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As it continues to sign new partnership deals, digital insurance marketplace Matic says it’s now doing business with more than 100 mortgage lenders, servicers and banks that together process 20 percent of U.S. home loans.
On Thursday, Matic announced a strategic partnership with USA Mortgage to integrate Matic’s insurance marketplace into the lender’s process, allowing borrowers to get personalized rates when shopping for property and casualty insurance from more than 50 carriers.
Ron Mueller
“Matic’s comprehensive carrier network with coverage across the US, and their ability to combine cutting-edge technology with an internal agency was a clear choice to meet the needs of our diverse customer base,” USA Mortgage President Ron Mueller said, in a statement.
USA Mortgage — the “doing business as” name of St. Louis, Missouri based lender DAS Acquisition Company LLC — is a nationwide mortgage lender licensed in 49 states. With more than 600 employees and 359 sponsored mortgage loan originators, USA Mortgage claims to be a top 50 mortgage lender.
Launched in 2017, Columbus-Ohio based Matic says its mortgage partners include a top 10 global bank, a top 10 U.S. bank and five of the top 15 loan servicers.
In February, Matic announced a strategic partnership with Pendleton, Indiana-based GVC Mortgage to offer home, auto, flood, dwelling fire, and other personal lines of insurance to the lender’s customers.
That announcement followed on the heels of an expansion of Matic’s strategic partnership With Paramount Residential Mortgage Group (PRMG) announced in January, which provided a new integration allowing PRMG customers to shop for insurance within the loan originations process.
Last fall Matic announced an exclusive partnership to provide property and casualty insurance products to New American Funding’s customers. In addition to originating loans from 190 locations nationwide, New American Funding is a loan servicer, collecting payments on more than 250,000 loans.
Matic also announced a partnership with Mason, Michigan-based Dart Bank to offer home and auto insurance across the bank’s mortgage originations, servicing, and banking channels.
Matic pitches itself to lenders as a tool that can help them speed up the loan process by helping borrowers cope with rising insurance premiums. Higher premiums can derail loan approvals if they push debt-to-income (DTI) levels beyond maximum limits set by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as FHA, VA and USDA loan programs.
In an analysis of 30 million rate quotes Matic handled last year, the company said that in states where rate hikes were approved, homeowners saw rates for new policies increase by 8.6 percent in 2023, up from 6.4 percent in 2022.
A separate survey of lenders found 68 percent reported home insurance issues related to a borrower’s DTI, and 58 percent said they faced delays when borrowers needed more time to secure home insurance.
Ben Madick
“While lenders have previously faced issues with delays in the home insurance process, there are several new contributing factors that are compounding the problem, including pricing, low availability, and longer customer service wait times as homeowners were forced to switch to new carriers en masse,” Matic CEO Ben Madick said in a statement.
In October Matic announced a $20 million extension to its 2020 Series B raise, including $17 million in equity funding and a $3 million upsizing of its credit facility.
Although best known as a mortgage lender, Better Home & Finance Holding Company also operates a marketplace for home, auto and life insurance through its Better Cover subsidiary.
In launching its own branded digital home insurance product in November, Better said that from 2019 through 2022, it provided $39 billion in insurance coverage from other providers through Better Cover .
Better is positioning its in-house digital home insurance product, Better Insurance, as a faster alternative to policies offered through Better Cover.
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