Green Shield Expands Guardian Elite Home to California and Colorado
PRODUCT: Guardian Elite Home.
COMPANIES: Green Shield Risk Solutions is the managing general agent and a Lloyd’s coverholder.
BEST RATING: A+
AVAILABILITY: Appointed agents and brokers only. Agents interested in becoming appointed can visit Green Shield Compass.
FOCUS: Guardian Elite Home is Green Shield Risk Solutions’ nonadmitted HO-3 homeowners program for affluent primary and secondary residences, with an emphasis on properties in catastrophe-exposed markets.
The Evolving Market Toolkit
The program was created in response to a growing challenge for independent agents: finding dependable capacity for higher-value homes that may fall outside traditional admitted carriers’ appetites, particularly in areas with wildfire exposure. Guardian Elite Home gives agents another option for these clients, combining specialty excess & surplus capacity with detailed property-level underwriting rather than relying solely on ZIP codes.
COVERAGE DETAILS: Key program highlights include Coverage A limits from $1 million up to $7 million and total insured values up to $10 million. Personal property is covered on an actual cash value basis, with replacement cost available as an option. Eligible homes must either have completed required mitigation measures or be willing to complete them. Occupancy is limited to primary or secondary owner-occupied residences. Rentals, vacant homes and homes under construction are not eligible.
Primary liability limits of $300,000 or $500,000 are available; personal injury coverage is available for clients who are not considered high-profile; and medical payments coverage is available from $1,000 up to $5,000. Water damage coverage is included at a standard limit of $100,000, with the ability to customize coverage where available.
UNDERWRITING: Qualifying home-hardening and risk-reduction measures will be considered. Specialty underwriting is designed for higher-value homes, including properties in wildfire-exposed areas.
One of the program’s biggest differentiators is the integration of Property Guardian, Green Shield’s proprietary wildfire intelligence platform. Property Guardian provides property-level intelligence that helps underwriters evaluate wildfire risk more precisely, including susceptibility, resiliency and mitigation characteristics.
TARGET: The ideal Guardian Elite Home client is an affluent homeowner with a higher-value primary or secondary residence, particularly when the home is located in a market where standard admitted capacity has become limited.
The program is especially well suited to homes in areas with elevated catastrophe exposure, including wildfire-prone markets, where more granular property-level analysis can help distinguish individual risks rather than treating every property within a broad geographic area the same.
COVERAGE AVAILABILITY: Currently available in California and Colorado, with expansion planned into nine additional Western states.
CONTACT: Jason Grodensky, head of distribution, Green Shield Risk Solutions; 954-734-4344.
Will Jones is IA editor-in-chief.
