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REALTORS® Ensure South Carolina Coastal Homeowners Protected

By HOM Editorial Team
August 2015

With rising homeowner insurance rates and fewer insurance companies willing to write policies for coastal properties, South Carolina property owners found themselves facing an insurance disaster.

Enter the South Carolina Association of REALTORS®: South Carolina’s new Competitive Insurance Act is the direct result of local REALTORS® banding together to fight for homeowner rights.

Using the strength of local real estate advocates and the financial backing of the national association, REALTORS® lobbied the state legislature for years for a more competitive and transparent insurance marketplace. This year, all of their hard work paid off.

The Competitive Insurance Act was approved, and it will provide $1.6 million additional funds for the Safe Home South Carolina Program—a program charged with helping homeowners retrofit their homes against hurricane and hard wind damage.

The state’s Department of Insurance must now hold annual public hearings for those in the coastal region and prepare an annual report to the South Carolina General Assembly, and under the new law, the department must assist property owners in their search for affordable insurance premiums and deductibles, as well.

It also must initiate a multimedia campaign to raise awareness about the South Carolina Safe Home program, which provides grant money to individual homeowners to make their property hurricane and high-wind resistant. The funds are strictly designed to help single-family homeowners retrofit their residences for safety purposes.

Thanks to the tireless work of REALTORS®, South Carolina homeowners can get what they deserve: a fair shake on insurance.

Chrystal Caruthers contributed to this article.


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