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After selling billions in insurance policies from other providers, Better Home & Finance Holding Company has launched its own digital home insurance product, Better Insurance, positioning it as a faster alternative to other policies offered through the company’s insurance arm, Better Cover.
Although best known as a mortgage lender, as a provider of end-to-end services Better also offers home, auto and life insurance through Better Cover, and title insurance and settlement services through its Better Settlement Services subsidiary.
From 2019-2022, Better says it not only funded $98 billion in mortgages but provided $39 billion in insurance coverage from other providers through Better Cover.
To launch Better Insurance Thursday, Better said it partnered with insurance technology provider Sure, and underwriter Toggle, a Farmers Insurance company.
Available in Arizona, Oregon and Illinois at launch, Better Insurance will expand into Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin in the next four weeks, and the goal is “to be in all 50 states by this time next year,” Nick Taylor, Better’s head of real estate, told Inman.
Nick Taylor
“The customer can still access home insurance products from any of the carriers that we’re partnered with through Better Cover, but if they’re looking for a digital, autonomous homeowners insurance shopping experience, then Better Insurance will be their option right now, through Farmers Insurance,” Taylor said.
“The aim that we have for Better Insurance is to allow that shopper to purchase a homeowners insurance quote in five to seven minutes,” Taylor said.
He said Better Insurance is aimed at people who “really just want a very fast solution. They don’t want to have to shop quotes. They would rather just be able to get it purchased [and] locked in quickly. Or they don’t really want to have to speak to a bunch of insurance agencies. They would rather just be able to do it on their own, hassle-free.”
Other carriers available through Better Cover include Allstate, Nationwide, Safeco, Lemonade, Hippo, Branch and Stillwater. Taylor said Better Insurance’s efficient process could give it a competitive edge.
“What we think is exciting about the program is that by digitizing the process, by not requiring the customer to have to engage with an insurance agent, but being able to purchase their quote autonomously, we do think that it makes this a more efficient option for the marketplace,” Taylor said. “And when we’re able to see the impact of that cost savings, it will go back to the customer.”
Since policies will be repriced every year, homeowners who had previously passed on Better Insurance can reconsider when it’s time to renew.
“We’re really taking on the ownership for the homeowner to help them have a more competitive option through Better Cover,” Taylor said. “Our goal is to work with Toggle to have that new adjusted rate be through Toggle and Farmers, but we’re going to work with that customer and make sure that they’re getting the most competitive price, regardless of carrier.”
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