Hippo Insurance is expanding its market reach through a new partnership with Home Point Financial, a national mortgage provider.

The partnership gives Hippo access to Home Point customers so it can pitch its digital home insurance products.

Yuval Harry, Vice President, Partnership for Hippo said that the arrangement between the two companies offers a way to blend technology and service for consumers who are buying a home, for both insurers and lending agents.

“In order for the services that surround buying a home to work together, providers like Hippo and Home Point must help customers bring both lending and insurance purchase-points closer together,” Harry said in prepared remarks. “This collaboration is an excellent example of how technology can work together to create happy customers across multiple states.”

Hippo is an InsurTech startup and managing general agent that debuted in the insurance marketplace in April 2017 and has raised $209 million in venture financing to date through multiple investment rounds. Home Point Financial, a national mortgage originator and servicer, is a subsidiary of Home Point Capital LP, a financial-services holding company launched in 2014 and owned by members of management and by investment funds managed by Stone Point Capital LLC.

As part of the arrangement, Hippo’s online application process is integrated into Home Point’s online mortgage portal. The idea is to give Home Point access to home insurance billed as cheaper and with better coverage, where premiums can be paid directly through customers’ escrow payments. The deal also makes Hippo Insurance the exclusive home insurance provider offered within Home Point’s portal.

The initial rollout allows Home Point customers to purchase policies in all 20 of the states where Hippo Insurance’s policies are currently sold. Both companies claim that Home Point customers who have purchased home insurance from Hippo have saved an average of $421.00, or 32 percent, versus their previous premiums.

Customers can access and manage all aspects of their mortgage payment and escrow process through Home Point’s online portal. Home Point built a dedicated home ownership platform within its portal where customers can receive tailored quotes from Hippo Insurance and identify additional services and information to maximize the value of their home, the companies said.

Hippo’s partnership with Home Point comes a few weeks after the California startup disclosed it has acquired Sheltr, a San Francisco-based early stage tech-enabled services startup designed to provide home wellness checkups.

Source: Hippo Insurance, Home Point Financial