A commercial insurer that has spent nearly two centuries protecting chemical refineries, data centers and mines is now coming for the McMansion market. FM has announced a partnership with Pure Insurance, the reciprocal insurer serving high-net-worth families across the US and Canada, pairing FM's engineering-led loss prevention model with Pure's policyholder base under a reinsurance agreement in which FM takes a stake in Pure's underwriting results. That last detail matters: FM's financial participation means it shares the downside if the engineering model does not deliver loss reduction, distinguishing the arrangement from a consulting relationship and aligning FM's commercial interest directly with policyholder outcomes.
The partnership arrives at a specific moment of market stress. Admitted carriers have retreated aggressively from high-value personal lines in California, Florida and Texas - the three states with the highest concentrations of high-net-worth households - pushing affluent personal lines into the surplus market at the moment demand is accelerating. Some wealthy homeowners have turned to non-admitted coverage as traditional insurers raised deductibles, restricted storm payouts or exited states exposed to wildfires and hurricanes. Non-admitted products originally designed for businesses with unusual risks have expanded substantially as a result. Average annual home insurance costs are projected to reach $3,057 by December 2026, per Insurify's 2026 Insuring the American Homeowner Report, up 4% from $2,948 at year-end 2025, with premiums rising in 45 states in 2025 alone.
FM insures properties for roughly one in three Fortune 1000 companies and employs hundreds of engineers rather than actuaries, using property-specific assessments of building materials, fire suppression systems and mechanical infrastructure to price risk rather than statistical averages. The company's argument for entering the residential market rests on a specific convergence: high-value homes have grown as complex as the industrial facilities FM already insures. Wealthy homeowners' properties now routinely include hydraulic car lifts, elaborate HVAC systems and fine art storage - risks more commonly encountered in industrial underwriting than standard residential assessment.
FM has direct commercial book experience with precisely these risks. It has recommended fire sensors and automatic shutoffs for hydraulic lift fires in commercial settings for years. Initial residential work will focus on wildfire-exposed homes, with FM assessing plant oil content in landscaping, evaluating window glazing for flood risk and advising on HVAC design to limit smoke travel.
FM chief executive Malcolm Roberts said the move was client-driven rather than speculative. "The last five years have been a very tough marketplace, even for this level of buyer," he said, adding that industrial clients frequently ask why FM engineers their manufacturing sites but not their homes. The partnership answers that question directly.
One insurance sector analyst, as reported by the Financial Times, offered a useful constraint on expectations: premiums are primarily tied to total value at risk, and any rate reductions achievable through engineering alone are likely to be modest. The engineering model changes the quality of risk assessment and loss prevention advice - it does not change the fundamental exposure of a $10 million home in a wildfire zone.
Pure chief executive Martin Leitch said the partnership should allow Pure to expand its membership over time, applying FM's capabilities to high-value homes in ways that will lower the cost of risk for members. "The combination should let Pure responsibly write risks it would currently approach with caution," he said - a specific commercial commitment that frames the deal as an underwriting expansion rather than simply a service enhancement.
