GeoVera Insurance homeowners insurance

Overview

GeoVera is a Fairfield, California insurer built around catastrophe risk, best known for stand-alone residential earthquake insurance in California, Oregon and Washington. "GeoVera" is the marketing name for a group of carriers: GeoVera Insurance Company and Coastal Select Insurance Company, which write admitted earthquake policies; GeoVera Specialty Insurance Company, a surplus lines carrier that writes homeowners, wind-only, landlord and vacant-home policies in Florida through wholesale brokers; and SafePort Insurance Company, which writes homeowners policies for SageSure in coastal states and joined the group in October 2024. All four belong to GeoVera Nova Holdings, a holding company formed in 2024 that has been owned since April 2026 by Novel Financial Holdings, which also owns the managers of the SURE and Elevate reciprocals.

The NAIC group still filed as Geovera Holdings Inc. Group ranked #82 among U.S. homeowners insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written, with $231.9 million (0.12% of the national market), according to NAIC market share data. Earthquake premiums are reported on a separate NAIC line, so that homeowners figure mostly reflects the Florida surplus lines book and SafePort's SageSure business, not the earthquake policies GeoVera is known for.

Since January 2025, GeoVera's policy and claims servicing is handled by GeoVera Advantage Insurance Services, which is now part of SageSure. The name on your declarations page is still one of the GeoVera Nova carriers.

History

GeoVera started as an earthquake operation inside USF&G's specialty insurance business. The California Department of Insurance granted GeoVera Insurance Company an admitted certificate of authority in 1997, and the company says it quickly became the largest private residential earthquake insurer in California. Ownership then passed through The St. Paul and St. Paul Travelers until 2005, when San Francisco private-equity firms Friedman Fleischer & Lowe and Hellman & Friedman bought it and made it a subsidiary of GeoVera Holdings, Inc. Flexpoint Ford acquired GeoVera Holdings in 2012.

Along the way GeoVera added earthquake programs in Washington (2001) and Oregon (2006), and in 2010 GeoVera Specialty began selling wind-only residential coverage in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. Coastal Select was formerly named Pacific Select Property Insurance Company. In 2019 the company launched QuakeInsurance.com, and in May 2021 it partnered with Homesite Insurance Company of California on a flexible California earthquake product (see Homesite Insurance).

John Forney became chief executive in July 2020. AM Best credits him with reshaping the book: residential wind moved entirely to a surplus lines basis, admitted wind and non-core states were exited, and growth was refocused on residential earthquake and on commercial risk pools written through the MGAs AmRisc and Arrowhead.

The biggest change came in April 2024, when GeoVera Insurance Holdings agreed to sell its MGA, GeoVera Advantage, to SageSure and its insurance carriers to the newly formed GeoVera Nova Holdings. GeoVera Nova bought SafePort, already a SageSure carrier partner, on October 25, 2024, and the GeoVera carriers on January 2, 2025, the day SageSure announced it had closed the GeoVera Advantage purchase and taken on 114 GeoVera employees. At the time, GeoVera Nova's controlling shareholders included Andrew DiLoreto, who co-founded SageSure's predecessor technology company, and IAT Insurance Group, with SageSure holding a non-controlling interest. On April 1, 2026 GeoVera Nova became a wholly owned subsidiary of Novel Financial Holdings through a share exchange among substantially the same shareholders. Novel, launched in May 2025 with former PartnerRe chief executive Jacques Bonneau as chairman and Rob Bredahl as CEO, also owns Forza Insurance Holdings, the manager of SURE and Elevate; in June 2026 it took an investment from Flexpoint Ford, GeoVera's owner from 2012. Forney continues to lead GeoVera Nova, and the SageSure relationship is unchanged.

Homeowners coverage

What GeoVera sells depends on the state and the product.

Earthquake (California, Oregon, Washington). GeoVera's earthquake policies sit beside your homeowners policy, which excludes earth movement (see earthquake insurance explained). Quake Select Flex Limit, from Coastal Select, lets you set each limit separately, with deductibles from 2.5% to 25%, dwelling limits up to $3.5 million and eligibility for homes built in 1925 or later. Single Limit, from GeoVera Insurance Company, puts dwelling, contents and living expenses under one combined limit with one deductible (10% to 25%), includes demand surge and has no home-age restriction; limits reach $5 million in California, $2.25 million in Oregon and $2.5 million in Washington. In January 2026 GeoVera Specialty added Quake Plus+, a surplus lines California earthquake policy with limits up to $7.5 million. Coverages include building code upgrade, loss assessment and swimming pool coverage, and California homes can earn a retrofit discount. Say your dwelling limit is $800,000 and you pick a 15% earthquake deductible: you pay the first $120,000 of earthquake damage. Compare these policies with the California Earthquake Authority before you buy.

Florida surplus lines. GeoVera Specialty's homeowners policy covers dwelling, other structures, contents, personal liability and loss of use, and can be written on seasonal or secondary homes. It also sells wind-only policies, a tenant-occupied landlord form with loss of rental income and premises liability, and vacant-home coverage. Because these are surplus lines policies, Florida's insurance guaranty association does not back them.

SafePort through SageSure. SafePort writes homeowners coverage in Alabama (Mobile and Baldwin counties), California, Florida, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, dwelling fire in California, Louisiana, New York and Texas, and wind-only and landlord coverage in North Carolina. Its California and New Jersey homeowners and New York dwelling fire products are surplus lines. SageSure designs and services these policies.

Where it sells and recent market moves

Earthquake coverage is sold in California, Oregon and Washington; GeoVera's own homeowners products are limited to Florida. SafePort extends the group's footprint along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts through SageSure.

The 2024–2025 restructuring is the main event for policyholders: GeoVera policies are now underwritten and serviced through SageSure. AM Best reported in 2026 that GeoVera's management was raising rates and deductibles on SafePort business in problematic states, and that the group cedes most of SafePort's attritional losses through quota-share reinsurance (80% at the start, then a 60% treaty with Beacon Re from April 1, 2026).

Claims

Report a claim online 24/7 through myGeoSource.com, or call 800-735-8086 for GeoVera Insurance, Coastal Select and GeoVera Specialty policies. GeoVera says its claims staff hold California Earthquake Authority earthquake-claims certification and that it works with 13 third-party firms and more than 100 engineers for post-earthquake inspections. For SafePort policies, SageSure takes claims at 866-311-7243 or online at SageSure.com.

GeoVera's name also appears in a Fifth Circuit decision, GeoVera Specialty Insurance Co. v. Joachin (2020), which held under Louisiana law that a homeowners policy's "residence premises" requirement takes more than buying a home or intending to move in; the court applied it again to a Texas policy in January 2025.

Ratings and reputation

AM Best affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of "a" (Excellent), with stable outlooks, for the GeoVera Nova Insurance Group (GeoVera Insurance, GeoVera Specialty, Coastal Select, SafePort and GeoVera Reinsurance) effective April 1, 2026. AM Best rated the balance sheet very strong and noted a catastrophe program of $1.38 billion with a $60 million retention per event, effective March 1, 2026, backed partly by $975 million of earthquake catastrophe bonds. Its biggest single risk, AM Best says, is a severe California earthquake.

GeoVera has no J.D. Power ranking, and no NAIC complaint index was found for its homeowners business.

Who it suits

GeoVera suits West Coast homeowners who want earthquake coverage from an A-rated private insurer, with more limit and deductible flexibility than a basic policy, and Florida owners of second homes, rentals or vacant houses whose broker needs a surplus lines market. It suits less well anyone who wants home, auto and earthquake from one company, or Florida homeowners who want an admitted policy with guaranty fund protection.

• Strengths: A (Excellent) from AM Best, affirmed April 2026; decades of earthquake underwriting and claims experience; earthquake deductibles as low as 2.5% and limits up to $7.5 million; earthquake quotes online or through agents.
• Weaknesses: homeowners policies limited to Florida surplus lines (no guaranty fund protection) plus SafePort's SageSure products; servicing moved to SageSure in 2025; high percentage deductibles typical of earthquake coverage; no consumer satisfaction rankings.

How to contact GeoVera Insurance