United Insurance Holdings Corp., a St. Petersburg, Fla., property and casualty insurance holding company, plans to submit applications to write property and casualty insurance in Massachusetts and five other states.

The company, which plans to also expand in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, North Carolina and New Jersey, said it believes its products particularly fit the needs of homeowners in those states.

These plans come despite deep losses reported in the first half of 2010.

For the second quarter, United reported $195,000 in net income, compared to net income of $2.8 million during the same period last year.

For the six months ended June 30, United reported a net loss of $3.5 million, compared to generating net income of $6 million for the same period last year.

"While our industry is still being affected by a difficult rate and cost environment, we were pleased to return to profitability in the second quarter," said Don Cronin, United’s CEO. "Over the past eight months, we implemented two rate increases that will continue to have a greater impact on our results as we write new policies and renew existing policies. We have continued to redistribute and reduce our risk exposure by writing new policies throughout the state and through our expansion into South Carolina."

On July 1, the company’s subsidiary, United Property & Casualty Insurance Co., assumed a $5.3 million book of business in South Carolina from Sunshine State Insurance Co. and began writing new business through approximately 80 agents throughout the state.