SC Wind Pool vs SC Safe Home

Two programs that sound alike

Coastal South Carolina homeowners hear about both, often in the same conversation:

• The SC Wind Pool — the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association (SCWHUA) — sells insurance.
• SC Safe Home — run by the South Carolina Department of Insurance — pays grants.

They are separate organizations with separate rules, and they cover different parts of the coast.

Where the Wind Pool writes

The Wind Pool's territory is set by statute and renewed by order of the Director of Insurance; the current order runs to March 2027. It writes in five counties only — Horry, Georgetown, Charleston, Colleton and Beaufort — and only in defined zones, mostly east of the Intracoastal Waterway or US-17. Berkeley, Dorchester and Jasper are outside it entirely. You can check an address with the Wind Pool's eligibility tool.

SC Safe Home, by contrast, is open in 11 counties — Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Jasper, Marion and Williamsburg. Plenty of SC Safe Home homes will never need the Wind Pool.

What the Wind Pool credits

The Wind Pool's dwelling mitigation notice and rates and rules manual list mitigation credits on its own dwelling policies — not on policies from other insurers:

• 5% for homes that meet the SC Safe Home standards, with the program's inspection and a letter from the SC Safe Home contractor.
• 1%, 3% or 5% for one, two-to-three, or all four of: opening protection, roof tie-downs, masonry construction and building-code compliance.
• 20% for IBHS's older "Fortified … For Safer Living" program certificate.

That last line is the one people misquote. It is written for a legacy IBHS new-construction program, and the manual does not name today's FORTIFIED Roof designation. If someone promises you "20% off your wind pool policy for a FORTIFIED roof," ask the Wind Pool (803-779-8373) to confirm in writing first.

How they fit together for one homeowner

Say you own a primary home on Folly Beach with a Wind Pool policy:

1. You apply for an SC Safe Home Resilient Mitigation grant during an open round.
2. After approval and the program's inspection, your roofer installs the roof while a FORTIFIED evaluator documents it, and IBHS designates it.
3. You send the SC Safe Home inspection and contractor letter to the Wind Pool for its 5% credit, and ask your homeowners carrier what it credits for the FORTIFIED designation.

Three organizations, three different roles — and the evaluator's documentation is what ties the roof to the paperwork.

Bottom line

The Wind Pool insures; SC Safe Home funds; IBHS designates. Read our guides to SC Safe Home grants and insurance and tax credits before you budget around either.