Which Homeowners Insurance Company Is Right For You?

Overview
Does finding a homeowners insurance provider overwhelm you? The process is incredibly involved, so we’ve put together a guide to make your journey easier.

Let’s chat about the best homeowners insurance companies.

All of our recommended companies include the following coverage:

• Theft
• Fire
• Loss of use
• Personal liability

The table shows additional coverage for each brand.

Depending on your situation, you may not need a homeowners policy with every type of coverage. But there are some kinds you always need to have, like personal liability coverage. We’ll talk more about what you should look for later.

Prices for homeowners insurance change dramatically based on location, home value, home type, whether you have a pool, whether you have a pit bull . . . all kinds of things. So instead of using prices for comparison, we’re mostly going off advertised coverage. American Family Insurance advertises the most complete basic coverage.

American Family Insurance checks off more of the basic coverage we recommend than any other brand. Plus, of the companies that most impress us, it’s the only one that advertises medical coverage in case of liability for another person’s injury. That’s crucial if someone gets injured on your property or if you accidentally injure someone in another location.

American Family also offers some rare types of coverage. For instance, riot coverage. If there’s a riot that causes damage to your home, American Family will use your riot coverage to make repairs.¹ Not everyone will need or want this kind of coverage, but if it’s something that concerns you, it’s good to have the option.

Based on the website, though, there are types of coverage you can’t get through American Family. Earthquakes and tornadoes, for example, aren’t mentioned. So if you live on a fault line or in Tornado Alley, American Family isn’t your best bet. American Family also doesn’t say whether it covers high-value items, like engagement rings or expensive electronics, so you’ll want to specifically ask about them if you need that extra coverage.

American Family has a decent reputation among customers and previous customers. Its reviews have been more negative recently than in the past, but it does respond to its BBB comments. The reps always keep customer information under wraps, even on the BBB. That’s nice for customer anonymity, but it makes it hard to know what solutions the company offers.

Regardless of how good or bad the experience is, it’s easy to get in touch with American Family. If you want to contact the customer service department, you can reach the reps 24/7.

ASecureLife’s recommendation: The comprehensive coverage and 24/7 service propel American Family Insurance to the top of our list.

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USAA covers some things American Family doesn’t but at the cost of medical payment coverage and clear customer service hours.

Customers of USAA can get earthquake coverage with their policies. Like American Family customers, they can also get coverage for identity fraud. Most usefully, they can sign up for home replacement cost coverage.

Like with American Family, USAA doesn’t advertise coverage for tornadoes or valuable items. Unlike American Family, it doesn’t have medical payment coverage. So if you accidentally injure someone, you’ll be on the hook for their treatment.

Based on online reviews and BBB comments, USAA’s reputation is similar to American Family Insurance’s, maybe even slightly better. While there are typical ongoing complaints, overall, the company seems to be a safe option.

The USAA website isn’t clear about customer service hours. But in addition to calling, you can try the super-convenient live chat option.

ASecureLife’s recommendation: If you want earthquake coverage and don’t mind going without 24/7 service, USAA’s a good choice for you.

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Amica Mutual Insurance has excellent coverage, and its mutual insurance company structure could benefit your wallet in the long run.

Mutual insurance companies are owned by the policyholders. If you go with Amica, you might pay more initially for the privilege of “buying a share” of the company. But down the road, you also might get money back from dividends, essentially earning you a discount.³

We ranked Amica under USAA because of the lack of vandalism coverage on the website. For most people, vandalism is much more likely to happen than, say, an earthquake. It’s hard to justify going without that kind of basic coverage.

Amica’s responses to BBB complaints are courteous and thorough. They’re the kind of responses we’d be happy to receive if we’d filed a complaint with the BBB.

Like American Family, Amica has 24/7 customer service.

ASecureLife’s recommendation: Amica Mutual Insurance’s ownership structure could land you some discounts.

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You might be sick of Flo’s commercials, but Progressive almost lives up to its hype. This is one of a handful of well-known insurance companies that offer coverage for tornado damage. It also has valuable items coverage to protect your heirlooms and expensive toys.

Be aware that Progressive isn’t advertising coverage for detached structures. So if you have a shed, barn, or garage that’s not directly attached to your house, it may not be covered.

Progressive tends to make unauthorized changes to policies. Multiple customers complained, for instance, of Progressive automatically adding drivers who supposedly lived with the policyholder. But the Progressive BBB responses were some of the best we saw in the home insurance space. They were gracious and personalized, and they offered satisfactory solutions.

Unfortunately, like with USAA, Progressive’s customer service hours aren’t entirely clear. Currently, it looks like the only way to connect is to call.

ASecureLife’s recommendation: Progressive has a tool to compare policies before you buy.

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It’s curious that Farmers Insurance, a well-known homeowners insurance company, doesn’t seem to offer basic weather coverage. But in spite of that deficiency, this company has more going for it than J. K. Simmons’s endorsement.

Farmers offers its own flood coverage, which is a rarity in the home insurance world. It also covers earthquakes and has an identity fraud offering called Farmers Identity Shield (not to be confused with IDShield or Identity Guard).

However, based on the website, Farmers doesn’t currently cover vandalism, detached structures, medical payments, or most weather, including tornadoes.

Farmers isn’t overly lauded or overly criticized in the current reviews. Its BBB responses are incredibly detailed, giving complainants as much info as possible.

And Farmers has set customer hours. It’s not 24/7, but it’s close. The hours are 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. (CT) on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (CT) on weekends. For most individuals, that’s more than enough time to reach out.

ASecureLife’s recommendation: Farmers Insurance is for you if you need flood insurance and long, clearly set customer service hours.

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Not every brand we look at made it into this review. Here are a few other noteworthy companies.

Erie’s a runner up for us. It has 24/7 service and coverage that lets you rebuild a destroyed house in a more eco-friendly way. But it appears that Erie doesn’t cover theft, something we think every home insurance policy needs.

Lemonade’s one of the more unique homeowners insurance companies we came across. The coverage is average, though the website does offer a possible lowest price ($25 a month).

Lemonade stands out because of its payment structure. When you pay your insurance premiums, you select a nonprofit. Lemonade will donate any money you don’t use for claims to your nonprofit of choice.

We looked at 29 different homeowners insurance brands, read reviews, and examined offerings.

Most of the brands we looked at won’t give potential customers a quote until they receive personal information about the customer and the customer’s insurance history and property. For that reason, we didn’t get quotes from each company. Instead, as stated before, we compared the coverage advertised on the company’s website.

Some companies may offer greater coverage than what’s lauded on their sites; we just can’t know for sure without signing up.

Here’s the ideal coverage we recommend:

• Theft
• Vandalism
• Fire (smoke too if possible)
• Weather (generally should cover storms, hail, and lightning; may not cover tornadoes or earthquakes)
• Personal property
• Valuable items (for expensive personal belongings that don’t qualify for personal property coverage)
• Other/detached structures (such as sheds or detached garages)
• Loss of use (covers living expenses if you have to go to a hotel during home repairs)
• Personal liability (in case anyone is injured on your property or you accidentally injure someone elsewhere or destroy their property)
• Medical payments to others (ditto for injury coverage)

Some of this coverage will be included in basic plans, while others will come at a premium. In our research, we noticed that basic features varied wildly from company to company.

Some plans even cover the appliances in your home and systems, such as service lines or plumbing. Whether you need these benefits might depend on the type and nature of your home warranty, if you have one. If you don’t have a home warranty, we recommend at least looking at these kinds of coverage.

Some insurance companies offer you a discount on your policy when you install a home security system. We also have a piece that shares additional ways to save.

(If you’re looking for renters insurance, check out the best security systems for renters.)

Some, but not all, companies offer this option. It might save you money if you get home and car insurance with the same brand. But it also might not. Get a quote before moving forward with a bundle.

When you sign up for home insurance, you’ll work with a dedicated insurance agent. Once damage occurs on or to your property, contact your insurance agent. The agent will work with you to have the damage appraised and determine whether it’s a covered loss.

A word of warning: the insurance model is frustrating because the fewer claims the company fulfills, the more money it makes. Your agent might not always seem on your side; part of their job is to look for reasons to deny your claim. If your claim is denied, you’ll have to pay out-of-pocket expenses for the property damage.

You’ll also have a deductible, like with a health insurance policy. And finally, your insurance company might subtract for any perceived structural deterioration. So even if you have insurance, you might still end up facing a financial loss after repairs. But you might also get all or most of the damage covered. It can be a toss-up.

Your policy might include water damage, but if that water damage comes from a flood, you’ll want specific flood insurance coverage. Confusing, huh?

Not many insurance companies cover floods, so we suggest getting additional coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) if you’re in a flood zone.

We’ve seen it both ways. Things like horrible windstorms, earthquakes, and tornadoes may or may not be covered depending on the company and policy.

Even if your company has the coverage for such perils, you may not be able to get it. For instance, if you live on a fault line, you might be refused earthquake coverage (we know someone who was).

That sounds silly, since you need it more than the average Joe. But since earthquake damage is all but guaranteed in that situation, it’s too big a risk for some companies. If they do grant it to you, the cost will be exorbitant. Less exorbitant than replacing your entire house out of pocket, though.

Remember, prices for coverage vary based on lots of different factors. You’ll have to get quotes specific to your home to make a final decision.

An easy way to do that is to try Policygenius. Otherwise, visit our top five companies’ websites to get quotes:

• American Family Insurance
• USAA
• Amica Mutual Insurance
• Progressive
• Farmers Insurance

Sources:

1. Insuranceopedia, “Riot and Civil Commotion Insurance”
2. ValuePenguin, “Actual Cash Value vs. Replacement Cost in Homeowners Insurance”
3. Insuranceopedia, “Mutual vs. Stock Insurance Companies: What's the Difference?”