Hippo Homeowners Insurance Review

Best for added features

Hippo homeowners insurance allows you to buy coverage entirely online. The company also provides additional protections and perks that other companies usually don’t offer, such as water backup coverage and protection for home office supplies. Because of its expanded coverage, Hippo is our choice as the best homeowners insurance company for added features.

• Hippo homeowners insurance pros and cons
• Hippo homeowners insurance
• Credentials
• Cost of Hippo homeowners insurance
• Accessibility
• Customer satisfaction
• Hippo homeowners insurance FAQ
• How we evaluated Hippo homeowners insurance
• Summary of Money's Hippo homeowners insurance review

Hippo homeowners Insurance Pros and Cons

Pros explained

Complimentary smart home monitoring system and premium discount

When you purchase a homeowners insurance policy through Hippo, you will receive a free smart home monitoring system to protect your house against fire, water damage and theft. Once your system is activated, you can qualify for a discount on your premiums.

Coverage for jewelry and valuables included

Typically, you have to purchase an insurance rider to get coverage for jewelry, expensive computers or other valuables. But with Hippo, this coverage is included with your policy. Coverage amounts range from $2,000 for jewelry under the Essentials plan to $5,000 under the Expanded Protection Plan.

Water backup coverage included

Most homeowners insurance policies exclude water backup issues, such as damage caused by backups through sewers or drains. With Hippo, water backup coverage is included with all policies.

Customers can purchase policies in minutes

Not only does Hippo allow you to get a quote in minutes, but you can also purchase your policy quickly. According to the company, customers can purchase policies in as little as five minutes.

Cons explained

Claims cannot be submitted online

With Hippo’s focus on innovation and technology, it’s surprising that it doesn’t support online claims. Instead, you have to call a dedicated claims line at 855-999-9746.

Not available in all states

As of March 2022, Hippo is available in 37 states. It does not issue policies to residents of Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota or Wyoming.

Hippo Homeowners Insurance

Hippo’s homeowners insurance policies are underwritten by Spinnaker Insurance, which Hippo acquired in 2020, and other third-party partners. It includes many coverages that other companies typically charge extra for, such as jewelry and water backup riders. The level of coverage and included protections are dependent on the tier of coverage you choose.

Hippo has three coverage tiers:

• Essentials
• Value
• Expanded Protection

Depending on the policy you choose, the following coverages are available through Hippo:

• Home coverage: Under Hippo’s home coverage, you have protection for your house and secondary structures, such as garages or sheds.

• Liability and medical payments: If someone is injured on your property, liability insurance can cover medical expenses and property damage.

• Personal property: Personal property insurance pays for the items that are damaged or lost in your home. Under the Essentials plan, you get the actual cash value, meaning the depreciated cost of your items. For the Value and Expanded Protection plans, you get replacement cost coverage.

• Domestic worker coverage: This portion protects you if a domestic worker, such as a nanny or gardener, is injured on your property.

• Water backup: Water backup coverage pays for damages caused by the backup and overflow of water from drains or sewers.

• Equipment breakdown: This coverage will reimburse you for up to $100,000 for anything using electricity, such as appliances, HVAC equipment and even personal electronics.

Deductibles are dependent on the plan you choose, but can be customized. Deductibles for general damages range from $1,000 to $50,000, while deductibles for wind and hail damage range from 1% to 4% of the home rebuilding cost.

Additional coverage

Another benefit available through Hippo is Hippo Home Care, a complimentary service available to homeowners insurance policyholders. You can call or email and connect with a home repair expert who can help you handle home repairs or troubleshoot problems. If they can’t solve the problem remotely, they can help you find professional service providers near you.

Limitations

Earthquake, flood and wind coverage is available through Hippo, but while these are sold separately, they can only be purchased after you purchase a homeowners insurance policy.

Credentials

Hippo is a newcomer to the insurance industry. Launched in 2015, it didn’t sell its first policy until 2017. Since then, it's grown a great deal, but it’s still a relatively small company. As of 2021, its revenue was $91.2 million. To put that in perspective, consider that Allstate — one of the best-known insurance companies in the country — had a total revenue of $44.7 billion for 2021.

Hippo acquired Spinnaker Insurance in 2020, and many of its policies are underwritten through Spinnaker or third-party partners.

Financial stability

Your home is a major investment, and you need to know that the insurance company you choose to insure it is financially sound. A useful resource to review is the financial strength ratings from AM Best, a credit rating agency focused on the insurance industry.

While AM Best hasn’t rated Hippo itself, it has rated Spinnaker Insurance Company. Spinnaker has an A- (Excellent) rating, meaning that AM Best believes the company has an excellent ability to meet their ongoing insurance obligations.

Third-party ratings

Neither Hippo nor Spinnaker Insurance were included in the 2021 J.D. Power U.S. Home Insurance Study. The study evaluated and ranked 21 of the nation’s leading homeowners insurance companies.

Regulatory actions

Hippo isn’t currently facing any regulatory actions or class-action lawsuits.

Cost of Hippo Homeowners Insurance

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners reported that the average homeowners policy’s premiums is $1,396 per year, or $116 per month. How does Hippo stack up?

To give you a snapshot of what to expect in terms of premiums, we requested a quote from Hippo for a sample property in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the following coverages and a $2,500 general deductible:

• $450,000 in reconstruction costs
• $45,000 in other structures
• $245,000 in personal property
• $300,000 in personal liability
• $135,000 in loss of use
• $5,000 in medical payments

The quote we received from Hippo was $156 per month, or $1,880 per year — higher than the industry average. However, Hippo does include some added coverages most policies don’t, such as water backup and service line protection.

Before purchasing insurance from Hippo or any homeowners company, get quotes from multiple insurers to find the best rates and terms.

Accessibility

Hippo offers multiple ways to purchase homeowners insurance, including online or through insurance agents. Hippo’s customer support team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and can be reached via phone or email.

Contact information

You can reach customer service by calling 800-585-0705. Its customer support line is open around the clock, and translators are available. You can also contact customer support by emailing support@hippo.com.

User experience

Hippo is focused on technology, providing an easy way for customers to get quotes and purchase insurance online.

Policyholders can manage their policies through their online accounts, make payments and download policy documents. However, claims cannot be submitted online; instead, you have to call the claims department at 855-999-9746.

Customer Satisfaction

Hippo is a fairly new company, but, so far, it has a solid reputation for customer service.

Customer reviews

As a young company, there aren’t many reviews of Hippo available. There are no reviews at all on Trustpilot, but Hippo is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has an A- rating. It has 3.6 out of five stars based on about 140 customer reviews, which is about average for companies listed with the BBB. In reviews, customers praise the quick process to purchase a policy and the company’s rates, but there are some reviews that complain about slow claims processing.

Complaint index

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) issues complaint ratios every year that reflect how many complaints regulators received about a company compared to its market share. The industry standard is 1.0; if a company’s ratio is higher than that, they received more complaints than the NAIC expected for a business of its size.

Spinnaker’s complaint ratio for its homeowners insurance segment was 1.08 in 2021, slightly higher than the industry standard.

How We Evaluated Hippo Homeowners Insurance

To evaluate Hippo and other homeowners insurance companies, we looked at the following factors:

• Availability
• Coverage options
• Optional coverage
• Policy exclusions
• Cost
• Third-party ratings
• Financial stability
• Customer service

Summary of Money’s Hippo Homeowners Insurance Review

For those that want to quickly purchase homeowners insurance online — without having to work with an agent — Hippo could be a good choice. You can get a quote and purchase a policy entirely online in just a few minutes, and Hippo’s policies include additional coverage and benefits that other companies don’t offer.

However, Hippo isn’t available everywhere. If you aren’t in one of the 37 states where Hippo is licensed to issue policies, you’ll have to work with another company to get coverage. If you aren’t sure where to start, check our selections for the best homeowners insurance companies of 2022.