News Release
April 11, 2007
Media Contact: Elizabeth Hammond, 803-264-4626
Companion Property & Casualty to Resume Condo Wind Insurance, Add Commercial Wind Insurance along S.C. Coast
Columbia, S.C. – Companion Property & Casualty Group is helping to fill a need for windstorm insurance along the South Carolina coast with an announcement today that it will resume taking new applications for condo coverage and will inaugurate coverage for commercial properties.
This decision resulted from two coinciding factors, according to Companion Property & Casualty President Charles Potok. "South Carolina’s new state Insurance Director Scott Richardson asked us for help in providing more windstorm coverage along our coast, while we were already working with the catastrophe reinsurance market to determine if we would be able to add to the windstorm exposures we currently have."
Reinsurance is a way for insurance companies to assure that they will not face financial ruin from any one event. Catastrophe reinsurance spreads that risk throughout a worldwide capital market.
Companion has been writing condominium owners coverage for coastal condo owners for years. Last May, the company decided to stop accepting new applications. "As a result of the disastrous hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, there was not enough capital in the catastrophe reinsurance market to keep up with the need for capacity," said Potok. "We were very concerned that there would be even less reinsurance capacity this year. Therefore, we could not continue to grow our wind risk business."
"Since reinsurance capacity has caught up to the need, we are in a position to be able to assist Director Richardson as he works to help coastal residents and business owners. We believe that his approach to resolving the coastal insurance issue is the right way to create lasting solutions," Potok said.
Companion will resume writing new policies for windstorm coverage for condominium unit owners. Companion’s current in-force writings for the condominium owners line amount to aggregate coastal windstorm exposure of over $600 million. The company plans to grow that line by as much as 25% within the next 12 months.
The company also will begin providing windstorm coverage for commercial properties. While it has written commercial policies including windstorm coverage in other areas of the state, the company has not been an active writer along the coast for windstorm on commercial properties. The plan provides the ability to grow coastal commercial wind exposures by at least $150 million.
Details are being shared with the company’s agents in meetings this week. Policies for the new coverage will be begin to be written April 16.
Companion Property & Casualty Insurance Group, a subsidiary of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, is a regional leader in property and casualty insurance and services. Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., Companion offers workers' compensation insurance, a variety of commercial package policies, and commercial auto and property insurance for residential condominiums. Companion has an "A-" Excellent rating (Financial Size Category VIII) from the A.M. Best Company.