Why We Launched an Insurance Carrier: A Letter from Kin’s CEO

Kin began three years ago with the idea that we could use technology to make home insurance better for the consumer.

We knew a couple things right out of the gate:

1. We could build home insurance from scratch using modern technology to make owning a home easier, less expensive, and less risky. We knew that because we had success with that pattern in some similar industries — payment processing, consumer lending, and asset management.
2. We didn’t want to provide technology to existing insurance companies. They aren’t bad companies with bad people. In fact, Kin has hired dozens of people from older insurance companies who are brilliant and agile. But legacy insurers do have lots of baggage built up over the years, which makes it difficult for them to quickly adopt new technologies or new ways of doing things.

At the time, we didn’t have the resources or team necessary to form our own insurance company. Instead we formed a partnership with a traditional insurance company that put Kin and our technology in charge of many aspects of the user experience — but not all.

That solution worked well for more than a year. It allowed us to get into market, help more than 10,000 happy customers, and prove that we are good at both acquiring users and underwriting responsibly. In total, our results are better than traditional competitors in our geographies.

But we like to move fast, and after a while, the arrangement was limiting. We wanted better solutions for claims, to cut unnecessary costs from working with a traditional insurer, and to make even better use of new data sources for underwriting and pricing — something that has always been our strength.

About a year ago, we set out to create our own insurance entity. It wasn’t easy:

1. We needed the right team. We hired people who had deep experience with running an insurance company. Many left very senior roles with big legacy insurers.
2. We had to raise the capital to create the entity. We raised the money from leading investors in the reinsurance and insurance industry.
3. We worked closely with state regulators to demonstrate our responsible plan and trustworthiness. We take compliance seriously — the work regulators do in watching out for consumers is incredibly important.

Our hard work paid off.

Today we are announcing the launch of the Kin Interinsurance Network (KIN), an insurance carrier built from scratch to provide the best homeowners insurance at the best price with the most convenience.

We have an exciting year of innovation ahead, but many things will stay the same.

We remain 100% committed to the customer, so much so that if our own insurance product is not the best option for a home, we will help place coverage with another highly vetted carrier.

We remain committed to responsible innovation. We are building an insurance company for the next 100 years — we will never take shortcuts that undermine those efforts.

Finally, we will continue to serve underserved customers: those who live in areas with risky weather and who need insurance the most.

Come see what we’re about. We look forward to impressing you.

Your partner in homeownership,
Sean Harper, CEO and Cofounder of Kin Insurance