SURE Insurance Picks Up 14,000 FedNat Policies in South Carolina

The member-owned property insurer known as SURE has assumed some 14,000 South Carolina homeowners policies from FedNat Insurance, which left the state as part of a financial restructuring plan this year.

“We responded to FedNat’s downgrade by expediting the transfer of exposure from FedNat to SURE as quickly as possible while honoring our commitments to reinsurers,” Terry McLean, co-founder and CEO of SageSure, the managing general underwriter for SURE, said in a news release.

Florida-based FedNat in May canceled more than 56,000 policies in Florida as part of restructuring agreement with Florida insurance regulators. The move came after FedNat’s financial stability rating was downgraded by the Demotech rating firm and FedNat was unable to complete its reinsurance program.

Last November, FedNat announced it was pulling out of South Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama after heavy storm losses, leaving thousands of policyholders looking for coverage by July 1.

SURE, launched in Texas, is short for SureChoice Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange. The exchange specializes in coastal property coverage and did not entered the South Carolina market until June, the company said. It also has assumed thousands of FedNat policies in FedNat’s other Southern states.

SageSURE said it offers insurance in 14 coastal states for 417,000 policyholders.

“These risks were underwritten by SageSure and are a strong fit for our portfolio,” said Ed Konar, president of SURE.