We don’t like to talk about insurance, and you probably don’t either. Coverage is a bit of a unique topic in finance because these are expenses where you may or may not see any return at all. If you live under a rock or never leave your home, why would you ensure your car? Or if you are Shang Tsung from Mortal Kombat and are immortal, why would you need Life Insurance?
On the other hand, for those who live life like the other 99.9% of the world, you’ll know that shit happens, and when it does, you’ll want to be adequately insured.
They shouldn’t even call it insurance. They just should call it ”in case shit.” – Chris Rock
Good news: Technology has finally caught up to the insurance industry! Gone are the days where you have to physically appear into an insurance agent’s office, sit down, maybe take advantage of a Free Sprite because you’ll soon have to whip out your checkbook and write a check for several hundreds of dollars on the spot.
What has replaced this is a wave of what we call Insurance 2.0 services where you can be insured with barely any effort at all! Let’s start with Lemonade the renter’s insurance app that will give you a quote within minutes!
1: Lemonade
Ever want to sign up for renters or home insurance without going through any significant hoops or loopholes? It’s now easier than ever to sign up for all kinds of insurance. Well, now there’s a new company that is rising in popularity and rightfully so.
Text With Your Next Insurance Agent
Lemonade, a certified B-CORP, is an insurance company that operates much like a social insurance company. They have an app that allows you to instantly chat with an associate and give you competitive insurance rates. Their rates are low due to being fully digital (no large corporate rental space), along with being a B-CORP whereas most of the profits are used for donations and other socially conscious areas. Because it’s so accessible and user-friendly makes Lemonade a realistic competitor of the major insurance companies like Geico and Allstate.
Lemonade Pricing…
Lemonade offers one of the best pricing options you can get with an insurance company as low as $5 a month for Renters and as low as $25 a month for Homeowners insurance. These rates will vary though, depending on your home’s situation, location, etc.
Check Your Coverage
The drawback here is that they only offer a few services like rental and home insurance for now. Also, the service is only available in these locations:
- New York
- California
- Illinois
- New Jersey
- Nevada
- Georgia
- Pennsylvania
- Maryland
- Arizona
- Washington DC
- Rhode Island
- Iowa
- Wisconsin
- New Mexico
Our Experience with Lemonade
Honestly, Lemonade the is perfect renter’s insurance app. Most landlords and property managers require some sort of renter’s insurance and with Lemonade it’s easy and cheap to acquire one in minutes. You can even include your valued items like Laptops and Jewelry within the plan using its slider options once you receive a quote. It’s all seamless and actually fun!
If you are looking for renter’s insurance look no further than Lemonade!
2: Metromile
A new wave of smart insurance companies is appealing to the millennial and sharing economy crowd. We already covered one in Lemonade, a home and renters insurance company that will text with you to find the lowest possible insurance rate. With these technological improvements within the insurance field, it’s no wonder that you can now pay and go with car insurance using the new Metromile car insurance company.
Here are some reasons why you should “Pay and Go”
- UBER Driver? Pay for the work you do, not a flat fee!
- Short Commute to work? Be insured when you do happen to drive.
- Work From Home? Be insured whenever you do travel
- Quantify all of those miles you do drive so you can effectively budget
- Just want an alternative to typical car insurance and see what kind of offers they have
Metromile is ideal if you do not drive your car around too often or have a short commute. We would expect to grow with the remote/co-working spaces, and remote working capability.
How to Get Started…Really
Getting started with Metromile seems like something a bit more complicated than going the traditional car insurance route, i.e. Geico. But it’s straightforward to get started with Metromile. All you need is your car information and traditional car insurance documents like your Driver’s License. Plus, there’s no harm in getting an insurance quote from Metromile!
Once you sign up, you’ll be able to track mileage using their car plugin adapter (seen above). Plug that into the driver’s console (found in most cars), and you are off and tracking your insured mileage. Plus, Metromile boasts free roadside service and quick serving customer service.
Get a Quote (Risk-Free)
Keep in mind that Metromile only services several states including New Jersey, Illinois, California, Oregon, Washington State. They are growing in popularity though, so keep your eyes peeled for the possibility of Metromile in your area!
An alternative to Metromile would be Root Insurance. With Root, you’ll be using an app instead of an installed car device.
3: MeetFabric
As Peter Pan has taught us is that growing up sometimes isn’t so fun, and we’d always love to stay children forever. When responsibility increases, including caring for your loved ones, Life Insurance is a frequent financial topic that enters the conversation. The process of signing up for any insurance policy is filled with questionaries, guesswork, and sometimes price quotes we can’t afford. One company is looking to change the whole industry with its unique interface and speedy approval process!
From The Makers of Simple Banking
The company behind making your life easier (through secure life insurance) was started by Adam Erlebacher, one of the leading influencers behind the Simple Banking Brand. If you aren’t familiar, Simple Banking is a unique budget based bank where you can track your budget in real time, rather than focus on expenses. Keeping an uncommon interface in mind, Adam started MeetFabric because he knew that there had to be a more straightforward way to sign up for life insurance!
Sign up for Life Insurance in under 2 minutes
With pricing laid out right in front of you, and approval within minutes, MeetFabric is perfect on the go companion to get you your life insurance policy. Backed by the Vantis Life Insurance company, a well-established insurance group (since 1942), the MeetFabric app will work with you in getting started without the massive amount of paperwork.
Don’t Forget the Will
Another neat aspect of Fabric is their Will application. In case you forgot, having a Will (legal document) enables you to disburse funds or assets to the people of your choosing, should something happen to you. Fabric’s Will application is just as simple as their Life Insurance application.
There should be no question in that if you have the funds allocated per month, you should sign up for Life Insurance. It protects your family from unexpected costs, but also provides you with another essential budget item to keep in mind. With Fabric’s interface, we recommend you head over there right now and sign up!
An alternative to this app would be Ladder Life or Bestow. Both have the same concept but without the ability to make a Will, which for us made the difference. (Yes, we use Fabric.)
4: Policy Genius
One of the first innovators in this new landscape is Policy Genius. With the mission to save the average consumer money, Policy Genius connects you with a massive amount of quality quotes on insurances like:
- Life
- Health
- Auto
- Pet
- Dental
- and more
It’s super easy to use and you’ll be getting quotes in no time!
5: Cover
Insurance 2.0 apps are becoming a better alternative for the newer generations that are short on money and value time more than anything. The Cover Insurance app, which is available on iOS and Android devices will send you quotes on insurance by using your smartphone camera! By allowing this app to see the actual products in front of them, they’ll be able to gauge what kind of quote best fits your budget.
How to Sign Up for the Cover App
You don’t need much to get started, although you should probably be 18 years or older to be considered for most insurance services and coverages. Here’s what else you’ll need to get started:
- Your Smartphone with Valid Number
- Valid Driver’s License
- Current Address
- Password
You’ll need to verify this information directly using your camera. Cover does this by scanning your Driver’s License Barcode found on the back of your ID Card.
You can also Manually Enter Your Information
Once you’ve entered your Driver’s License, you’ll then make sure to enter your current mailing address, which may or may not be automatically included within your ID Card’s Barcode.
What is Covered by Cover?
What’s great about the Cover app is that you can ensure pretty much anything using the app. Ok, they won’t cover your used Water Bottle, but you know what we mean. Rule of thumb, anything over a value of $400 is an excellent place to start! Here are some examples:
- The Latest Drone Cameras
- Home Improvements
- High-End Audio Equipment
- Apple Computers (latest models)
- Jewelry
- Smart Phones
- many more!!
Generally speaking, it’s much easier and quicker to get quotes of the standard stuff you’d get insured like:
- Your Home
- Your Car
- Renter’s Insurance
- Even Your Pet!
As you can see, the Cover app does an amazing job highlighting what you can ensure and making it the best user experience we’ve tested out!
It’s Time to Use Your Camera
When you are ready to get a quote on something, it’s time to start using the next part of the app…taking photos (yay!). Since most of us know how to use a smartphone camera at this point, we’ll pretend you know how to do that. To get started with this section, first select what you want ensuring (Car, Home, etc.). We are testing out the part where the app says “Surprise Us.”
We took a picture of our might Google Pixelbook. Yes, that’s what we use to type out all of our blog pieces! When you select any option, you’ll fill out basic questions like:
- How Much is This Item Worth?
- Marital Status
- Annual Income
- Pet’s Name (if it’s a Pet, sorry Children do not apply)
After you answer them, you’ll be brought to a camera. Just point and shoot as we did below, taking a picture of our Google Pixelbook.
Not the best picture, so it’s always possible to retake it as well!
Once you are set with your preferred picture of the likely thing you want to be ensured, you then answer: “How Fast Do You Want a Quote?” For us, we aren’t in a rush to ensure a Pixelbook, since we had no clue you could do that. For others who are looking to get, let’s say, Car Insurance ready for the upcoming week, you should pursue a quicker quote.
After that, you should receive a notification of a quote through the app or text! It’s that simple!!!!
Got a Quote and Like It? Time to Pay Up!
Paying for each insurance quote is pretty easy to do, as you’ll need to sync up a bank account to pay. Cover uses one of our favorite and most secure options of bank syncing out there, called Plaid. Plaid works with companies like American Express, Capital One, Robinhood (the Investing app), and many more! It’s widely regarded as one of the top Financial Technology companies around, and a true pioneer of Fintech products.
In any case, it’s super simple to sync a bank account as you’ll need either your online bank account login (It’s Safe!). You might also be able to use a Checking Routing Number and Checking Account Number. For those who don’t know what that is, see below!
7: Hippo
Just like Along Came Polly (the movie), the story of the Hippo is a complicated one. But, Hippo Insurance is actually a super easy Home Insurance service that we can’t recommend enough. We’ve been using them for a couple of months now in our new home, and it was super easy to sign up.
- Enter your home address
- Add coverage (and see pricing up front)
- Link it to your mortgage before/after closing
Typically you’ll need a home inspection from a 3rd party to qualify for insurance…and they aren’t available in all 50 US states, but hey they’re new so it could be there soon enough!
Oh yeah, they also send a free leak detector free of charge!
Home insurance used to be a painful and long process to get, which included a visit to an office. Our process took 15 minutes and we got a free device alongside. We also had no issues contacting support (which is based in the US).
Trust us, there’s more coming!
We’ve uncovered even more insurance alternatives like Gabi Insurance and The Zebra, which offer awesome auto insurance quotes within seconds. You’ll be sure to save money by using an insurance app! Check out even more Money Based Apps through our massive list and learn how to save a ton of cash!
