Hippo will expand the Hippo Homeowners Insurance Program into 14 additional states in the fourth quarter of 2026, increasing the program’s availability from eight to 22 states.
The additional states will be reached through relationships with national distribution partners. The program will become available beyond the newly built home channel in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The expansion follows a two-year effort to strengthen underwriting discipline, diversify the business, and revamp the company’s quoting and underwriting platform. Hippo said it is using those capabilities to selectively pursue markets where it has greater confidence in the underwriting economics.
Rick McCathron, president and chief executive officer of Hippo, said the groundwork was now in place.
“We’ve spent the past two years getting the fundamentals right by strengthening our underwriting, diversifying the business and building technology that gives us much more control over where and how we grow,” said McCathron. “We’re now in a position to selectively expand homeowners again.”
McCathron said Hippo is not following a fixed geographic rollout, but evaluating markets and distribution opportunities individually, based on underwriting economics.
Technology supports selective growth
Hippo said its updated quoting and underwriting technology gives the company more control over market entry, pricing, risk selection, and geographic exposure. Its business and engineering teams can configure rates, product details, and underwriting rules for new markets, while keeping those decisions synchronised with distribution partners’ systems.
On a per-state basis, the 14-state expansion required about 70% less engineering effort, measured in person-weeks, than the initial eight-state launch. Hippo said that efficiency allows it to respond more quickly to market opportunities while maintaining underwriting standards.
The platform also supports ongoing risk selection changes. Since the initial launch, the company has added 30 underwriting rules and can now deploy new rules in days rather than weeks. It also supports automated controls on geographic exposure and AI-assisted inspection reviews.
Diversified portfolio context
The homeowners expansion follows Hippo’s broader effort to reduce geographic concentration and build a more diversified insurance platform across personal and commercial lines.
Homeowners represented 22% of Hippo’s gross written premium in the second quarter of 2026, while casualty represented 37% and commercial multi-peril represented 29%. Hippo said the expansion gives it another avenue to grow homeowners within that broader portfolio.
In the second quarter, the company reported gross written premium of $482m, up 61% year on year. Hippo also reported $10m in net income, a 95.8% combined ratio, and an increase in its full-year outlook for gross written premium and adjusted net income.
Hippo is a technology-native insurance group operating across personal and commercial lines. Its subsidiaries include Hippo Insurance Services, Spinnaker Insurance Company, Spinnaker Specialty Insurance Company, and Wingsail Insurance Company.
