Home insurance startup Pickle is betting it can attract customers with better education on the value of home coverage, as statistics reveal about 60% of homeowners in the U.S are underinsured.
The company did its own research, along with the National Climatic Data Center’s survey “Quantifying Uncertainty and Variable Sensitivity” and concluded many cases are underinsured because customers “simply don’t know what’s covered, or not, and are too afraid to ask,” says Paul O'Connor, company founder.
His goal to bring education, transparency, and customization to homeowners. Giving them the resources to take charge of their policies and home protection with what fits their specific situation.
“We want to engage our customers to provide us with feedback – not just to help people take care of their homes but also to get their support and guidance in making Pickle work better for everyone,” says O’Connor. “With our customizable policy selection, we make sure that the customer journey is at the heart of everything we do.”
One of Pickle’s educational tools used is Know Your ZIP, designed to illustrate home characteristics through a variety of data sources. “We’re deploying sophisticated approaches to learn what does and doesn’t work for consumers to make sure we’re always developing a better product for them,” shared O’Connor. “We’re doing everything we can to make our data work for our customers through continual monitoring, testing and refinement.”
On its site, Pickle’s policies are designed to give consumers the ability to get more accurate pricing. “Pickle wants homeowners to feel like they’re in control of their policy, through understanding their needs and protecting their most valuable asset; Your home is your most valuable asset – so why choose cheap and fast insurance coverage that you don’t understand?”
Chicago is Pickle’s first launch site due it being the city “that we know and love” but also because its a “incredibly collaborative community so we want to encourage homeowners to guide us in what works best for them so we can tailor our offerings to better serve the rest of the country,” says O’Connor. “We believe we can build a successful business and change the way the industry operates.
