Most insurance policies come with mandatory fees, and we want to be as transparent as possible about the charges you might find in your policy. Depending on where you live, you may see the following fees: EMPA, FIGA, installment fees, inspection fees, and surplus contributions. Let’s take a look at each.
When you buy a policy from Kin and you’re a Florida resident, you will see a flat $2 fee in your premium breakdown. This is the EMPA fee.
This fee only applies to policyholders in Florida. By state law, a flat $2 for each Florida homeowners insurance policy sold must go toward the Emergency Management, Preparedness, and Assistance Trust Fund. This fund helps pay for emergency management activities (e.g., when a big hurricane hits and the state must quickly assist citizens).
If you have a taste for legal jargon, you can read up on the statute .
Once the policy is issued, the fee has been fully earned and is non-refundable, even if you cancel the policy shortly thereafter.
The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, or FIGA, is a nonprofit organization established under Florida law that protects Florida property and casualty insurance policyholders by handling any outstanding claims if their insurance company fails and becomes insolvent. Sometimes FIGA needs additional funds to resolve outstanding claims, so it periodically requires member insurance companies to collect assessment surcharge fees from their policyholders.
Because several insurance carriers became insolvent, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has ordered an additional FIGA assessment surcharge fee in 2022 to cover the cost of claims left behind by failed insurance companies. The result of this assessment will cost you 1.3 percent of your total homeowners insurance premium, not including other taxes and fees.
This is in addition to the 0.7 percent FIGA assessment surcharge that was implemented earlier this year - adding up to 2 percent of your premium in FIGA assessment surcharges. If you choose to pay your premium in installments, then the total fee will be added to your first payment.
As required by law, this FIGA fee:
If you opt to pay your premium in installments – typically, the options are 1, 2, or 4 installment payment plans – installment fees apply. The amount of the fee varies by state to account for transaction costs. For homeowners insurance in Florida and Louisiana, it’s $3 per installment and in California, it’s $7 per installment.
Most home insurance companies, especially those in catastrophe-exposed states, require a home inspection to ensure the home doesn’t have existing damage and that it meets underwriting requirements. We make this super easy by offering self inspections in Florida and Louisiana that cost $15. But if you want an inspector to come to your house, an exterior inspection costs $25 and an interior and exterior inspection costs $57.
In California, exterior inspections are $24, exterior and interior inspections are $44, and if you have a high-value home, the inspection is $175. A wildfire inspection is $64.
When you buy a policy from our carrier – the Kin Interinsurance Network – the policy includes a surplus contribution. This fee is approved by Florida regulators and is 10 percent of your premium. It’s used for claims and carrier operating costs only – we don’t make any money off of or take a percentage of this contribution.
In fact, a surplus contribution can save you money over time. The more reserves we have to pay claims and cover operating costs, the lower we can keep our prices.
This fee is refundable on a prorated basis if the policy is canceled.
Our fees are never hidden – we want you to know exactly where your money goes. If you have additional questions, feel free to send them our way at marketing@kin.com.
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