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Sunday, February 16th
Hippo claims to be a "new breed of home insurance.” They're a newer insurance company that was only started in 2016, but they already have over 300,000 homes they insure throughout the U.S. The company aims to bundle modern coverage with smart home technology to keep customers one step ahead of their problems and prevent major (and common) issues from happening.
Prevent accidents
The tagline at Hippo is, "Accidents happen? Not if we have anything to say about it.” This company not only aims to provide coverage for homes in case of an accident, but they take measures to help prevent them in the first place. Their proactive approach includes installing things like leak sensors in your home, cameras and motion detectors, and smart smoke alarms. They also provide resources for customers to do a home health evaluation, get personalized maintenance plans, and DIY guides for projects. Some of their partners include Lennar, Xfinity, Vivint SmartHome, Toll Brothers, GAF, Spinnaker Insurance Company, TOPA Insurance Company and others.
Coverage in 37 states
If you want some information about home insurance in your state, you'll be impressed with Hippo's local guides that give statistics about the average cost of insurance in your state, reference some specific pop culture details, and tell you unique things to be aware of in your area. However, although the company gives fun information about all 50 states, they don't actually provide coverage in all these places. They currently have licenses in 37 states and are working to add more. If you navigate to their help articles, you'll be able to view this list and make sure your state is included before spending any more time on their page.
Quotes in 60 seconds
If Hippo is available in your state, you can get a quote in 60 seconds by providing your address, selecting the type of coverage you're looking for, providing information on your property and occupants, and providing some basic personal information. We were given one quote through Homeowners of America that we could review. To complete the purchase or discuss more details about it, we could request a call from one of their agents.
Fair pricing, low coverage
By taking the steps to prevent homeowner issues, Hippo says they can save customers 25%. We felt like the monthly quote we were given was actually really fair and our deductible was low, but it didn't seem to provide enough home coverage for what we would need in a true disaster or total loss. Very few nitty-gritty details about the policy were provided. So there are pros and cons here, which is why it's important to get quotes from a few highly-rated companies and decide which one gives you the most bang for your buck.
Lots of canceled policies
Hippo is not rated by the Better Business Bureau since all their information was either being reviewed or updated at this time. Since they are a newer company, there aren't as many reviews or stories from people who have filed claims as we've found from competitors. One common thing we found though was that people easily were able to sign up for a policy and felt they were saving a great deal of money only to find out a couple months later that the underwriting department found issues with the policy and decided to cancel it out of the blue. We read so many stories like this that it left us not wanting to risk signing up in the first place.
Seems unsteady
We like where Hippo is going with their company and ideas. It makes sense to ensure that customers are doing all they can in their power to prevent an accident or disaster from occurring, avoiding a lot of claims and keeping costs down. However, it doesn't prevent natural disasters or so many other things that can occur that weren't predicted. We aren't confident that the company is growing and taking time to thoroughly go through and protect all the policies that they have. It seems like they cancel too often on their customers and their customer service isn't especially helpful. When you're dealing with something as important as insuring your home, stick with a more reputable company instead of taking a gamble on something that still seems unsteady like Hippo.
No one wants to imagine their home getting overrun with water damage, enduring a natural disaster, having a fire destroy their property, or having to deal with theft, but it happens. Everyone should have homeowner's insurance for peace of mind and to be taken care of in case of an emergency or unfortunate occurrence. In fact, it's so important that you can't take out a mortgage anymore unless you can prove you have homeowner's insurance in place.
It makes sense that banks don't want to hand over a loan with the risk that something will happen to the property and render the owner unable to continue paying their mortgage. Since your home is such an important asset, you don't want to risk being responsible for thousands of dollars in costs if unexpected damage or destruction were to occur. Being uninsured in a time of crisis could result in total financial ruin.
Most people don't have enough cash in the bank to cover a major portion of or even the entire cost of their home. It's probably the last thing you want to spend your money on when you're already paying a monthly mortgage. Having good home insurance is the best way to stay financially protected and ensure that you always have what it takes to repair and maintain your house if something goes wrong.
If you're a new homeowner, it may seem a little overwhelming to find an insurance policy. Luckily there are lots of companies available these days for you to choose from. Companies have gotten better at using layman's terms and really spelling out all their policies for you, so that you know what you'll be paying monthly, what the policy covers, and how to make a claim if you need to. Usually a company will offer a few different price ranges you can choose from, depending on how much coverage you think you need, and you can easily compare them to decide what works best with your budget and covers the risks that most threaten your property and surrounding area.
We've done some of the heavy lifting for you here by going over the process different companies require for you to get quotes and reviewing what people have to say about their customer service and follow-through with claims. When it comes to a situation regarding insurance, you don't want to mess around. We can't overstate the importance of being able to rely on a company that's affordable and will hold your hand while you navigate stressful situations.
Since there are quite a few insurance companies to choose from that have different types of policies, keep the following things in mind when choosing who to go with:
Top Consumer Reviews has researched the most important things you'd need to know about choosing a home insurance plan. We hope this information helps you find peace of mind knowing that one of your most valuable assets is protected. We've tried to make things as easy as possible for you to feel confident in your decision about which home insurance company to go with.
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