Unlike other insurers who pulled back or exited California following catastrophic wildfire losses – leaving over 684,000 Californians relying on the California FAIR Plan – Kin is moving in the other direction.
The company expanded to help California homeowners find coverage in the weeks following the January 2025 wildfires, and now with condo insurance and flood coverage, Kin is deepening that commitment.
“We started helping Californians find coverage before the January 2025 wildfires and never retreated. And, since then, Kin’s commitment has only grown. Offering flood and condo insurance options are two more ways Kin helps homeowners protect their most valuable assets, in a market where it’s harder to do so,” said Kin Founder and CEO Sean Harper.
Kin offers condo coverage options designed specifically for individuals that are often turned away by their roader insurance market, including new homebuyers, properties in distressed or wildfire-prone zones, and unconventional circumstances such as coverage lapses, substandard electrical panels, or short-term rental operations like Airbnb and VRBO.
Instead of evaluating all wildfires-exposed properties the same way, Kin’s review process considers specific mitigation actions homeowners have already taken, such as creating defensible-space clearance, and fire and water protective devices.
Similarly, flood insurance remains a critical yet elusive asset for California residents, particularly since overland flooding is excluded from standard home insurance policies.
The California Department of Water Resources reports that more than 7 million people in the state reside in areas facing significant flood risks.
Nevertheless, only a quarter of those living within high-risk zones has coverage.
Residential properties are categorised into risk zones by the government flood maps, which means lenders do not require flood insurance for homes in zone X or other lower-risk designations, as a result, most homeowners do not have one.
However, because these maps are based on historical data that does not reflect California’s changing rainfall patterns, multiple homes labelled as lower-risk have flooded in recent years.
Kin’s new coverage options can help eligible California homeowners add flood coverage to their existing home insurance policy — a simpler path to protection than navigating the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), with no separate policy required.
The coverage, an endorsement on their existing home policy, does not require a 30-day wait before coverage takes effect. For flood-related water damage, the endorsement applies the same dwelling and personal property limits as the underlying home policy, rather than the reduced sublimits many private flood add-ons carry.
The National Flood Insurance Program caps Building Coverage at $250,000 nationwide, regardless of a home’s actual value. Instead, Kin’s endorsement is sized to the homeowner’s real policy limits instead.
Kin Chief Insurance Officer Angel Conlin, commented: “Flood is one of the most underinsured risks in California, and most homeowners don’t realize it until it’s too late.
“Standard home insurance doesn’t cover flood damage, and most Californians don’t have a separate policy. Kin helps homeowners find policies that evaluate flood risk accurately at the individual property level, and we can now offer a private add-on that makes it easier for homeowners to close that gap.”
