Openly homeowners insurance

Overview

Openly is a Boston-based homeowners insurance company in the way most people use the word, but not in the legal sense. It is a managing general agent and program administrator: Openly designs the product, prices and underwrites it, services the policy and runs claims, while an unaffiliated insurer issues the policy and carries the risk. Its legal disclosures name that insurer as Rock Ridge Insurance Company, a Texas-domiciled carrier in Clear Blue Insurance Group. A smaller share of Openly business has been written by MS Transverse, the fronting carrier owned by Japan's MS&AD. So if your declarations page says Rock Ridge or MS Transverse and your bills come from Openly, nothing is wrong.

Because Openly is not an insurer, it has no NAIC rank of its own. Its premium shows up under the carriers. Clear Blue Financial Group ranked #69 among U.S. homeowners insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written, with $306.1 million (0.16% of the national market), according to NAIC market share data, and most of that is Openly business. Openly produced about $360 million of written premium in 2024, according to Coverager's reading of statutory filings, of which Rock Ridge wrote about $350.7 million and MS Transverse the rest. MS&AD's U.S. group ranked #93 in 2025 with $199.7 million.

Openly sells only through independent agents, more than 60,000 of them in 24 states as of April 2026. You cannot buy a policy from Openly directly. Its pitch is a premium product for well-maintained homes: an HO-5 form with guaranteed replacement cost up to $5 million and $1 million of liability.

History

Ty Harris, who came from Liberty Mutual, and Matt Wielbut founded Openly in Boston in 2017. It launched first in Illinois and Arizona on a $7.65 million seed round led by Gradient Ventures, Google's AI-focused fund, aiming at homes with replacement costs of $400,000 to $5 million. Harris is co-founder and CEO.

Growth was fast. Openly raised a $75 million Series C in June 2022 and, the next month, announced Openly Insurance Company, a South Carolina carrier shell it bought and renamed, licensed in 17 states at launch. Coverager reported in 2024 that the subsidiary began taking risk in 2023 as a reinsurer of Rock Ridge rather than by issuing policies, which Rock Ridge still does. A $100 million Series D led by Eden Global Partners followed in 2023. Written premium reached $301 million in 2023 and about $360 million in 2024.

In January 2025 Openly announced $193 million of growth financing: $123 million of equity led by Eden Global and a $70 million senior note from Allianz X. Allianz Re has reinsured the program since 2023. On April 22, 2026 Openly closed another growth round, size undisclosed, led by Eden Global, Advance Venture Partners and Gradient with Allianz X participating, and expanded the Allianz Re arrangement. It named independent board members in March 2026.

Homeowners coverage

The core product is an HO-5 for primary homes (see how an HO-5 differs from an HO-3), which covers both the house and belongings on an open-perils basis. Openly's coverage page lists:

• guaranteed replacement cost up to $5 million on the dwelling;
• liability up to $1 million, plus medical payments to injured guests;
• blanket personal property of up to $100,000 per category, at replacement cost, with a zero-deductible option;
• mold remediation up to $10,000 and mold liability up to $50,000;
• concealed water seepage up to $20,000, refrigerated property up to $5,000 and tree removal up to $5,000 per occurrence.

The guaranteed replacement cost promise has limits. In Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin, the payout depends on your Coverage A limit and policy conditions, so read the dwelling settlement wording on your own form. Openly also caps total insured value for new business at $6 million in Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. Homes on a historic register are not eligible.

Optional endorsements include water backup, equipment breakdown, buried service lines, personal cyber coverage and a home-sharing endorsement for short-term rentals. Openly also writes secondary and seasonal homes and a modified HO-3 for homes rented to others, covering up to nine rental properties with a separate policy for each. It does not sell condo, renters or auto policies.

Discounts and savings

Openly does not publish a discount list; pricing comes through your agent's quoting platform from a name, date of birth and address. Because Openly sells only home policies, there is no Openly auto policy to bundle with. Your agent may still be able to pair an Openly home policy with auto from another carrier. Ask what the zero-deductible personal property option and the endorsements add to the premium before you accept them.

Where it sells and recent market moves

Openly writes in Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Connecticut and Virginia were added in 2024 and Delaware in August 2024, its 24th state. Idaho was listed as coming soon in October 2026. It does not write in Florida, California, Texas or New York.

The state count has held at 24 since 2024 while Openly re-priced. Coverager reported in 2024 that Rock Ridge had filed rate increases of around 40% for the Openly program in several states and that some agents saw fewer approvals and some nonrenewals. The April 2026 funding is earmarked for new states, deeper agency relationships and more products.

Claims

Report a claim online through the Openly claims portal, by phone at 888-808-4842 (option 2), or through your agent. Claims phone hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Openly says most policyholders hear from the claims team within a day, inspections average five to seven days from first notice of loss, and its claims staff average more than 15 years of experience. These are the company's own figures.

A managed repair program offers pre-vetted firms for water mitigation, restoration, electronics and contents repair, though you can use your own contractor. In 2026 Openly added Kyber for claims communication and claimtouch for valuing personal property claims.

Ratings and reputation

Openly has no financial strength rating of its own; the rating that matters is the issuing carrier's. AM Best affirmed the A- (Excellent) financial strength rating of Clear Blue Insurance Group's carriers, including Rock Ridge, in November 2023, ending a review opened in July 2023 after letters of credit in reinsurance deals arranged through Vesttoo were alleged to be fraudulent. Clear Blue replaced the affected reinsurance and raised $25 million of capital. Openly's disclosures still describe Rock Ridge as A- (Excellent) in October 2026. Kroll Bond Rating Agency affirmed Rock Ridge's A- insurer financial strength rating, outlook stable, on August 20, 2026. See Financial strength ratings: AM Best, S&P, Moody's and Demotech for what these grades mean.

Who it suits

Openly fits owners of well-maintained, higher-value homes in its 24 states who already use an independent agent and want broad HO-5 coverage with guaranteed replacement cost, which is uncommon outside high-net-worth carriers such as PURE or Chubb. It suits less well if you want one company for home and auto, prefer to buy direct, own an older or historic home, or live in a state it does not serve.

• Strengths: HO-5 form with guaranteed replacement cost up to $5 million in most of its states; $1 million liability and $100,000 blanket categories; A- rated issuing carrier with a 2026 KBRA affirmation; well-funded, with long-term Allianz reinsurance.
• Weaknesses: sold only through independent agents; no auto, condo or renters policies; guaranteed replacement cost depends on Coverage A in 10 states; the issuing carrier's AM Best rating was under review in 2023, and Openly re-priced sharply in 2023–2024.

How to contact Openly