working with homeowners to proactivelyidentify and address potential issues so they don't become an evenbigger problem down the line. (iStock)

Nobody will argue that it's a homeowner's job to protect their home. Butinsurers have as much incentive as anybody to make sure nothing badhappens to a customer's property.

And while we all agree about the underlying logic here— less property damage equals fewer claims to payfor insurers and fewer repair costs for homeowners— insurers don't always act like they want to prevent badthings from happening.

In fact, insurers too often have the reputation of showing uponly when bad things happen.

This needs to change. Insurers aren't powerless to help prevent damage. We can — and should —become partners in homeownership. That means working withhomeowners to proactively identify and address potential issues sothey don't become an even bigger problem down the line.

Here are three ways insurers can help homeowners mitigate damageso that everyone enjoys better outcomes.

No. 1: Know the answer when the homeowner doesn't

We don't do ourselves any favors by asking for obscureinformation during the application process. It's unlikely that ahomeowner knows whether or not they're in a flood zone — or evenhow to find out.

What's worse: Including hard-to-answer questions in applicationcosts us.

Frustrated customers will abandon the application altogether.Those who power through might make their best guess, whichleads to inaccurate underwriting and can be wildly expensive in theevent of a claim. And even if we catch these mistakes, we too oftendo it with human underwriters, which is a costly, time-intensive,and imperfect process.

The solution: Use all available data to pre-fillapplications. Whether it's public data scraped from the web,purchased data, or data pulled from browser cookies, pre-fillingapplications leads to greater accuracy and less frustration forpotential customers.

Maybe even more to the point, our customers are expecting it.When was the last time you filled out your full address, or evencredit card number, online? Obviously, switching to a pre-fillapplication will mean an IT overhaul, but that's the costof managing risk today.

No. 2: Subsidize prevention efforts.

The average cost of repairing storm damage to ahome is $7,226. That's why Kin partners with companies that providewind mitigation inspections, and our customers are more inclined todo it. The inspection gives us and homeowners a rundown of howwind-resistant the home is and insight on how the home could beimproved. In turn, we can offer easy and substantial discounts forthe customers' preventative measures. Better wind mitigation alsomeans lower claims costs when a storm inevitably hits.

There are dozens of ways to subsidize prevention, which asdeveloping partnerships around smart-home technologies that willdetect pipe leaks (like Flo) or break-ins. Partner with folks who offer treeinspections to prevent fallen-limb damage. Develop a network oftrusted service providers you can refer your customers to so theydon't have to worry about paying for sub-par work when they seekhome repairs.

Subsidizing prevention can go beyond partnerships, too. Aspartners in homeownership, we can provide educational materialsthat empower customers to protect and maintain their homes.Fewer than 40% of homeowners do regularmaintenance, often because they don't know how. By providingknowledge and resources, we can help our customers minimize theirrisk exposures.

No. 3: Cut your costs and pass along the savings.

Proactively making underwriting stronger andcustomers' homes safer will translate to lower costs for insurancecompanies. And we should pass those savings along to ourcustomers.

In addition to its reputation for showing up only when badthings happen, the insurance industry is often suspected ofhoarding profits for itself while doing everything it can to avoidpaying customer claims.

We know this isn't what really happens, but we have towork to change the public's perception. One way to do that is to bethe bearer of good news: update processes and systems to reducecosts, lower prices to reflect the savings, and tell customers whythey're saving money. This will help retain existing customers andattract new ones.

An insurer is only as strong as its weakest customer.

Insurers can't know what's going on at every home they cover24/7. But we can take steps to be an ongoing presence in ourcustomers' homes. When we make it easier for our customers toreport information accurately, detect and improve areas of risk,and save money, we make their homes safer and their livesbetter. That translates to better outcomes for everyone.

Sean Harper ([email protected]) is the co-founder and CEO ofKin Insurance,an independent property insurance company that uses big data andmachine learning to provide quick, fair and accurate insurancecoverage for homeowners. These opinions are the author'sown.