First Insurance Company to Accept Bitcoin

[John (John K.)]

I'm moving this as it belongs at the Announcements section, but feel free to post another thread here on offering insurance. Welcome! 

[kenerwin88]

Thank you very much ,

I went from wondering if anyone would be interested in purchasing insurance with bitcoin, to excited, beyond excited, and now entering a state of we-need-a-better website right NOW realization as the news has somehow even spread to Reddit.  I am finally going to bed now, I am sure I (and our CSRs) will be very busy tomorrow. 

Thank you for the support!

(Judging by the huge increase in traffic I may be upgrading our web server tomorrow as well)

[GGGGG]

Would a Bitcoin-paying customer be paid a claim in BTC or USD?

[MPOE-PR]

You know, it would be helpful if you actually looked at their website before you started posting links to warnings about starting a bitcoin business.

As far as I can tell, they are a business that is adding bitcoin support.

Please do your research first.

He's still a random user with no Bitcoin involvement, no WoT etc. The stuff in there applies to him, and let me quote for your benefit:

(And yes, of course you will think you're the exception to this rule. You are not the exception, you are just unskilled and unwarare of it. The rule is exactly about you.)

Please, stop thinking you're exceptional. It's too common by now.

[molecular]

Do you offer insurance for lenders against default of borrowers? :-)

[kenerwin88]

Good morning!

I'm working on generating the key for WoT right now (I apologize for not getting this done beforehand).  @Gab in Canada, unfortunately right now we are only licensed in the U.S., but hopefully this will change .  To GGGGG, claims will be paid out in US $, I apologize to anyone who would rather have claims paid in Bitcoins, however legally that would be impossible.  And lastly @molecular, that would be nice but we don't offer anything to protect against defaulting lenders.  Most of our lending insurance is related to E&O coverage (errors and omissions).

Ken

[caveden]

I apologize to anyone who would rather have claims paid in Bitcoins, however legally that would be impossible. 

Why? I don't think that's the case.

[kenerwin88]

Hmm.  I will look into it.  For now we will be paying claims out in US.  I'm worried that if we had a large claim, that it would be difficult to obtain enough coins to pay out in full, however perhaps it is something we could look into in the future.  The other aspect would be making sure that legally we can show that we paid the claim, and I'm not sure if that's possible yet with Bitcoin but I'll check with the owners to find out more about it.

Thank you for the suggestion!

[RodeoX]

Great service to offer the growing bitcoin community! I think next year you will be busy explaining this to other insurers as they take note of your profits.

[kenerwin88]

I sure hope so!

In regards to Bitcoin WoT, here is my public key: D3B2229A607C4CFD, my username on the web IRC is kenerwin88, and I registered a new bitcoin address with it (1DQLDDupqrgyobzatk8xfWY3uPnHZYKhYX).  To the people who recommended WoT, what is the best way for me to establish trust with the Bitcoin community, and should I be adding my public key to my signature?  Thanks!

Ken Erwin

[John (John K.)]

I sure hope so!

In regards to Bitcoin WoT, here is my public key: D3B2229A607C4CFD, my username on the web IRC is kenerwin88, and I registered a new bitcoin address with it (1DQLDDupqrgyobzatk8xfWY3uPnHZYKhYX).  To the people who recommended WoT, what is the best way for me to establish trust with the Bitcoin community, and should I be adding my public key to my signature?  Thanks!

Ken Erwin

A small discussion on the 'trust' issue: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=152456.0

[RodeoX]

Your company has an edge on trust already. I see you have an A+ rating from the BBB and some award from a professional organization. If I can buy via your website then I trust you already, as I assume you would not destroy your business to get a few bitcoins.
 

[John (John K.)]

Your company has an edge on trust already. I see you have an A+ rating from the BBB and some award from a professional organization. If I can buy via your website then I trust you already, as I assume you would not destroy your business to get a few bitcoins.
 

Yes, this.

[RodeoX]

Hey, I'm getting a dead link when requesting the PDF for a rate quote.
The link is on the auto policy page, where it says.

"Request a FREE quote today!
Click here "

I am interested in seeing your options.

[camolist]

Hey, I'm getting a dead link when requesting the PDF for a rate quote.
The link is on the auto policy page, where it says.

"Request a FREE quote today!
Click here "

I am interested in seeing your options.

this. it's a 404 error


(i just got my renewal notice from geico today..maybe instead i can go with bitcoin)

[kenerwin88]

Hi RodeoX,

Is this the link that you were getting? http://bmins.com/linked%20files/PL-HA.pdf

I just added bitcoin to our payments page (http://bmins.com/payments.html), more of a placeholder at the moment.  I was able to open the rate quote form, however it looks like the submit button is broken >_<.  I'll get it fixed ASAP.  In the meantime I can get some quotes for you if you email either a declarations page/policy (if you already have an insurance policy) or for auto:

The VIN numbers of each vehicle
Year
Make
Model

Your First & Last Name, DOB & Drivers License Number.

If you would feel better talking on the phone, our 800 number is (888)460-4478.  I'm at extension 2192.

I'll try to get the website fixed asap.  We're working on a new design that will replace the ancient layout we currently have (We've had the same look for probably the last decade).

Thank you again everyone!

Ken  

[RodeoX]

Thank you sir. The link you posted here woks for me. I'll look it over tonight.

[kenerwin88]

Ahh I figured it out.  I'm trying to move our webserver to Nginx (linux) from IIS (Windows) and I think some of the DNS records or some setting on the new server needs to be fixed.  http://bmins.com is working correctly, while http://www.bmins.com isn't.  I'll have this resolved ASAP, just trying to deal with the new traffic.  Thank you for letting me know!

[Elwar]

I will definitely switch my home owner's insurance. Although my house payments are currently escrowed, I would be willing to drop the escrow and pay everything separately if I can pay the insurance with BTC.

I already contacted my loan provider and, as I suspected, they are not willing to even entertain taking payments in bitcoin.

And I know there is no way I will be able to pay property taxes with bitcoins.

I pay a lot in home insurance since I am on the Gulf of Mexico.

[kenerwin88]

Hi Elwar (And anyone else that wants a quote on homeowner's insurance),

If you email at kerwin@bmins.com the following, I can get a quote for homeowner's insurance for you 

Name,
Address,
Current Company if you already are with someone,
Deductible,
County,
Acreage,
Responding Fire Dept,
Approx distance from nearest fire hydrant,
Last update on Roof, Furnace, Wiring, Plumbing
Any scheduled items (jewelry etc)
Finished Basement: yes or no
Wood Stove: y/n
Pool: y/n (if yes, is it fenced? does it have a diving board?)
Trampoline: y/n
Pets: y/n (if yes, which breeds)

For anyone that wants a quote for either auto insurance or homeowners, if you would rather print a PDF and fill it out, here are the forms:
http://bmins.com/forms/homeowner.pdf
http://bmins.com/forms/auto.pdf

Also, you can get discounted insurance when being quoted for both.  I'll try to get an automated form set up on our website to make it easier to obtain a quote.  I apologize for how it looks right now, this is the most traffic we've ever gotten from our website.

Thanks again everyone  ,

Ken