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The Best Homeowners Insurance Companies in New Jersey
Just under 9 million people currently reside in New Jersey, and of those residents, 64% own their homes. With such a large population, it makes sense to have a broad variety of insurance providers in the region to meet different customers’ unique needs. Using SimpleScore and our proprietary methodology, our team evaluated the top five insurance providers in New Jersey to help simplify your shopping experience.
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Home insurance in New Jersey isn’t the cheapest in the country, but it’s essential to have coverage. The devastation wrought in New Jersey by the 2012 hurricane known as “Superstorm Sandy” stressed the importance of having a comprehensive homeowners insurance policy. In this article, we’re sharing our list of the best New Jersey homeowners insurance companies.
The best homeowners insurance in New Jersey
- Best Overall: Amica Mutual
- Best Coverage Add-ons: Allstate
- Most Affordable: NJM Insurance
- Best Claims Processing: State Farm
- Best Policy Management: Plymouth Rock Assurance
Best overall – Amica
With a broad range of coverage options, unique discounts and high customer satisfaction, the only question you’ll have about Amica Mutual is, “Where do I sign up?”
From affordability and coverage options to available discounts and customer satisfaction, Amica Mutual offers the best overall homeowners insurance coverage in New Jersey.
Best coverage add-ons – Allstate
Leave nothing left to chance with the robust coverage add-ons available at Allstate.
Allstate provides New Jersey residents with some of the most unique and comprehensive coverage add-ons, allowing them to protect all of their belongings — yup, even the tennis racket.
Most affordable home insurance – NJM Insurance
Who said homeowners’ insurance in New Jersey had to cost an arm and a leg? NJM Insurance makes protecting your home easy and affordable.
Offering the most affordable homeowners’ insurance products in the state, NJM Insurance is a great option for New Jersey residents. But it doesn’t stop there, NJM also offers plenty of coverage options and vast discounts to make your home insurance even more affordable.
Best claims processing – State Farm
If you’re looking for a team of actual humans to help process your claim, State Farm is definitely the insurance carrier you need for your New Jersey home.
What State Farm lacks in coverage add-ons and discounts, they more than make up for with excellent customer service and superior claims-management services. State Farm not only provides you with great insurance, but its website offers personal finance tools to help you make smart money moves.
Best policy management – Plymouth Rock Assurance
Don’t let their hyper-local outward appearance fool you: Plymouth Rock has some of the most streamlined tools available for policyholders to manage their policies like a pro.
Plymouth Rock Assurance makes policy management a breeze with simple online tools designed to simplify claims filing, bill pay, and more. You can also download its app to manage your policy and file claims. If you are looking for a local carrier that understands exactly what you need in New Jersey, Plymouth is an excellent option.
Choosing your provider
Before selecting your home insurance provider in New Jersey, you’ll need to conduct thorough research on both national and local carriers. While nationwide carriers might offer a wider range of coverage options, local and regional providers may have policies that are better tailored to your specific location. In some cases, the policy you find from a local or regional provider may even be less expensive than carriers that offer products nationwide.
Local carrier
Pros
- Can be less expensive than national providers.
- Offers coverage options that are specific to your area.
- Build a personal relationship with your insurance agent.
Cons
- May not always have the coverage options you need for your home.
- May not have as many available discounts for you to take advantage of.
National carrier
Pros
- Offers a broader range of coverage options.
- Provides many discounts for homeowners.
- Offers online, mobile and 24/7 tools for customers.
Cons
- Less personal customer service.
- May pay more for coverage options specific to your region.
New Jersey’s minimum insurance requirements
Any person that owns a home in New Jersey and finances the home through a lender is required to possess a homeowners’ insurance policy. Some lenders may only require the homeowner to seek coverage for the mortgage amount. If you’re seeking replacement cost coverage, your lender might require you to insure your home for a set limit.
The amount of insurance required in New Jersey is based on your property’s value, and homeowners also need to ensure they have enough personal liability coverage to protect them from claims that others may file against them.
Flood coverage
The average annual rainfall in New Jersey is 46 inches — a whopping 1’2” more than the U.S. national average. All that water has to go somewhere, and it might just be your basement. That’s why it’s a great idea for New Jersey residents to consider adding flood insurance to their policies. Most standard policies do not include flood coverage, so it’s important to find a carrier that offers this as an add-on when researching the best home insurance provider for your New Jersey home.
Hurricane coverage
When people think of hurricane season, they typically think of Florida, Louisiana, or Texas as the nation’s hotspots. But New Jersey experiences a pretty active hurricane season as well. In fact, 2020 was a record-setting year for hurricanes in the state, and these numbers are only expected to increase, according to Colorado State University’s Department of Atmospheric Science.
That said, hurricane coverage is a worthwhile investment — especially if your Jersey home happens to be along the coastline. Be sure to find a provider that offers hurricane coverage as an add-on to their available policies.
How much does home insurance cost in New Jersey?
The cost of home insurance in New Jersey is as average as they come. According to the Insurance Information Institute, the average annual premium for homeowners’ insurance in New Jersey is $1,192 — just $19 below the national average. However, homeowners can expect to pay more or less depending on the following:
- Property Value
- Replacement Cost
- Age of Home
- Roof Condition
- Claims History
- Credit History
- Proximity to Body of Water
Even the type of dog you have, whether or not your home has a swimming pool and your marital status can factor into your final rate. One of the easiest ways to decrease your premium is by increasing your deductible. Even a small increase from $500 to $1,000 can help you save as much as 25% on your insurance premium.
New Jersey home insurance FAQs
While there aren’t any set requirements for how much insurance you need in New Jersey, it’s a good idea to have coverage that matches or exceeds the value of your property. Assess your property’s value thoroughly before seeking coverage so you know how much you need for your policy.
If you are a New Jersey resident and you own a home that is financed through a lender, you are required to have homeowners’ insurance. The type and breadth of coverage will likely be specified by your lender in order for you to receive a mortgage. If you paid cash for your home, you are not required to have a home insurance policy. However, it’s a smart way to protect your property in the event they incur unforeseen damage.
Even though New Jersey is the tenth-most expensive state to live in America, homeowners insurance is one expense that’s shockingly average for state residents. With an average annual premium costing just $1,192, New Jersey’s home insurance rates fall $19 below the national average.
Too long, didn’t read?
There are plenty of insurance providers to choose from as a New Jersey resident, but our team thinks Amica Mutual is the best choice available in the Garden State. However, we understand that everyone is different and has unique needs, which is why we encourage all our readers to conduct thorough research to find the policy that works best for them. Consider your options in terms of national and local providers, review add-on coverages and take advantage of available discounts so you can get the best home insurance policy for your New Jersey home.
For more information regarding coverage and policy options for your home, check out our Guide to Home Insurance.
We welcome your feedback on this article and would love to hear about your experience with the insurers we recommend. Contact us at inquiries@thesimpledollar.com with comments or questions.
Keep Reading
Methodology
The SimpleScore is a proprietary scoring metric we use to objectively compare products and services at The Simple Dollar.
For every review, our editorial team:
- Identifies five measurable aspects to compare across each brand
- Determines the rating criteria for each aspect score
- Averages the five aspect scores to produce a single SimpleScore
Here’s a breakdown of the five aspect scores and their rating criteria for our reviews on home insurance.
Why do some brands have different SimpleScores on different pages?
To ensure the SimpleScore is as helpful and accurate as possible, we developed unique criteria for every category we compare at The Simple Dollar. Since most brands offer a variety of financial solutions, their products and services will score differently depending on what we’re scoring on a given page.
However, it’s also possible for the same product from the same brand to have multiple SimpleScores. For instance, if we compare State Farm’s home insurance according to our criteria for the best home insurance, it scores a 3.8 out of 5. But when we compare State Farm according to the criteria for the best auto insurance, it scores higher, since the features the company offers can vary by the type of insurance.
Discounts
We looked at the number of discounts each company offers – more discounts mean a higher score.
Coverage Options
We awarded higher scores to the companies that offer more coverage options.
Support
We awarded higher scores to companies with the most channels for customer support.
Customer Satisfaction
We leveraged the J.D. Power 2019 Home Insurance Satisfaction Study℠ to see how customers rated their experience with each company. (If a company wasn’t included in J.D. Power’s study, we skipped this aspect and averaged the four remaining aspect scores.)
Accessibility
We looked at the level of accessibility of each company – the more resources they have the higher their score
Reviewed by
Nashalie Addarich
Insurance EditorNasha Addarich is an editor at The Simple Dollar and a former attorney who specializes in home insurance, auto insurance, life insurance, and savings. She is a former contributing editor to Reviews.com.
