today, 25% of our total electricity use comes from green power, up from 24.8% in 2021, underscoring our ongoing commitment to renewable energy.
This commitment is not just environmental, it’s strategic. As a leading property and casualty homeowner insurance carrier, we understand that climate change directly impacts risk profiles, claims costs, and community resilience. By prioritizing renewable energy, we help mitigate long-term climate risks that affect our industry and the customers we serve. Our use of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) has also expanded year over year, reinforcing our pledge to sustainable operations and aligning with our mission to protect homes and communities for generations to come.
2021-Current
Universal Insurance Holdings is proud to be a participant in the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. Since joining in October 2021, Universal has aligned its operations and strategies with the Compact’s ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption. As one of only three U.S.-based nonlife insurance companies signed to the Compact, Universal stands out as a leader in responsible business practices within the property and casualty insurance sector. Our commitment includes active engagement with the UN Global Compact Academy for employee development and our designation as an “Early Adopter” of the Communication on Progress framework, reinforcing our dedication to transparency and continuous improvement in sustainability reporting.
2021-Current
We are proud to partner with The CLEO Institute to support their Climate Resilient Schools program, an innovative effort to build climate literacy and resilience among Florida’s youth. This multi-pronged initiative trains educators to integrate climate education into their curriculum, delivers in-classroom climate justice presentations, and empowers students through GenCLEO chapters to become climate speakers and advocates. In 2025 alone, CLEO trained over 130 teachers, reached more than 1,500 students through classroom sessions, and mobilized 400 youth to meet with legislators about clean energy policy. We understand firsthand how climate change impacts our industry and communities. Our partnership with CLEO reflects our commitment to proactive climate education and advocacy, ensuring the next generation is equipped to lead and adapt in a changing world.
2021-Current
Universal is proud to partner with the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida to support its Coral Reefs initiative, an effort that aligns powerfully with our environmental stewardship goals. Coral reefs are not only vital to marine biodiversity, but they also serve as natural barriers that protect Florida’s coastlines from storm surge and erosion, issues that directly impact our industry and the communities we insure. Through Universal Cares, we’ve sponsored reef restoration efforts, hosted educational events like our Lunch & Learn with I.CARE biologists, and led site visits to the Coral Rescue Center in Orlando. These initiatives reflect our belief that protecting Florida’s reefs is both a moral responsibility and a strategic imperative. Together with our partners, we’re helping to build a more resilient coastline and a more sustainable future.
2021-Current
Universal is proud to partner with Miami Waterkeeper, a South Florida-based nonprofit dedicated to safeguarding the region’s watershed and ensuring swimmable, drinkable, fishable water for all. Clean water and resilient coastlines are not only ecological imperatives, but they are also critical to mitigating risk in our industry. Through joint efforts like waterway cleanups and educational events, we’re empowering employees to engage with environmental stewardship and reinforcing our role as a purpose-driven insurer. Together, we’re protecting Florida’s natural resources and building a more resilient future.
2021-Current
Our organization is a proud partner with Team Rubicon, a veteran-led disaster response organization whose mission aligns powerfully with our environmental and climate resilience goals under the Universal Cares initiative. As natural disasters grow more frequent and intense due to climate change, Team Rubicon’s work, mobilizing volunteers for cleanups, distributing water purification kits, and restoring access to safe housing, has become increasingly vital. Our employees have joined Team Rubicon on the ground in hurricane-impacted communities, engaging in hands-on relief efforts that exemplify our commitment to purpose-driven partnerships. Our collaboration with Team Rubicon reflects our belief that environmental stewardship includes supporting communities before, during, and after crisis.
Ongoing
As of 2021, Universal has installed Elkay water filtration systems in our facilities, with the goal of reducing our plastic bottle consumption by 200,000 bottles per year. Additionally, Elkay filtered ezH2O bottle filling stations reduce lead and other harmful contaminants, putting cleaner, healthier water at our employees’ disposal.
Each filtration station informs users of the number of 20 oz. single-use water bottles saved from waste by using reusable bottles and cups. The innovative and award-winning filtration system aligns with our commitment to delivering a healthy work environment and sustainable design at our facilities. By reducing our dependency on the number of disposable plastic bottles and aluminum cans that pollute our land and waterways, we will also see long-term cost savings for the Company.
Ongoing
To reduce our paper consumption and more efficiently deliver services to our policyholders, we revitalized our digital presence to enable them to submit claims and view documents electronically through revamped public-facing websites.
We have continued our concerted effort to transition close to one million U.S. policyholders to “go paperless.” The goal of this ongoing initiative is to capture all policyholders electronically, while reducing our dependency on paper correspondence.
YOUTH
At Universal Insurance Holdings, we believe that investing in youth is investing in the future of our communities and society. As a financial services company, we see clear synergies in our long-standing partnerships with organizations that promote financial literacy, educational access, and youth empowerment. These efforts reflect our commitment to building financial resilience and opportunity from an early age, values that align with our mission and strengthen the communities we serve.
2021-Current
Universal is proud to have a multiyear commitment and partnership with Junior Achievement of South Florida. Through our Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company (UPCIC) branded “storefront” at the Patten Family Foundation JA Finance Park, we teach 20,000+ students about the insurance industry, careers, and financial literacy.
The Junior Achievement Finance Park enlists eighth grade students from Broward County and south Palm Beach County every year to learn how career pathways and financial decisions impact their lives. As a financial services company, the synergies are obvious, as JA is an organization that provides invaluable financial literacy instruction to our youth.
2017-Current
Universal’s longest standing employee charity fundraiser is with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a non-profit organization with the aim of raising funds to help find cures for children with cancer. Universal provides a company match to every employee dollar raised at our annual fundraising drive. Our fundraisers have earned over $2.5M for St. Baldrick’s efforts throughout the years – earning the Top Fundraising Event in Florida several years running and placing top 10 nationally as well.
2017-Current
Since 2017, UPCIC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc., has generously funded more than 4,740 scholarships through contributions totaling $33.5 million to Step Up For Students, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that helps manage the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program. The program, which is funded by tax-credited contributions from corporations, allows families to use the scholarship for private school tuition and fees, instructional materials, curriculum and other approved educational expenses, or to assist with transportation costs to a different public school. Florida students who are not enrolled full time in a private or public school can access the Personalized Education Program (PEP), which provides an education savings account (ESA) to fund the needs of those students.
More than 380,000 K-12 students throughout Florida benefited from a scholarship administered by Step Up For Students this past school year. Scholarship values vary by grade and county, but average $7,800 and can be used at more than 2,400 participating schools.
2023-Current
Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc., donated $1 million to the UF Lastinger Center for Learning’s New Worlds Reading Initiative (NWR). This contribution supports a first-of-its-kind statewide program that encourages aspiring young readers by delivering free books and reading activities directly to the doorsteps of eligible K-5 grade students. Enrolled students receive a book each month during the school year, with an additional three bonus books for this year! Since the launch of New Worlds Reading in October 2021, the program has shipped more than 2.7 million books.
The University of Florida Lastinger Center administers the New Worlds Reading Initiative on behalf of Florida and has worked with companies like Universal all over the state to secure support for the literacy program.
2022-Current
Best Buddies International is a nonprofit that assists individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Through their various programs, the organization is dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development, and inclusive living for people with IDD. Universal has entered into a partnership with the local Broward chapter of Best Buddies, specifically supporting their annual Friendship Walk.
Best Buddies Friendship Walk
The Best Buddies Friendship Walk is the leading walk in the country supporting inclusion for people with IDD. We are a proud corporate sponsor of the Best Buddies Friendship Walk, and use our funds to help move their mission forward by funding local Best Buddies programs. It also provides a unique opportunity to engage our employees and have them see the mission of the organization in action at the local level. Every dollar raised goes towards making the world a more inclusive, accepting place.
2022-Current
Universal is honored to partner with 4KIDS, a nonprofit dedicated to providing hope, homes, and healing for children in crisis. As part of our Universal Cares initiative, this partnership reflects our deep commitment to youth and family well-being in the communities we serve. From sponsoring the South Florida Orphans Classic to and engaging with 4KIDS’ CarePortal platform, our employees have actively supported efforts to prevent foster care placements and meet urgent needs like diapers, cribs, and financial assistance. By aligning with 4KIDS, we’re not only helping vulnerable children find stability, we’re reinforcing our values as a purpose-driven insurer committed to building resilient families and communities.
SOCIAL
At Universal, we work tirelessly to put people first - by empowering them through homeownership as a means of wealth creation, professional and career development of our associates, and creating an inclusive and diverse work environment. We believe that by fighting for equal opportunity and respecting the human rights of everyone whose lives we touch, we can harness our collective power to be a force for equity and justice.
Fostering an inclusive workforce is essential to our core values. Our goal is to create an environment where everyone feels included and use our diversity to innovate and problem-solve. We firmly believe this is a critical competitive advantage for Universal in our industry.
In all this work, we partner with local non-profits, communities and leaders to make sure our community outreach efforts create impact and change lives.
United Nations Global Compact – Participant
As of October 2021, Universal has joined the world’s largest corporate citizenship initiative, the United Nations Global Compact. As participants in the UN Global Compact, our goal is to support this global movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders to create a better world. The UN Global Compact supports companies to do business responsibly by aligning their strategies and operations with Ten Principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption.
Through this partnership, our aim is to take strategic actions to advance broader societal goals. As Participants with the UN Global Compact, we join other companies across industries to implement responsible practices and develop innovative solutions to address poverty and inequality, and support education, health and peace, to name just a few areas.
We are proud to be leaders in our industry in this space, as one of only three U.S. based, nonlife insurance companies signed to the UN Global Compact.
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Great Place to Work Certified
Universal has received Great Place to Work® (GPTW) Certification for three consecutive years beginning in 2021. We make employee experience a priority every day and GPTW Certification is a testament to our great culture and the enhancements to our work environment. Our employees have reported a consistently positive experience with their coworkers, their leaders, and with their jobs during the company-wide GPTW Trust Index survey made available to the workforce. This includes an 86% positive rating in the GPTW statement question - "Is Universal Insurance Holdings a Great Place to Work?," compared to 59% for a typical U.S -based company.
From our robust benefit offerings, employee recognition programs, upgrades to our facilities, and our emphasis on our key values, the organization has made a concerted effort to enhance the quality of our workplace experience.
We are very proud of this achievement.
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Employee Care – Health & Wellness
Universal is committed to providing its employees industry leading benefits that address their physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing. Our employees are a cornerstone of our operations, and we take their health and wellness seriously.
Professional Development for Employees
Tuition Assistance Program
Universal is proud to offer all its employee professional development and growth opportunities. Through our Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), every employee is eligible to receive up to $5,250 annually to enroll in courses, programs, certificates, and degrees from accredited college or universities for professional development and advancement.
To date, close to 10% of our employees have taken advantage of this benefit.
Dale Carnegie Executive Training
Universal offers high potential employees select Dale Carnegie Leadership Excellence training. Through the Leadership Excellence Training Package, our employees work on several modules that address Coaching for Improved Performance; Delegation; Successful Public Speaking; etc. The primary competencies reached revolve around coaching, leadership, accountability, management controls, communication, stress management, attitude, external awareness, and influence.
Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity Data
Universal prides itself on its diverse talent, at all levels of the organization. By collecting data aligned with EEO-1 gender and race categories, we evaluate the progress of our diversity and inclusion efforts. Our data shows that our organization makes diversity a priority and we foster an inclusive environment where all employees can reach their full potential.
CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion
We are also signatories of the CEO Action Diversity and Inclusion Pledge as of 2020. Joining over 1,000+ counterparts, the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ pledge is the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion. This pledge affirms our commitment to provide diversity programming and engagement opportunities to workforce.
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WOW Financial Capability Program
Through our partnership with the Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida (NHSSF), we assist in addressing a pressing issue for South Floridians, addressing rates of homeownership among communities of color. We are official corporate partners with the NHSSF’s With Ownership Wealth! (WOW!) initiative – a financial capacity program designed to increase African American rates of homeownership. This will be a web-based and app platform that will provide vital information and resources to underserved communities in South Florida looking to become homeowners.
We believe that through this partnership, we can engagement and assist many African American families with achieving homeownership. WOW! participants are managed through a best-in-class financial capability platform called ChangeMachine.org that provides structure, guidance for goal-setting, and robust training materials to help housing counselors efficiently and effectively individualize their work with each client. Through this process, as well as pre- and post-testing and utilization of cutting edge FinTech, client progress is tracked and measured over the comprehensive trajectory toward homeownership goals, assessing debt levels, credit reports and scores, and savings and asset accumulation upon program entry and exit.
The program is currently in development and will be unveiled mid-2022.
Corporate sponsor of NHSSF’s 2021 Housing Expo
Universal is a corporate sponsor of the NHSSF’s Homeowner & Homebuyer Expo, which took place in October of 2021. The event informed low to moderate-income Miami-Dade residents about the homebuying process and put them on the path to homeownership.
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Scholarships for Underserved, Low-income Communities
Since 2017, Universal has generously funded over 2,500 scholarships through contributions totaling $18.5 million to Step Up For Students. Step Up for Students is a non-profit organization that helps manage the income-based Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program. The program is funded by corporations with tax-credited donations and allows parents and students to choose between a scholarship to support private school tuition and fees, or one that assists with transportation costs to out-of-county public schools.
Step Up For Students served more than 189,000 students for the 2021-22 school year. More than 2,000 private schools participate in the scholarship program statewide. About 55% of scholarship children are from single-parent households and nearly 65% are Black or Hispanic. The average household income of a family of four accepted to receive scholarships is $37,730.
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Advancing Student Financial Literacy with Junior Achievement
Universal is proud to have a multiyear commitment and partnership with Junior Achievement of South Florida. Through our Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company (UPCIC) branded “storefront” at the Patten Family Foundation JA Finance Park, we teach 20,000+ students about the insurance industry, careers, and financial literacy.
The Junior Achievement Finance Park enlists eighth grade students from Broward County and south Palm Beach County every year to learn how career pathways and financial decisions impact their lives. As a financial services company, the synergies are obvious, as JA is an organization that provides invaluable financial literacy instruction to our youth.
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Supporting St. Baldrick’s Fundraising for Childhood Cancer Research
Universal’s longest standing employee charity fundraiser is with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a non-profit organization with the aim of raising funds to help find cures for children with cancer. Universal provides a company match to every employee dollar raised at our annual fundraising drive. Our fundraisers have earned over $1M for St. Baldrick’s efforts throughout the years – earning the Top Fundraising Event in Florida several years running and placing top 10 nationally as well.
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Access to Affordable Housing with Habitat for Humanity
As a provider of insurance for personal residential properties, Universal is keenly aware of the importance of homeownership. Our partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Broward, Greater Miami, and South Palm Beach County comes as a natural synergy and aligns with our core values. The reputable nonprofit builds strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter and provides affordable housing to those in need, which is critical in building strong and stable communities.
Our employees are proud to participate in Habitat for Humanity home groundbreakings, home dedications, and team builds for families in need throughout the year. Through sponsorships and volunteer hours, Universal is committed to strengthening this partnership throughout South Florida and every location where we have operations.
At-risk Youth Affordable Housing Options with H.O.M.E.S.
Universal supports local nonprofits in the South Florida community that work on assisting those in need of affordable housing. Through our partnership with the Housing Opportunities, Mortgage Assistance, & Effective Neighborhood Solutions (H.O.M.E.S.), we support their mission of providing quality community and economic development benefiting at-risk/disadvantaged lower income Broward County residents and neighborhoods. We are proud to contribute financially to many of their programs, including:
Affordable Housing Sponsor
Universal is committed to assisting local communities with access to affordable housing. Through the H.O.M.E.S. Affordable Housing Sponsorship, Universal helps defray the cost of providing affordable housing units to youth aged out of foster and relative care, as well as other low-income residents who live in one of their 20 affordable units ranging in size from 1 to 3 bedroom units.
Improving Lives with Best Buddies International
Best Buddies International is a nonprofit that assists individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Through their various programs, the organization is dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development, and inclusive living for people with IDD. Universal has entered into a partnership with the local Broward chapter of Best Buddies, specifically supporting their annual Friendship Walk.
Best Buddies Friendship Walk
The Best Buddies Friendship Walk is the leading walk in the country supporting inclusion for people with IDD. We are a proud corporate sponsor of the Best Buddies Friendship Walk, and use our funds to help move their mission forward by funding local Best Buddies programs. It also provides a unique opportunity to engage our employees and have them see the mission of the organization in action at the local level. Every dollar raised goes towards making the world a more inclusive, accepting place.
COVID-19 Response
The health and wellbeing of our associates has been Universal’s priority since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the unprecedented changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made a concerted effort to protect our workforce, customers, and our community. By deploying our standard natural disaster / crisis rapid response protocol and offering innovative solutions, we have been able to rapidly respond to consumers and maintain an active workforce. Several relief measures were implemented to continue quality service and productivity, limit business disruptions, while ensuring our key stakeholders stay safe and healthy.
Improving Childhood Literacy with New Worlds Reading
Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc., donated $1 million to the UF Lastinger Center for Learning’s New Worlds Reading Initiative (NWR). This contribution supports a first-of-its-kind statewide program that encourages aspiring young readers by delivering free books and reading activities directly to the doorsteps of eligible K-5 grade students. Enrolled students receive a book each month during the school year, with an additional three bonus books for this year! Since the launch of New Worlds Reading in October 2021, the program has shipped more than 2.7 million books.
The University of Florida Lastinger Center administers the New Worlds Reading Initiative on behalf of Florida and has worked with companies like Universal all over the state to secure support for the literacy program.