- Introduction to PURE Insurance
- What Kinds of Insurance Does PURE Insurance Offer?
- Does PURE Insurance Sell Homeowners Insurance?
- Does PURE Insurance Sell Liability Insurance?
- How Does PURE Insurance Work?
- Pros and Cons of PURE Insurance
- Reviews for PURE Insurance
- Get Customer Support Or File A Claim For PURE Insurance
- Frequently Asked Questions
Introduction to PURE Insurance
PURE, or Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange Insurance is an insurance company focused on property insurance for high net worth customers. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in White Plains, New York a large part of the company's novelty comes from its structure which makes policy holders "members" who then receive a fraction of the company's surplus profits when those occur. PURE currently offers coverage across all fifty US states.
What Kinds of Insurance Does PURE Insurance Offer?
PURE Insurance's primary focus is homeowners insurance — with an emphasis on luxury homes worth at least $1 million — but they also sell coverage for a variety of other assets that are of interest to wealthier Americans. These include insurance for valuables, autos (with a focus on luxury vehicles), excess liability/umbrella, fraud and cyber events, watercraft, condo/co-op, dedicated home systems (a relatively unique category), and private flood coverage.
Does PURE Insurance Sell Homeowners Insurance?
Yes, PURE primarily sells homeowners insurance. Although they tout a number of features of their policies as unique in their marketing materials — such as Guaranteed Replacement Cost, coverage for valuables, sewage and drain backups, and the option to receive a cash payout in the event of a total — many of these features are available through other carriers as part of homeowners policies and will often be provided or sold to high net worth individuals. That aside, their policies protect the things that standard homeowners coverage offer : (Coverage A) the structure of your home, (Coverage B) other structures on your property, (Coverage C) your personal property, (Coverage D) loss of use, (Coverage E) liability for accidents on your property, and (Coverage F) medical payments for when someone is injured on your property.
Does PURE Insurance Sell Liability Insurance?
Yes, PURE also sells liability insurance. The option to purchase added liability protection is available across almost all of their property insurance offerings.
They also sell excess liability or Umbrella insurance which provides liability coverage beyond what traditional policies will cover to protect buyers' wealth when it exceeds those limits. However, to purchase this coverage, and many other advertised coverages they will often require buyers to have a primary home with a $2M+ replacement value.
PURE's marketing page on Umbrella insurance claims that they provide cheaper rates for folks buying policies with an over $10M limit, but does not delve into any comparison specifics other than offering a calculator that still requires buyers to get on the phone with an agent to purchase or finalize a policy.
If you're a high net worth individual interested in a fully-online Umbrella and Excess Liability buying experience with comparison and competitive rates you can learn more about how Coverage Cat approaches the problem here.
How Does PURE Insurance Work?
PURE offers insurance to its members/policyholders through a process that involves an online pre-screen then a call with a broker. They require at least a $1M dollar home for buyers to be eligible for many of their policy types and in many states will require a home have a $2M+ replacement value.
Their services can only be purchased by speaking to someone on the phone. You can find a broker via their request for proposals page or via a third-party broker that is affiliated with PURE. For finding local brokers that can sell the company's offerings PURE offers a broker search tool.
Pros and Cons of PURE Insurance
Pros
- Their approach to customer service has led to zero formal complaints to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2022 and 2023
- Strong financial backing and ratings
- Their mutual structure could potentially better align incentives between policy holders and policy issuers
Cons
- Services are heavily phone-oriented: quotes can only be obtained by first submitting a proposal then speaking to someone on the phone
- Hands-on customer service comes at a cost which often means higher premiums
- Difficult to access quotes makes it hard to compare to other competitive options on the market
Real reviews for PURE Insurance
I had my first claim under this auto insurance coverage and the claims adjuster, Ashley Volmer, was the most professional, knowledgeable and pleasant insurance representative with whom I have ever dealt. The customer service at Pure Insurance both on the Sales and Claims sides is bar none the best in the insurance industry. They could literally charge an extra fee for the level of customer service they provide in comparison to the usual experience i have come to expect in my 72 years dealing with any other insurance company.
I thought the process was handled in a very professional manner. Communication was clear and abundant. The process moved as quickly as the facts would allow. In addition to the adjuster, Kaley Macdonald, the liability adjuster Christian Glassel was great to work with.
PURE insurance sent out an insurance specialist to evaluate my property to see my structures insurance needs. They came up with ways to reduce my insurance costs. They recommended a water main shut off valve which would save 10% and a TING electricity monitor which would save 5%. These are meaningful savings with my large insurance policy.
They handled my son's two fender benders with fully transparent information and followups.
If you have an expensive property PURE should be your go to insurer. My understanding is that my prior insurer Chubb lays off some of their risk to PURE.
I was in a car accident, 100% not at fault! I went over and beyond to get the information they required and other documents to speed up the process! My car is totaled, I have been renting a car going on 8 weeks! I have called the company a total of 15x in the last 3 days and no one has responded! I was on hold for 4 hours! Their customer service is awful, they are unprofessional and no one has a clue what they are doing!
We believed PURE had over valued the replacement cost of our home and contacted them for a new evaluation. We were turned over to a "customer service" person named Natalie who always took her sweet time getting back to us. And when she finally did, she sent back the new evaluation and a list of new requirements we had to meet!! WTH!?
When we wrote back and told her they had still over valued our home, she notified us that she had taken it upon herself to send our email to OUR mortgage broker!?!
We then contacted PURE to speak to her supervisor, who, of course, never returned our call!
We immediately left PURE and went with a much better company.
Runaway from this company as fast as you can!
We like others in White Plains sustained substantial water damage due to Ida. My experience is identical to Charles E. Their homeowner insurance policy has exclusions you don't know will leave you unprotected until you truly need them. As far as I'm concerned, none of the reviews here before 9/1/2021 Hurricane Ida, have any true reflection of how this company will treat you when you file a claim. Run, don't walk away from them.
Get Customer Support For Or File A Claim With PURE Insurance
If you're searching for phone support, PURE offers one unified phone line for Claims, Member Services, Roadside Assistance at 888-813-7873.
To file a Claim with PURE Insurance policyholders can either use the customer support phone number or their online claims portal. All claims related mail should be sent to PURE Insurance // PO Box 480, Elmsford, NY 10523.
For general member services including queries related to bills, policy details or general questions the above phone number is the first suggested option. Alternatively, members can reach out to service@pureinsurance.com.
As part of its home coverage process PURE often asks members to get a Risk Management consultation and sometimes install a loss prevention device (usually focused on preventing water damage). That service can be scheduled directly here or via a dedicated email riskmanagementservices@pureinsurance.com.
"Member advocacy," a part of their service that helps PURE better assess the value and risk of their policyholders' homes and assets, can be reached via riskmanagementservices@pureinsurance.com. Their more specialized art-focused department, that focuses on only on risk mitigation for customers' art collections can be reached via artservices@pureinsurance.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I Buy PURE Insurance?
For PURE insurance, make sure you qualify before you buy. Although their website and advertising materials say that the primary qualifier is for buyers to have homes worth over $1M via email communications their team has stated that "[i]n most states we look to insure primary homes that have a $2M replacement value coverage".
In addition to this, potential buyers should be aware of the trade-offs to buy PURE insurance including a requirement to speak to a broker on the phone and a potential high cost of coverage when compared to insurers less focused on high net worth individuals.
Is PURE Insurance a Real Insurance Company?
Yes, PURE Insurance is a real insurance company. They are owned by Tokio Marine Holdings after a 2020 purchase that valued the company at $3.1 billion. Tokio Marine is one of Japan's largest insurers.
As a stylized explanation for its business: PURE creates and structures policies for its buyers, but due to its corporate structure doesn't hold the majority of the risk of a policy or the responsibility for paying out its claims on its financial balance sheet. More accurately: PURE offers insurance to wealthy Americans through its partnership with a sister entity called PURE Programs, LLC. This second entity is a Managing General Underwriter that offers insurance coverage on behalf of a set of partner insurance companies who ultimately bear most of the risk for the policies.
Additionally, [they have an 'A (Excellent)' financial strength ratings from AM Best](https://www.pureinsurance.com/about-us#:~:text=We're%20rated%20A%20(Excellent,very%20strong%20enterprise%20risk%20management.) , an issuer of financial ratings for insurance companies and financial services firms.
How Does PURE Insurance Make Money?
To make money PURE Insurance collects premiums from its policyholders for coverage provided. With its exclusive focus on high net worth individuals the company can focus on customer service and cross selling at a higher rate than other competitive insurers focused on the high net worth market.
Is Using PURE Insurance Worth It?
PURE insurance can be a good choice for buyers that have a high net worth and prize customer service above premiums. Although they may sometimes have competitive premiums, and promise to return some portion of profits to policyholders/members, the very high touch customer service likely affects the company's prices. Ultimately, before making any insurance purchase, you should always search across the marketplace for the best possible coverage and price fit for your needs.
Reviewed by
Max Cho
, Licensed Insurance Broker NPN 20377411
