One way to win over insurance companies worried about the hurricane-related risks of selling homeowners' policies in the Lowcountry is to convince them that South Carolina isn't Florida.

That's the message state Insurance Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman conveyed to about 40 independent insurance agents Wednesday at a luncheon in North Charles-ton.

"If there's one thing we learned last year, it is that the entire state of Florida has coastal exposure," Kitzman said. "We're different, and telling (insurance) carriers that is a good start for us."

Four hurricanes struck Florida within a six-week span last year, leading to $23 billion in insured losses.

Kitzman's comments Wednesday came a little more than a week before her department plans to hold a property insurance forum in Charleston that's designed to woo more insurance companies to the state, and specifically the coast. The event is the first for Kitzman as commissioner following her appointment by Gov. Mark Sanford four months ago.

The insurance department invited up to 125 companies not currently doing business in South Carolina to attend, and Kitzman said she expects about 35 to show up June 24 at Charleston Place Hotel for the daylong event.

She declined to name any of the companies that have said they plan to attend.

Enticing insurers to write coastal coverage has long been an uphill battle for many states along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Companies such as State Farm, Allstate and Nationwide, which hold nearly half the market in South Carolina, have restricted how much business they'll take on in coastal areas and in recent years have required policyholders to pay much more in out-of-pocket deductibles.

As a result, Charleston residents pay double and triple the premiums their fellow South Carolinians pay on similarly sized homes in the Upstate.

Many Lowcountry homeowners have been hard-pressed to find any coverage. Some have been forced to sign on with so-called surplus lines companies that charge higher premiums and aren't protected, as mainstream carriers are, by a state fund that covers policyholders if the carrier goes broke.

Kitzman said legislation enacted almost a year ago allowing companies to raise homeowners' rates by a set amount without first receiving regulatory approval has been a good beginning.

The law was modeled after the 1999 deregulation of the auto insurance market. Kitzman and others say that change was key to attracting dozens of new auto insurers to South Carolina. That heightened competition has led to carriers cutting their auto rates, she said.

Still, Kitzman acknowledged that the new law alone won't be enough to sway insurers, and she intends to offer a host of other positive pitches. Strong statewide building codes, for instance, are a big selling point, she said, as are business-friendly laws passed this year that make it tougher for homeowners to sue contractors for shoddy work.

"If we could just get 10 new carriers to come and write (policies) along the coast, it would mean a lot," Kitzman said.

For the most part, insurance agents like Henry Lowndes expressed cautious optimism toward Kitzman's remarks.

"This forum creates the right environment for change, so in that sense it can only do good," said Lowndes, who owns a longtime, family-run insurance agency in West Ashley.

He added, however, that rewriting the auto laws and seeking to mitigate risks associated with hurricanes are "two entirely different things."

"Solving this problem is very complex. We all know this," he said. "It all boils down to convincing companies that they can make money here, not lose it."

WHAT'S NEXT

The South Carolina Department of Insurance will hold a property insurance forum to try to convince more companies to sell policies in coastal areas.

Where: Charleston Place Hotel

When: Friday, June 24

What's in store: About 35 insurance companies not doing business in the state are expected to attend for the daylong series of seminars discussing the property and casualty market in South Carolina.