‘Cat-Focused’ Kin Insurance Acquires Shell for Expansion; Expects SPAC Closing in Q1

Kin Insurance, a digital direct-to-consumer home insurer that targets catastrophe-prone areas, said it has has acquired an inactive insurance carrier holding licenses in 43 states.

Kin, which has operated in Florida, California, Georgia and Louisiana, first announced the planned purchase of the licenses in July. The agreement was disclosed along with plans to go public by merging with Omnichannel Acquisition Corp., a reverse merger, or Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). The SPAC agreement is still pending, and is expected to close in the 2022 first quarter.

“Kin’s advantages are most relevant in the 40% of the country that is currently catastrophe exposed, including some of our most populous states,” Sean Harper, Kin’s CEO, said in prepared remarks.

Harper said the new licenses of the shell company it acquired will make it easier to expand into the states where it does not currently do business and allow it to reach an aggregate home insurance market worth $110 billion.

Kin expects to announce its entry into several new states in the first half of 2022.

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Harper told Reuters this summer that Kin was looking to expand into North and South Carolina and Texas, and may offer auto and life insurance, mortgages, and large appliance financing.

The newly-acquired carrier will be renamed Kin Interinsurance Nexus.

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The shell acquisition builds upon the success of the Kin Interinsurance Network, a reciprocal exchange where customers, through their premiums, insure other members and share in the underwriting profits when there are few losses. Kin offers homeowners, landlord, condominium and mobile home insurance through the network. Kin said that 94% of the $91 million it has generated year-to-date in total managed premium has been written through that carrier.

Source: Kin Insurance