SAFER was formed as a non-profit, member-owned and operated California Joint Powers Authority in 2002 to provide excess property coverage to Northern California ReLiEF (NCR), Southern California ReLiEF (SCR) and Statewide Association of Community College (SWACC) member districts. This consolidation of loss exposure was done to leverage the market and further spread the risk of loss, which has largely been transferred to the reinsurance market.

In 2004, SAFER began offering seamless excess liability coverage allowing its members to maintain much greater control over the disposition of claims and the integrity of its claims data. SAFER offers its members excess liability coverage limits of up to $25 million per occurrence.

In program year 2010/2011, the members of the SAFER JPA combined their Equipment Breakdown (EQB) coverage into one contract and transferred that layer to SAFER. SAFER essentially acts as the reinsurer, self-funding a portion of the risk with an annual aggregate deductible allowing for potential accumulation of equity based on good loss experience.

The program continues to perform extremely well for its members, which currently serves over 480 local education agencies and community college districts representing in excess of 2.5 million full-time equivalent students (FTES) and average daily attendance (ADA) and over $59.3 billion in total insured values (TIV).