End result of findings and study: Hippo homeowners insurance is 17% lower than its competitors for comparable policy.
Hippo back-story
Hippo was founded by Assaf Wand a former McKinsey consultant and Eyal Navon, an entrepreneur with an extensive background in software engineering. Wand’s interest in homeowners insurance was inspired by his father’s lengthy career in the “antiquated insurance industry”.
The company was founded in 2015 and launched in California in 2017.
It has raised money from leading investors such as Comcast Ventures and is now publicly traded (NYSE: HIPO).
As of this writing, it’s no longer a Unicorn with a market capitalization of $795M.
The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA and has its customer service and insurance operations centered in Austin, TX.
Hippo online quoting
Hippo’s focus is to provide transparent and accurate quotes in less than 60 seconds. Only 50 seconds longer than SELFi’s AccuRate!
By empowering the insurance shopper to compare online, it reduces overhead and enables Hippo to operate at lower margins. Very similar to SELFi’s business model for mortgage.
Based on our review, Hippo insurance quotes are 17% lower than its competitors. The average policy costs $1,761 per year, or $147 per month. That’s $89 less per year than Lemonade, a competitor that we compared.
Minimum Coverage
All of Hippo’s homeowners insurance policies include coverage for up to $100,000 for appliances in the case of electrical or mechanical failure. The majority of competing home insurers have additional charges for such coverage.
Hippo state availability
Hippo insurance is currently available in 38 states. Unlike most providers, Hippo only offers homeowners, condo, and landlord insurance. They do not offer car insurance so you are unable to bundle home and auto.
Hippo insurance is not available in the following states:
Hippo Discounts
Hippo offers discounts that are not untypical of homeowners insurance companies but they also offer other discounts that are less income in the insurance industry, including:
- Affinity discount
- Claims free
- Companion policy discount
- Early shopper
- Fire extinguisher
- Hail-resistant roof
- Homeowners association
- Interior sprinkler system
- No mortgage
- Recent home purchase
- Smart home
- Storm shutters
- Theft protection device
Hippo Home Coverage
- Equipment breakdown. An exciting feature unique to Hippo involves all home insurance policies providing up to $100,000 of appliance coverage. This enables you to fix or replace units damaged by mechanical or electrical failure. The deductible for equipment breakdown coverage is $500.
- Extended Dwelling Coverage. If your home is destroyed by a covered event, such as vandalism or a fire, extended dwelling coverage pays up to 25% more than your policy’s dwelling coverage limit. This helps protect against unanticipated costs, such as material or labor expenses.
- Home Office and Computer Coverage. Something relevant for the work-from-home homeowners, Hippo provides up to four times as much protection for your computer and various other home office technology as nearly all competitors. Hippo includes coverage for a computer for up to $8,000 – the typical coverage is $2,000.
- Service Line Insurance. Hippo’s home insurance policies cover the costs of repairing any damage to a water, sewer, or electric line connecting your property to the street. This type of protection typically involves the purchase of an additional endorsement or standard policy.
- Water backup coverage. Hippo water backup coverage provides up to $5,000 of protection against damage triggered by water backup from drains or sewers. This does not cover flood.
- Home Care Program. Hippo offers policy holders access to its home care program, where homeowners are able to get maintenance or repair advice from home care professionals regarding a number of topics ranging from painting to plumbing.
- Additional coverage. Homeowners have the opportunity to enhance their policy with higher limits on several of the coverages listed above. Extra protections can also be added, such as total replacement cost for your belongings, or mortgage payment protection, which offers up to $1,500 per month to cover your mortgage in the event your home turns out to be uninhabitable.
Hippo Ratings and Reviews
In contrast to traditional insurance companies, Hippo does not underwrite the insurance policies it sells. Rather, it sells policies for two partners: Topa Insurance Company and Spinnaker Insurance Company. This of course means that one of these two companies may service your policy and process all claims made.
- Spinnaker services policies across all of the states where Hippo sells insurance, while Topa is limited to eight states.
- Spinnaker has considerably more positive customer service reviews than Topa.
- According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Spinnaker receives a standard number of customer complaints for an insurer of its size. However, Topa receives 40 times as many complaints, taking its size into account. More than anything, the complaints against Topa are regarding delays in the claims process and unsatisfactory settlement offers.
- A positive aspect regarding both companies is that they have an “A-” (Excellent) financial stability rating from A.M. Best, which indicates that they have the ability to pay out claims, even in challenging economic situations.
- To contact Hippo, prospective policyholders can visit Hippo’s website or call its customer service phone number at (800) 585-0705.
Shopping homeowners insurance could help you reach your financial goals sooner.
SELFi is not a licensed insurance company, agency or broker. Our site may include links that take you to another website and result in us earning a fee, however, our compensation is never tied to whether you purchase an insurance product.
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