TAMPA, Fla. — Following an SEC filing in May, Slide insurance policyholders are reacting to the revelation that Bruce Lucas, the CEO of the Tampa-based insurance company, and his wife, Shannon Lucas, are earning substantial amounts of money, as homeowners' insurance premiums continue to rise.
It revealed, along with base salary, bonuses, and stock options, that Bruce Lucas took home $21.1 million in compensation, and his wife, Shannon Lucas, the COO, received another $16.5 million. Collectively making $37.7 million dollars, the records show.
THE POLICYHOLDER'S RESPONSE
"I think it's absurd that he's making all that money," said Besty Braden, a Tampa homeowner. "It's absurd."
Braden just got a letter in March that she was being forced off of Citizens Property Insurance and onto Slide Insurance as part of the Citizens' take out process.
"I wanted to stay with Citizens," Braden said. "It's sad because people are struggling in Florida and we need help with insurance and we need people that we elect to take care of us and not just the billionaires."
SLIDE INSURANCE 6TH LARGEST IN FLORIDA
According to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation as of April 2025, Slide Insurance had more than 334,000 policies, the 6th largest insurance company in the state. The majority of those policies 245,127 as of June, Citizens tells us came from their books.
"Of course, it is disturbing to see this kind of executive compensation happening," said Doug Quinn, with the American Policyholder Association. "What I'll tell you about Slide is they have sort of been the darling of the Florida insurance regulators. They have been giving a large amount, possibly more than most other companies. Even other insurance companies have complained about how much takeout business they've gotten out of citizens."
According to those numbers, with a collective $37.7 million compensation package, that means $112 of each policy goes directly into the couple's pockets.
And what's disturbing for Braden is that it's completely legal, she learned.
"If he's allowed to get away with that he will. I mean, that's the law, so he's not doing anything wrong," Braden said. "But if we could elect the politicians who care about us more than the billionaires, that would be great."
RESPONSE FROM STATE INSURANCE LEADERS
We emailed the Office of Insurance Regulation for a response, and they confirmed they have no authority to cap insurance CEO salaries.
"The OIR is very much aware of Slide’s SEC filing and the reported salaries of its CEO and his wife. These salaries are concerning. However, the OIR does not have the regulatory authority to control what they do or do not pay their employees at any level. OIR continues to monitor Slide and the companies' executives closely. If we find any wrongdoing under our purview, we will take aggressive action," the statement read.
We also took these concerns to Florida's new Chief Financial Officer, Blaise Ingoglia.
"It's super concerning but we need to have the legislative authority to look at it we don't have it right now and unfortunately that was stopped," Ingoglia said.
We asked him what he could do about it.
"What we can do is have the bully pulpit. I'm going to get on social media, I'm going to hold press conferences and I'm going to make sure I'm going to call out bad behaviors that I see," Ingoglia added. "Because again I'm not working for the insurance companies I'm not working for the trial bar I'm working for the voters and the people in this state that pay the premiums."
SLIDE INSURANCE RESPONSE
ABC Action News emailed Slide Insurance to discuss the compensation and was told they could not comment.
"Slide is currently in the SEC-mandated IPO quiet period, prior to its first earnings report as a public company. We, therefore, have no further comment at this time," wrote the spokesperson.
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