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Kemper (KMPR) Credits Its Customers Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

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Kemper Corporation (KMPR - Free Report) has announced that it will provide personal auto policyholders with a 15% credit toward their April and May premiums. This strategic move comes as a friendly gesture to reward the company’s policyholders as it gains from lower claims amid lesser number of automobiles plying on the road due to the COVID-19 impact.

Kemper plans to credit nearly $100 million of the auto premium. The credits will be applied directly to the policyholder's policy. If a customer has paid in full, he will receive a refund of the credited amount.

The company has been witnessing fewer insured vehicles on the road as people comply with the rules to stay home and refrain from travel as a precautionary measure against the fast-evolving coronavirus disease to flatten the curve. Personal travel has been declining for three straight weeks now, per traffic data analytics company Inrix.

This reduction in travel signifies a silver lining in the cloud for Kemper, which deals in big auto insurance business.

Year to date, shares of Kemper have lost 6.7% compared with its industry’s decline of 30.7%.

Kemper’s actions make it share the bracket of other insurers like The Allstate Corp. (ALL - Free Report) , The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV - Free Report) , Geico of Berkshire Hathaway, Chubb Limited (CB - Free Report) , The Progressive Corp. , MetLife,  et al, which are also returning a sizeable portion of the premiums to their customers.

Further, insurers are offering relief to their customers on non-payment of premium dues by halting their cancellation of coverage due to non-payments, allowing them to defer their premium payments without any penalty, giving them the choice to delay two consecutive premium payments and also permitting them to pay what they can afford. Some are also adding free coverages for identity theft, delivery services and other needs.

Moreover, regulators are asking insurance companies to return premiums to their customers in business lines, which saw a dramatic fall in the risk of loss. Some of these insurance plans include private passenger automobile, commercial automobile, workers’ compensation, commercial multi-peril, commercial liability, medical malpractice among others.

Per the Insurance Information Institute (III), auto insurers collectively announced refunds, discounts, dividends and credits totalling $8.1 billion. III  further estimates that this total will reach $10.5 billion as more auto insurers announce their offers.

Kemper Corp. carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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