Hippo, the California-headquartered, homeowners focused InsurTech, has entered into a definitive agreement, pending regulatory approval, to acquire Spinnaker Insurance Company.
Founded in 2015, Hippo looks to transform home insurance and ownership by providing a more efficient and affordable service to U.S. homeowners.
Since 2017, Hippo Insurance Services has partnered with Spinnaker as its largest carrier platform, with Hippo products that are backed by Spinnaker currently available in more than 18 states across the U.S. The partnership was Spinnaker’s first with an InsurTech, and enabled Hippo to leverage the national P&C insurer’s admitted platform to deliver its modern home and condo insurance solutions.
The acquisition, which sees Spinnaker become part of the Hippo family of companies, shows the alignment between the pair and the strength of the partnership built over the last three years.
For Hippo, the acquisition enables geographical expansion of its modern home insurance policies, which also include smart home monitoring kits.
Spinnaker was a program and fronting service specialist, fronting business for other capacity, which it seems it was doing for Hippo. The company launched in 2015 by ex-Arch Re Ingrey family members, and focuses on writing P&C exposed programs from U.S. homeowners and specialty business lines. Spinnaker is licensed in all 50 states and rated A- (Excellent) by ratings agency A.M. Best.
Rick McCathron, Chief Insurance Officer at Hippo, commented: “Bringing Spinnaker into the Hippo family is a natural next step in growing our proactive home insurance offering. Spinnaker knows the complexities of our industry, mirrors our same standards for technology innovation and customer experience and has continued to meet, oftentimes exceeding, our expectations over the years. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made as partners and look forward to closing the acquisition.”
Following the acquisition, Hippo Insurance will still operate as a managing general agent with some of its premiums to be underwritten by its affiliate Spinnaker, and the balance underwritten by other partners. Operating independently under the Hippo umbrella, Spinnaker will maintain its position as a best-in-class program and fronting company.
Additionally, Hippo states that Spinnaker will continue to service a diverse portfolio of top-quality program administrators and drive the growth of its value-added program platform.
Spinnaker’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dave Ingrey, said: “Spinnaker is excited to join the Hippo family. Since launching in 2015, Spinnaker has pioneered the concept of value-added fronting: working to create products that benefit the policyholder, the producer, the insurer, and the reinsurer.
“We know Hippo shares these ideals and we appreciate their relentless pursuit of innovative ways to grow their value proposition for all their customers. Spinnaker is very excited that as a result of this transaction, we can continue to transform the customer experience in ways that will help both companies, as well as all our current and future business partners.”
Earlier this year, Hippo announced the expansion of its reinsurance panel and the establishment of its own captive.
