Kingstone Insurance homeowners insurance

Overview

Kingstone Insurance Company (KICO) is a Kingston, New York homeowners insurer that sells only through independent agents and brokers. It is almost entirely a New York company: 98% of its 2025 direct premiums came from New York policies, and the company says it was the 11th-largest writer of homeowners insurance in New York in 2025. Kingstone ranked #88 among U.S. homeowners insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written, with $216.7 million (0.11% of the national market), according to NAIC market share data.

The insurer is a stock insurance company owned by Kingstone Companies, Inc. (Nasdaq: KINS), with Meryl Golden as president and chief executive officer. Its book is homeowners-heavy, and its site says it specializes in risks that larger carriers have been backing away from in New York: coastal homes, high-value homes, and seasonal and second homes. It had 84,570 policies in force on June 30, 2026, up 9.9% from a year earlier.

Kingstone carries a Demotech financial stability rating of A (Exceptional) and has no AM Best rating, which matters to some lenders and to shoppers who compare AM Best grades.

History

Kingstone traces its roots to 1886, when the Co-Operative Fire Insurance Company was formed in Catskill, New York. It became Commercial Mutual Insurance Company in 1976 and moved its headquarters to Kingston in 1998. In 2009 the mutual demutualized, took the name Kingstone Insurance Company and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the publicly traded Kingstone Companies.

The 2010s brought expansion beyond New York. Kingstone was approved in Connecticut in 2015 and started writing in New Jersey and Rhode Island in 2017 and Massachusetts in 2018. That push did not last. In 2019 Kingstone exited commercial liability lines, and in 2023 management stopped writing all new business outside New York and began cutting that book. Its withdrawal from New Jersey was acknowledged by regulators in October 2023, with remaining policies non-renewed over two years starting January 1, 2024. Outside New York, policies in force fell from 20,695 at the end of 2022 to fewer than 4,000 at the end of 2024.

Back home, Kingstone grew by stepping in where others left. Its Select homeowners product was launched in New York in 2022. In 2024 it quoted policyholders of carriers withdrawing from the state, and in April 2025 it agreed to offer replacement policies to selected downstate New York homeowners insured by AmGUARD Insurance Company, a Berkshire Hathaway GUARD company that stopped writing admitted homeowners insurance. That book carried about $70 million of written premium, with replacement policies starting in the third quarter of 2025. The second quarter of 2026 was the most profitable in Kingstone's history.

Homeowners coverage

Kingstone Select is the homeowners product. Kingstone's site lists water backup (water backup coverage), service line, equipment breakdown, inland flood, identity fraud, personal cyber protection, scheduled property, an enhanced home-sharing endorsement for owners who rent out space, liability limits up to $1 million, and flexible limits for other structures, personal property and loss of use (Coverages B, C and D) rather than fixed percentages of the dwelling limit. Being able to set Coverage B or C independently helps a coastal owner with a large detached garage or a sparsely furnished summer house avoid paying for limits they do not need.

Kingstone also sells condo and co-op unit owners and renters policies, a personal umbrella, canine legal liability coverage for dog owners, and a landlord (dwelling fire) policy for one- to four-family rentals, including high-value and coastal rentals and homes owned through family trusts and LLCs. The landlord policy offers liability up to $1 million, equipment breakdown, service line, limited water backup and loss assessment.

On the coast, ask your agent how wind and hurricane deductibles apply to your address, and remember that flood is excluded; inland flood coverage is limited and is not a substitute for a National Flood Insurance Program policy in a high-risk zone.

Discounts and savings

Kingstone names three credits on its homeowners pages: companion auto, protective devices such as alarms, and a new home buyer credit. It also offers paperless documents and online payment through its policyholder portal.

Where it sells and recent market moves

Homeowners business is written in New York, upstate and downstate. Kingstone Insurance Company is also licensed in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Maine, but it has written no new business outside New York since 2023 and expected that business to be under 5% of the company in 2026.

Two new markets are now opening. A new subsidiary, Kingstone America Insurance Company, was licensed by Connecticut on May 1, 2026 and plans to start writing there in the second half of 2026. And in the last week of June 2026 Kingstone began writing homeowners insurance in California on an excess and surplus lines basis, through its surplus lines brokerage subsidiary, KINS Insurance Agency, with a 30% quota share reinsurance and a plan to keep California below 5% of 2026 premium. Surplus lines policies generally fall outside the state guaranty fund and rate approval rules, so read the declarations carefully (see surplus lines home insurance when standard carriers say no).

Kingstone says its 2026 catastrophe reinsurance program provides $500 million of coverage, including new wildfire protection. A harsh winter pushed its catastrophe loss ratio to 12.0% for the first half of 2026, against 1.2% a year earlier.

Claims

Report a claim by phone at 855-394-0704 or online through Kingstone's claim form; photos and documents can be uploaded through a separate claim-documentation page. Policyholders can log in to the insured portal to pay bills and view documents, or use live chat. Mortgage lenders verify coverage through LenderDock.

Ratings and reputation

Demotech affirmed Kingstone Insurance Company's A (Exceptional) financial stability rating on September 14, 2026. Kingstone does not have an AM Best financial strength rating, and its own filings list that as a business risk. Its finances have strengthened: guidance reaffirmed in August 2026 calls for a 2026 net combined ratio of 81% to 86% and direct premium growth of 16% to 20%.

Who it suits

Kingstone suits New York homeowners, upstate or downstate, who work with an independent agent and want a carrier that is actively writing coastal and high-value homes when several national and regional insurers have pulled back. Landlords with one- to four-family rentals or homes held in a trust or LLC are also a fit. It suits less well homeowners outside New York, and anyone whose lender or personal preference calls for an AM Best rating.

• Strengths: focused New York underwriter, 11th-largest homeowners writer there in 2025 by its own count; writes coastal, seasonal and high-value homes; flexible Coverage B, C and D limits plus service line, equipment breakdown and inland flood options; Demotech A (Exceptional), affirmed September 2026.
• Weaknesses: no AM Best rating; concentrated in one state's weather and regulation; exited New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts after a short expansion; new California business is written on a surplus lines basis without guaranty fund protection.

How to contact Kingstone Insurance