Scout InsurTech Interview with Fair Warranty

Fair Warranty is an auto warranty carrier built to deliver transparent, affordable vehicle protection directly through insurance agencies and credit unions. They cover over 1,000 parts across personal, commercial, and rideshare vehicles, offering consumers a straightforward claims experience and repair costs paid directly to the shop. Chris Luiz sat with VP of Insurance and Distribution, Clinton Houck, to learn more about how Fair Warranty is reimagining vehicle protection for drivers and the independent agents who serve them.

Who are your clients?

Our end customers fall into three core buckets. The first is personal vehicle use, which is how most people think about warranty products. We cover the everyday driver when they experience a sudden breakdown. The second is commercial use, specifically small commercial and utility vehicles like work trucks, heavy duty pickup trucks, work vans, and sprinter vans. The third is the rideshare driver. Most traditional warranty products sold through car dealerships exclude coverage the moment you use your personal vehicle for rideshare. We built a product that fits that customer specifically.

On the distribution side, we partner primarily with insurance agencies and credit unions. We made a deliberate decision to go through those channels rather than dealerships because we believe there is a stronger relationship and better product market fit when a trusted advisor serves as the intermediary between us as a warranty carrier and the end customer. We look for insurance agencies that want to add new lines of business and offer a more complete vehicle care solution alongside their traditional auto insurance products.

What does your product do?

We are an auto warranty carrier. If a vehicle experiences a sudden breakdown in the course of everyday use, we are there to cover the cost of repairs. That includes transmission, engine, brakes, electrical, up to 1,000+ parts on vehicles. About 58% of the U.S. population would have to pay on credit or go into debt if an unexpected $1,000 auto repair bill came up. Our product is designed to eliminate that shock cost for consumers.

Was the company born from within or outside of the industry?

Fair Warranty was born outside of the insurance industry. Our founder and CEO, Will Betteridge, comes from the automotive world. He was part of the team at Cruise within GM and later served as an entrepreneur in residence at Antler, where he identified the opportunity to create a better warranty experience than what currently exists. Quite honestly, the customer experience that the average consumer has with warranties makes insurance feel extremely trustworthy by comparison. Will saw an opportunity to distribute through an industry built on ongoing customer relationships and a genuine interest in managing the full risk profile of a household or commercial account. That is where insurance came in as our primary distribution channel.

What growth metrics have you accomplished over the last 12 months?

We started as a company just about two years ago and began producing in earnest with initial partners at the end of last year. Quarter over quarter, we are growing 100 to 200% in gross written premium. One of our larger partners is writing $20,000 to $30,000 in new business premium per week, and we are currently on a run rate target of over $6 million in written premium for this year. Importantly, we are growing intelligently. Our chief actuary has an actuarial background spanning 10 to 15 years, and our pricing reflects that discipline. We have very strong loss ratios, enabling competitive pricing and stable underwriting.

Within your domain, what is the current challenge that the industry is facing?

There are two distinct challenges, one on the warranty side and one within the independent agency channel.

On the warranty side, the product is sold primarily through car dealerships, where the focus is on selling the car. Warranty gets bundled into the financing conversation while the customer is trying to sign documents and get out the door. Beyond the sales experience, the warranty industry today operates through multiple layers of resellers. There are only five or six true warranty carriers in the market, and everything else is built on top of resellers of resellers. If a consumer needs to file a claim, they may have to work through three to four intermediaries before reaching the actual carrier. That creates a genuinely poor customer experience. There is also a pricing problem. Unlike insurance, warranties are not regulated by a department of insurance, so intermediaries add fees at each layer and can mark up the actual cost of coverage from 100% to 400% without the consumer knowing.

On the insurance side, technology is finally catching up to the industry. Agencies are integrating APIs into their CRM and AMS platforms, and the most forward-thinking ones are finding real applications for AI to remove back office tasks that previously consumed significant time. As these efficiency gains take hold, there is a real opportunity for agencies to add complementary lines of business, sell deeper into accounts, and shift from being a P&C only insurance solution to being a complete risk advisor.

How does Fair Warranty take a unique approach to providing value?

Because we are a true warranty carrier writing on our own paper, we can charge the actual cost of coverage at a fair rate rather than layering on intermediary fees. By distributing through insurance agencies and carriers, we work with partners who have a vested interest in operating in good faith with their customers. Those partners have other lines of business with the same customers and want to retain them for years. That means when a claim comes in, the customer already has a trusted point of contact. We are not just creating a better warranty product. We are creating the kind of customer experience that the warranty industry should have been providing all along, while simultaneously helping independent agencies build a stronger and more complete business model.

What inspired the team to start the company?

From Will's perspective, it came down to his background in the automotive world and his genuine passion for vehicles. He identified a clear need and opportunity to build something better in the warranty space. From my side, having spent my career in insurance as an agency owner, working for a carrier, and building a couple of insurtechs, I have seen firsthand how technology is beginning to unlock new possibilities for independent agencies. There is a massive opportunity to take the relationships and reputation that agencies have built over generations and extend that value beyond the auto accident, helping customers protect themselves in ways the industry has not historically delivered.

Can you share any goals for the next 12 months?

Our biggest goal is to activate the insurance channel in a meaningful way. We are actively looking to partner with agencies, brokers, networks, MGAs, MGUs, and carriers to establish Fair Warranty as a recognized line of business within the insurance industry. We have aggressive premium growth targets as a carrier and will have more to share on those as we approach year end. But the immediate priority is building strong, lasting distribution partnerships through the insurance channel.

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