Kin Insurance, a US insurtech and primary carrier focused on home insurance for catastrophe-exposed areas, has announced two new discounts for Florida homeowners, which it says were made possible by recent reforms to assignment of benefits (AoB) laws.
The Responsible Repair Discount will offer an 18% discount on the water peril premium for an average discount of 5% off the total premium.
Meanwhile, the e-Policy Discount offered by Kin will provide another $10 premium discount.
Notably, Kin is the first insurer to say that the AoB reforms – which were signed into law in May 2019 – will enable it to pass benefits on to its customers.
“While other carriers may increase their rates, we’re lowering ours,” said Sean Harper, CEO and co-founder of Kin. “With this legislation, we can now offer a discount to our Florida-based customers who do not assign their benefits to third parties, and we’ll continue to look for ways to better serve and simplify the home insurance process for Florida homeowners.”
The AoB reforms were designed to limit abuse of the Florida system, which allows policyholders to transfer the insurance claims rights or benefits of a policy to a third party.
These third parties can then file a claim, make repair decisions, and collect insurance payments without the consumer’s involvement.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, abuse of AOB has fuelled a crisis in Florida as the state has seen a 70 percent increase in AOB-related lawsuits from 2013-2018.
AOB abuse has also cost Floridians billions in premiums to address unnecessary or overly expensive repairs, as well as legal fees.
“Kin remains committed to serving the state of Florida, which is already a complex insurance market facing natural disasters, and consumer feedback indicates a very strong desire for the Responsible Repair Discount,” Conlin, Kin’s St. Petersburg-based chief legal officer.
“We believe the majority of our Florida-based customers don’t want to assign their rights to a third party and instead, would prefer a discount for agreeing not to.”
