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Governor nominates Richardson

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With property insurance getting scarcer and more expensive up and down the coast, one of Hilton Head Island's own has been nominated to deal with that crisis as head of the S.C. Department of Insurance.

Gov. Mark Sanford has chosen state Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, to head the department. He will have to be confirmed by the S.C. Senate, which could happen in the next few weeks.

The senator, a former owner of Carswell Insurance Services, now runs a real estate company.

As head of the insurance department, Richardson said he would try to lure insurers to write property insurance in the coastal regions by offering incentives, not with heavy-handed regulation, which can drive companies out of the state.

"We are going to operate with the carrot and not the stick, if we can," Richardson said.

He suggested breaks on insurance-premium taxes for companies that write policies throughout the state, instead of just areas farther inland.

The state also could fund its own disaster model to determine if the threats the state faces match up with those in models created by the insurance industry, he said.

Richardson and Sanford agree the state agency should regulate less and allow private insurers to work out problems along the coast.

Allstate Insurance announced it was not renewing 12,000 home-owner policies in state coastal areas in December. Last week, State Farm announced it will drop about

1,000 policies from Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head Island this spring.

If he's confirmed, Richardson will replace Eleanor Kitzman, who resigned after pressure from the governor.

The pressure for Kitzman to step down was primarily "determined by what's happening in coastal insurance," Sanford's spokesman Joel Sawyer said.

Kitzman headed the state Insurance Department for two years. The agency oversees almost 2,000 companies doing business in the state.

Kitzman was paid $100,000 a year. Sawyer said Richardson's salary had not been set.

The governor's choice for director of the department brought rave reviews from local independent insurance agencies.

"Scott Richardson is well qualified and we couldn't be more pleased to hear the news," said Jimmy Rowe, president of Kinghorn Insurance Services.

Officials at Coastal Plains Insurance and Carswell Insurance Services also praised the choice.

Bill Thomas, president of Carswell and a long-time friend of Richardson, said Richardson's industry and

legislative experience made him a good fit for the job. Richardson left Carswell in 1999.

"I think (the director) has to be a person -- and Scott's good at this -- who can bring together all of the parties involved," Thomas said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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