Sandy Belcourt’s underwriting experience converges at SageSure

What do horses, art, science and insurance all have in common? Each is something Sandy Belcourt, Vice President of Product Management and Product Development for SageSure, is passionate about. Sandy studied marine sciences and chemistry in college, and then, like many, she stumbled into a career in the insurance industry. A self-described positive, funny insurance nerd, Sandy has seen tremendous transformation in the insurance industry in her nearly 40-year career and even holds a patent for her work.

At SageSure, Sandy is responsible for managing the underwriting direction, coverage language and implementation of coverage that SageSure offers on behalf of member companies. Together with her team, she also oversees market conduct and procedural audits.

“It is a culmination of all the skills I’ve acquired in my career,” Sandy said. “I found a home at SageSure, and I get to use all my skills on a daily basis. I couldn’t be happier.”

What has your career path been?

I started selling insurance over the phone, which was a novel approach to selling insurance at the time, and I had a knack for it. I was interested in the contractual language of insurance policies, and found I could translate contractual language in a way that consumers could understand.

I became an underwriter and then an underwriter supervisor and trained in excess of 2,000 phone underwriters through the course of my career. From there, I became a process auditor and finally moved into overseeing underwriting guidelines. Finally, I started writing policy language — crafting language that either offered or excluded coverage that would work toward company profitability. That’s the one area I was most excited about.

What’s changed about underwriting since you started working in the business?

I think the biggest thing I’ve seen change is the level of data that we can extract and understand, in addition to the improvements in the building industry. It’s made risks safer yet harder to underwrite. We used to underwrite based on fire exposure, but it was difficult to understand what someone’s exposure was for wind, wildfire or hurricanes. Today, we can extract information about elevation and distance to shore, and can underwrite each individual risk.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

I hold two patents in coverage language. One that’s still being used provides coverage for additional costs needed to bring a home to the standards of universal design — a house that is easily accessible to people of all abilities. The idea of taking coverage that is not standard as part of a policy, which typically focuses on making you whole to where you were before the loss, to providing extra or more than before the loss, was groundbreaking.

What sets SageSure apart from other companies you’ve worked with in the P&C insurance industry?

SageSure is dedicated to being there for people’s risks — the risks that were previously overlooked by larger homeowners insurers because of the difficulty in obtaining and modeling data for exposed coastal areas. Most companies will say we’re not writing people within 5 miles of the shoreline, but our population is gravitating in greater masses to the coast and building beautiful year-round homes by the shore. There is a market for SageSure to use all the technology, modeling and underwriting expertise and be able to insure those folks so they can follow their American Dream.

How do you spend your spare time?

I live on a 20-acre horse farm, and my husband and I own four horses, so my off time is often dealing with farm operations. I’m also an avid artist. I use all media — but I paint in oils, acrylic and watercolors. We also have a side hustle. My husband and I make and sell jumps for horses. My husband builds them, and I paint them. Some of them are unique.

What career advice would you give your 25-year-old self?

I think I have followed my advice — do something you like. The things I get involved in are so much bigger and deeper than just insurance. I deal with contractual, legal language, insurance law, claims experience and interacting with policyholders. It’s a fascinating business. It’s so much more than just a job in insurance.