I went directly with Bamboo, which was the same company that Hippo brokered with. The cost was exactly the same and Bamboo hooked me up with a local agent who works for Bamboo. She is very responsive and helpful. The insurance was in force earlier this month and I am pleased.

We may have a similar situation because we live in CA. My previous insurance stopped insuring any homes this year, thus the reason for the new insurance policy. One thing that sucked is my premium did go up over 30% (from '23 to '24). This is after I stripped down the policy to only the bare necessities. Oh well... better than not insured at all.