Kingstone Expanding into California on an E&S Basis

Kingstone Companies Inc. is expanding into the California homeowners insurance market on an excess and surplus lines basis, the company announced.

Kingstone announced the move and a partnership with ZestyAI to deploy property-level wildfire risk analytics as part of the expansion.

Kingstone said its California strategy builds on the operational and underwriting transformation the company has executed over the past four years, which include pricing flexibility to apply forward-looking wildfire models, setting rates to achieve target margin requirements, and maintaining strict underwriting standards. The company is maintaining a 30% quota share on its California business to manage net exposure during the initial scaling period.

Kingstone is a Northeast regional property/casualty insurance holding company whose principal operating subsidiary is Kingstone Insurance Company. KICO is a New York domiciled carrier writing business through retail and wholesale agents and brokers.