A Chicago-based startup is looking to make applying and getting homeowners insurance much easier.
Kin Insurance, which was founded by Sean Harper, Lucas Ward, Jason Heidcamp, and Sebastian Villareal, is merging the insurance world and the digital age. Kin is making it easier than ever to insure a home, and the company’s app is targeted primarily to Millennials and those who may have no idea what they’re doing. These entrepreneurs believe Millennial home buyers will be more comfortable buying insurance through an app than in person.
The average person moves 12 times in their lifetime, and Millennials are especially prone to migration. College education is a major factor in how likely a person is to move, with nearly three quarters of college graudates changing location at least once.
Now, Millennials are finally settling down and buying homes in greater numbers, and Kin wants to find them when they do.
How Kin works is easy — their app enables homeowners to insure their home with just a click of a button. All the information they source on the home comes from a variety of online sources, and Kin relies on self-reported information from past homeowners. This wide array of information makes it easier than ever for the homeowners to bypass filling in boring details about their home — such as the number of windows they have or the type of shingles on their roof.
Kin believes their best asset is the fact that their insurance approval is automated. This means that there is a lot less paper pushing and overhead from multiple insurance companies, and applicants will get their results in less than one hour after filling out their simple questionnaires.
“Usually it will take around an hour of form filling to get your application submitted… Depending on the situation, it can be another 6-10 communications to get the whole process done,” Harper, one of the founders of Kin explained to TechCrunch. “For us it’s just three clicks.”
When applying for homeowners insurance, there are four factors that will influence the cost. They include the estimated cost to rebuild the home if it was destroyed, the home’s age, the neighborhood’s fire protection rating, and the applicant’s personal claims history. But the biggest problem, according to Harper, is not the cost of applying, it is how the insurance is sold.
Most homeowners purchase insurance through brokers and agents. However, Millennials, who are buying homes in greater numbers, don’t want to go through the same process their parents did. That’s where Kin can step in, giving homeowners one less thing to think about when it comes to purchasing a home.
Kin officially launched in the beginning of August with a $4 million investment backing. Their primary market is in Flordia, but the founders believe that within a year, Kin will be available nationwide.
