Homeowners Choice Receives Florida Regulatory Authorization to Assume Up to 60,000...

Homeowners Choice Receives Florida Regulatory Authorization to Assume Up to
60,000 Additional Citizens Policies

CLEARWATER, Fla., Oct. 29, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Homeowners Choice, Inc.
(Nasdaq:HCII), a Florida-based insurance holding company, today announced that
its wholly-owned insurance subsidiary, Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty
Insurance Company, Inc., has been authorized by the Florida Office of Insurance
Regulation to assume an additional 60,000 homeowners' policies from Citizens
Property Insurance Corporation, Florida's state-owned insurance company. The
authorization is subject to a maximum assumption of 30,000 policies in December
2009.

"This additional takeout authorization by the Florida OIR reflects our solid
financials and capitalization as well as our successful track record assuming
policies from Citizens," said F.X. McCahill, chief executive officer of
Homeowners Choice. "With the current infrastructure we have in place, we are
well equipped to assume the maximum 30,000 policies before the end of 2009,
provided they meet our stringent underwriting criteria."

The policies are assumable under Florida's take-out program, which encourages
private insurance companies to assume policies from Citizens to reduce the
state's risk exposure. Citizens, which began as Florida's home insurer of last
resort, is now Florida's largest homeowners' insurance provider with more than 1
million policies in force.

About Homeowners Choice, Inc.

Homeowners Choice, Inc. is a Florida-based insurance holding company
headquartered in Clearwater. Through its subsidiary corporations, Homeowners
Choice provides property and casualty homeowners' insurance, condominium owners'
insurance and tenants' insurance solely to Florida property owners. Founded in
2006, Homeowners Choice today serves approximately 53,000 policyholders
throughout Florida representing approximately $100 million in annualized
premiums. The company's common shares trade on the NASDAQ Global Market under
the ticker symbol HCII and were recently added to the Russell Microcap Index.
Warrants trade on the same market under the ticker symbol HCIIW. More
information about Homeowners Choice, Inc. is available at www.hcpci.com.

The Homeowners Choice, Inc. logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6712

-0-
CONTACT: RFB Communications Group
Media Contact:
Suzie Boland
813.259.0345
sboland@rfbcommunications.com

Cameron Associates
Investor Relations Contact:
Alison Ziegler
212.554.5469
alison@cameronassoc.com