Hippo Review

Suitable For?

Hippo provides home insurance for the modern homeowner. These days, many homeowners use their home as a home office or place of work—and they have the equipment to prove it. Hippo provides 4 times higher limits on coverage than the average for computers and home office equipment. Plus, Hippo’s home insurance policies come with a complimentary smart home monitoring system and a discount for eligible homeowners.

What Coverage Includes

Hippo’s “smart home insurance” comprises traditional home insurance plus enhanced coverage for things like home office equipment and electronics.

Here’s the full breakdown:

• Coverage for your home and other structures on your property
• Coverage for certain possessions inside your home
• Liability coverage (e.g. covers you if someone is injured in your home)
• 4 times higher limits on coverage for home office equipment and electronics than traditional policies
• Repair or replacement for appliances and electronics, e.g. TVs, water heaters, HVAC equipment
• Complimentary smart home monitoring system 
• Enhanced coverage for water backup or overflow from drains and sewers
• Enhanced service line coverage for the gas, water, and sewer connections between your house and the street
• 25% more rebuilding coverage than traditional policies
• Coverage for house cleaners, babysitters and other people who help you run your home
• Full replacement costs for certain items, i.e. coverage based on an item’s cost today, not based on its depreciated value in the future
• Coverage for increased costs stemming from local regulations and laws

Optional Add-Ons

Hippo’s standard coverage contains more features than most, leaving little need for add-ons. However, there are a few things for which you’ll need to pay extra. All extras are added to your policy so you can keep track of them in one place.

• Earthquake coverage, through partnering insurance company Palomar
• Flood coverage, through partner Neptune Flood and the National Flood Program
• Wind damage, offered to Texas residents only through partner Velocity
• Coverage for multiple properties
• Coverage for up to 10 investment properties to CA, AZ and NM residents.

You don’t need to have a Hippo homeowner policy to purchase investment property coverage, although existing customers do get a discount.

Discounts

Hippo offers a decent range of discounts, including:

• Early signing (before your previous home insurance ends)
• New home purchase
• Being mortgage-free
• Not filing any claims for 10 years
• Agreeing to install and activate a smart home security system

Application Process

Getting a quote from Hippo takes less than 60 seconds, making this possibly the quickest service in the industry. All it requires is filling out a few details, such as your home address and whether you live in the home or rent it out. Hippo does the rest, drawing from public information about your things like the home’s square footage, roof type and construction type, to calculate the premium.

Applications are taken online or over the phone. Hippo currently serves homeowners in 34 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Conneticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. 

How Safe is It?

Hippo policies are underwritten by insurance partners with A- ratings from A.M. Best. Hippo works exclusively with top-rated insurance partners. They are all rated “A- Excellent” by A.M. Best, the gold standard of the industry and are reinsured by insurance giants with nearly $200 billion in assets. In each case, Hippo is transparent about the partner and their security credentials.

Help & Support

Hippo offers phone support during extended business hours. Its Claims team can also be contacted during extended business hours. To file a claim outside of business hours, leave a message and a staff member will get back to you as soon as possible. While Hippo has generally positive reviews from customers, one downside is it doesn’t offer online claims support. The only ways of filing a claim are by phone or email.

Support: (800) 585-0705. From 6:30 am CT on Monday - 24 hours a day - until 7 pm CT on Friday

Sales: (877) 838-8866. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Claims: (855) 999-9746. Monday - Friday, 7am to 8pm CT

Mailing address: P.O. Box 1265  |  Palo Alto, CA 94302 United States

Summary

It’s easy to see why Hippo is one of the fastest growing brands in home insurance. While most insurers are still focused on traditional coverage for home and possessions, Hippo goes several steps further and provides enhanced coverage for all those things the modern homeowner needs. It's worth nothing that Hippo’s prices are competitive, it takes less than 60 seconds to get a quote and you can purchase your policy online in as little as five minutes.