The Best Homeowners Insurance Companies for 2019
by Mike Jelinek Updated on 09.20.19
If you’re a homeowner, you’ll need homeowners insurance. It protects your investment and ensures that your finances aren’t ruined if something happens to your property. There are dozens of national and regional insurance companies who want your business, and the options can feel overwhelming. With all those choices, how do you find the best home insurance provider — with the best coverage at the best price — for your home?
For some readers, price will matter more than any other criteria. If you’d simply like to find the best home insurance rates in your area, you can easily compare homeowners insurance quotes online (and for free) using The Simple Dollar’s quote tool below:
While price is certainly important, there are some other factors to consider when choosing a homeowners insurance policy. After all, we’re talking about protecting the place you live and what is likely to be your single biggest investment.
Even though price is certainly important, there are some other factors to consider when choosing a homeowners insurance policy. After all, we’re talking about protecting the place you live and what is likely to be your single biggest investment.
In this article:
- The Top 5 Homeowners Insurance Companies For 2019
- Choosing The Best Home Insurance Company
- Homeowners Insurance Rates By State
- Which Factors Determine Homeowners Insurance Rates?
- What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover?
- Important Things To Keep In Mind
- The Bottom Line
The Simple Dollar’s Best Homeowners Insurance for 2019
When it comes to home insurance, most homeowners want a high-quality policy from a reputable company that will be there when they need them. The best homeowners insurance companies offer affordable pricing, policies that can be tailored to individual needs, transparent, and a reasonable claims process.
To determine the best home insurance companies of 2019, we started with J.D. Power’s 2018 U.S. Home Insurance Study. This survey of more than 14,000 consumers compared homeowners insurance companies in terms of their quality, customer satisfaction, policy offerings, and price point. We also gave preference to companies that offered homeowners insurance on a national level. Here are our top picks:
The Top 5 Homeowners Insurance Companies for 2019
1. Amica Mutual
Amica Mutual earned the top spot on our list of best homeowners insurance based on their performance in J.D. Power’s 2018 U.S. Home Insurance Study. This company received high marks in all categories covered, including customer satisfaction, policy offerings, price, billing process and policy information, interaction, and claims. It placed at the top of the J.D. Power rankings for the 17th consecutive year.
Amica Mutual offers homeowners insurance policies that can be tailored to meet your unique needs. They offer discounts for customers who bundle other policies such as auto insurance, and they report an A+ rating for financial strength and claims payment ability from A.M. Best Company. Amica Mutual also boasts a 95% retention rate, meaning that most consumers who switch their homeowners policies to Amica Mutual choose to stay with the company.
2. Erie Insurance
Erie Insurance also received high marks in the 2018 J.D. Power survey. While they received at least 3 out of 5 stars in every category, Erie scored particularly well on price — specifically, how their customers viewed pricing in relation to their level of coverage.
Erie promises 24/7 customer service and around the clock help with claims along with guaranteed replacement cost of your home in the event you need to file a claim. Erie also allows customers to make selections when putting together their policies to fit their needs. In addition to basic homeowners insurance, customers can add extra coverage for earthquakes, flooding, water backup and sump pump overflow, jewelry and high-end valuables, and more.
Erie Insurance is the 9th largest homeowners insurance company in the U.S. and the company received an A.M. Best rating of A+ for its financial stability.
3. State Farm
State Farm is another national company that offers homeowners insurance along with auto and life insurance options. They earned above average ratings in each of the categories assessed in J.D. Power’s Home Insurance Study, including price. State Farm also offers discounts for consumers who bundle several policies in some states, along with discounts for home security systems, impact-resistant roofing systems, and choosing a higher deductible.
Like some other companies on this list, State Farm gives customers flexibility in their policies. You can add special riders to your homeowners insurance policy, for example, and you can boost coverage amounts and move your deductible up and down to achieve your desired premiums.
Also note that State Farm has achieved excellent ratings within the insurance industry, including an A++ rating from A.M. Best and an AA rating from S&P Global Ratings for their financial strength.
4. Allstate
Allstate is another national insurance firm that offers personalized coverage for homes, autos, rental properties, recreational vehicles, and more. Allstate received better-than-average marks in J.D. Power’s Home Insurance Study, and they received an A+ rating from A.M. Best for their financial strength as a company.
Allstate lets homeowners pick and choose from their selections to create policies that meet their unique needs, including the ability to add extra coverage for floods, identity theft restoration, and more. They also offer special savings and discounts for customers who haven’t filed a claim, and their Claim-Free Bonus feature could help you qualify for bonus savings in uneventful years.
While Allstate features many brick and mortar offices around the country, they also have a robust online platform and tools that can help you file claims and pay premiums online.
5. Farmers Insurance
Farmers Insurance made our list of best home insurance companies based on their performance in J.D. Power’s Home Insurance Study and their recent ratings. Not only did Farmers Insurance pull in solid rankings with J.D. Power, but they received an A+ rating from A.M. Best for their financial strength in early 2018.
Farmers Insurance has three different levels of coverage for consumers who purchase their homeowners insurance policies — standard, enhanced, and premier. Where their standard policies are geared to families just starting out, enhanced policies include higher coverage limits and extra features. Their premier policies, on the other hand, include the highest limits on coverage and personal property and can even include guaranteed replacement cost coverage for your home if certain requirements are met.
Like Allstate, Farmers offers special discounts for customers who remain claim-free. You may also receive $50 toward your deductible each year your policy remains in force along with “claim forgiveness” if you’ve remained claim-free for five continuous years.
Choosing the Best Homeowners Insurance Company
Price
To get the most accurate estimate of what your homeowners insurance will cost, we recommend using an online quote tool, whether it’s the one on the insurer’s website or the comparison tool at the top of this post.
To give you an idea of what premiums look like from some of the best home insurance providers, we solicited quotes for a home in a Chicago suburb.
Here are the monthly quotes we received:
- Amica: $75.33
- State Farm: $117.75
- Liberty Mutual: $129
- Farmers: $150
Amica came out to be considerably cheaper than the next provider in this scenario.
Each homeowners insurance company asks for slightly different information, but as we went through each online tool, we used the same profile with the following characteristics:
Location: Address located in a Chicago suburb
Home Value: $315,000
Deductible: $1,000
Size: 1,900 square feet
Applicant Age: 40
Home Type: 1 story
Roof Type: Asphalt shingle
Payment Terms: Monthly
The great thing about online tools is that you determine the exact type of coverage you want, select the level of your deductible, and choose the payment terms. It might take a little extra legwork, but online quote tools really do put the power in your hands to find the cheapest policy.
Many online tools, like the one provided by Liberty Mutual, enable you to modify the coverage levels you select, so you can clearly see how changing one component directly impacts the price of your policy. For example, you could enter a low value for your deductible, see what your rates look like, then enter a higher value and see how your rates changed.
Homeowners Insurance Discounts
All of the best homeowners insurance companies offer a variety of discounts. If you fail to take advantage of these discounts, you’re just leaving money on the table. To give you one example, if you took advantage of a multi-policy discount and bundled the same State Farm home insurance policy quoted above with an auto insurance policy, your monthly rate would drop from $117.75 to $76.50. That’s almost $500 in savings per year!
When it comes to discounts, Liberty Mutual is one of the most competitive providers. Some of their discounts include:
- Multiple-policy Discount: Available if you have an auto, life, or other type of insurance policy with the same provider.
- Protective Device Discount Available if you have a home security system, sprinkler systems, fire alarms, or other security devices in your home.
- Claim-Free Discount: Available if you haven’t filed a claim over a certain period of time.
- Exclusive Group Savings Available if you have membership or affiliation with certain businesses or organizations. Liberty Mutual’s group savings network includes more than 14,000 employers, alumni associations, and professional associations.
- Newly Purchased Home: Available if you recently purchased your home.
- New/Renovated Home Available if you recently renovated your home.
- Early Shopper Discount: Available if you request a quote before your current policy expires.
- Insured to Value Discount: Available when you insure up to 100% of the cost to replace your home.
The best homeowners insurance companies offer a number of discounts to help you save on premiums. If you’re unhappy with your current policy or feel like you’re paying too much, you can always get a quote with a new provider that offers discounts that better match your profile.
Claims
If you have to file a home insurance claim the situation has the potential to be a stressful ordeal. When your home has been damaged, the last thing you want to worry about is going to battle with an insurance company.
Based on studies conducted by J.D. Power and Associates and Consumer Reports, there’s a clear distinction between how different insurance companies handle customers and their property insurance claims. When it comes to filing a claim without hassle and overall customer satisfaction, the best home insurance company — the one that excelled in both studies — was Amica Mutual.
Amica achieved the highest numerical score across all categories in the J.D. Power 2018 U.S. Home Insurance Study — for the 17th consecutive year. These six categories measure factors like Overall Satisfaction, Price, Policy Offerings, Claims, and other characteristics fundamental to quality homeowners insurance.
Amica also ranked at the top of Consumer Reports’ homeowners insurance ratings. This study measures existing customers’ satisfaction with agent availability, the dollar estimate received when damages occur, and timely payment by the insurer.
In the event that you do need to file a claim, it’s comforting to know you can easily contact your agent, be treated fairly, and get the money you need to make repairs quickly. Ranking exceptionally well in separate studies conducted by two of the most reputable companies is a good indicator that Amica is doing something right.
The other insurance provider that ranked well in both studies is USAA. However, a major drawback of USAA is that membership is limited to those with a military affiliation. If you, your spouse, or one of your parents have served in the military, USAA is highly rated and known for their inexpensive policies.
Homeowners Insurance Rates by State
In order to be fully covered against disaster, you’ll need plenty of added endorsements, increased coverage limits, and potentially an extra flood insurance policy. These endorsements could significantly increase your annual premiums above the original “sticker price.”
While it may be tempting to cut corners to save some of those costs at the onset, the financial ramifications of not having adequate coverage when you need it could be severe. The trick of shopping for home insurance becomes finding the best coverage for your needs at the best price. You don’t want to overpay, but you also want to be protected, which might mean preparing to pay more than initially planned.
To help you plan your finances accordingly, we’ve created the following interactive map to use as a reference tool when doing your research. With it, you can view the average monthly and annual home insurance rates for each state, and also how they compare to the national average. For the most current rates in your area, check with your insurance agency locally or online.
Which Factors Determine Homeowners Insurance Rates?
There are many factors that influence how much you’ll pay for a homeowners insurance policy, some of which are out of your control. Fortunately, you can take steps and make adjustments in coverage to help ensure you get the most affordable home insurance coverage possible.
The most common factors that can influence your homeowners insurance premium include:
Home’s age and type of construction: If your home is older, there’s a higher chance there will be problems with major components like plumbing, electrical wiring, and HVAC systems. New homes are less susceptible to these major problems and thus individuals buying a newly-built home will pay less.
Location: While the average annual home insurance premium nationwide was $1,173 in the III’s most recent study, that ranged dramatically from place to place — from a low of $643 a year in Oregon to a high of $1,993 in Florida. And if you live in an area prone to natural disasters, with a relatively high crime rate, or located far from emergency services, you can expect to pay even more for your policy.
Even if you did your research when home shopping and chose a neighborhood with low or non-existent crime rates, you can never prevent all crime. Your home is stationary, but criminals aren’t. However, simple steps like adding an alarm system or deadbolts will not only make your home safer, it may also make it cheaper to insure.
You can control your personal claim history to some extent, but there’s less you can do about your location claim history. As seen on our interactive map, insurers charge a higher rate in states that are regularly victims of weather disasters. The same is also true of areas frequented by burglars.
Claims history: If you file several claims a year, you are more likely to pay a higher premium. If you’ve had a lot of accidents with previous insurers, chances are you’ll be filing a claim at some point with the new one. You can expect a higher premium. You can try to reduce this risk by being a responsible homeowner. Preventative maintenance and proper safety measures can go a long way toward minimizing your claims and your premiums.
Risk factors: If your home has a swimming pool, aggressive dog, trampoline, or other characteristic deemed risky, you’ll likely pay a higher premium.
Because of the drowning risks both to your family and anyone visiting your property, a pool will significantly increase your home insurance premium. Securing your pool with its own fence, installing self-locking gates, and having safety equipment readily accessible may be enough to lower your risk in the eyes of an insurance company.
However, the best way to avoid the higher premiums is avoid installing a pool at all. The money saved on the insurance may even be enough for a gym or private pool membership, a place where someone else assumes all of the financial risk.
Along with pools, trampolines make up what insurance companies refer to as “attractive nuisances.” They’re fun, but the risks involved make them a headache to insure. You can reduce your personal injury risk by installing a net around your trampoline, but it won’t be enough to lower your premium. The easiest way to do that is to not get one in the first place or invest in safer recreational yard equipment instead.
Credit score: Just as a poor credit score results in a higher interest rate on loans, it can also influence your home insurance premiums. Many states let insurers use your credit score when determining a premium. That credit score is a number that reflects your bill payment history, current amount of debt, and other measures of financial responsibility. It’s a quick way for a bank to determine how risky an investment you are.
The insurance industry is also a financial one. If you appear to be a risky customer with a history of missing payments, you could see that reflected in your premiums. The easiest way to avoid that is by taking the necessary steps to raise your credit rating: pay your bills on time every time, keep credit card balances low and eliminate debt.
Deductible: The level of deductible you choose plays a role in the price of your coverage. If you choose a high deductible, that means you have to pay more out of pocket if an incident does occur. The trade-off is a lower premium. We recommend sticking with a deductible you’re comfortable with. If your home is damaged, coming up with $1,000 is probably manageable. Coming up with $2,500 or $5,000 is probably going to be more difficult for most of us. Remember, your insurance won’t kick in until after the deductible is met.
Coverage amount: The amount of coverage you select will play a role in the price of your insurance.
Fire Protection: All areas have a fire protection rating based on how far it is from a water source and the distance to a responding fire department. If a fire were to break out in your home, a poor fire protection rating increases the chances of total property loss, which in turn increases your insurance premiums. Fire protection systems wouldn’t be sufficient to decrease your premiums in that case, but installing a sprinkler system could. It’s a costly solution, but one that could pay off in the long run.
You can’t control some of these factors. But by minimizing the risks that are within your power to control, you can help keep your home insurance premiums down.
What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover?
The main reason you buy an insurance policy is for the coverage it provides. State Farm — which writes nearly one in five American home insurance policies, according to the Insurance Information Institute — stands out for offering excellent coverage options, some of which include:
Dwelling Coverage: The part of your policy that helps pay to repair or rebuild your home if damage is the result of a covered loss. Critical home components like plumbing, electrical wiring, or your HVAC system fall into this category.
Liability Insurance: Protects your assets and covers costs associated with a lawsuit when you or a family member are responsible for injuring another person, or if someone is injured on your property (for example, if your dog bites your neighbor). It also provides coverage if you or a family member causes damage to another person’s property. $100,000 is a good benchmark for liability coverage, but this will vary depending on the size of your home and the assets you need to protect.
Other Structures: Covers the cost of repairing or rebuilding detached garages, sheds, and other similar structures.
Personal Property Coverage: Covers your clothing, electronics, furniture, and other personal property that is damaged or destroyed by a cause that’s covered by your insurance. Most top insurance companies provide checklists, personal property calculators, or other resources to help you document your belongings. For example, Liberty Mutual provides a mobile app where you can upload pictures, receipts, and more.
Loss of Use: If your home is damaged to a degree that you have to temporarily move out while it’s being repaired, loss of use will help pay your housing and living expenses.
Guest Medical Coverage: Provides coverage for medical bills and related expenses when someone is injured on your property, but they do not want to sue you. $1,000 per person is a common level of coverage, though some homeowners choose to take out an extension for added protection.
Most of the top homeowners insurance carriers offer similar types of coverage. The best way to find the right homeowners insurance package is by comparing rates and coverage options through an online quote tool like ours.
What Does Homeowners Insurance Not Cover?
As much as insurance is meant to cover the things you can’t plan for, the inverse is also true: You need to plan for the things insurance doesn’t cover. Too often people file home insurance claims, only to find out too late that they’re liable for the high cost of damages themselves.
Sometimes, it’s a simple matter of gaps in coverage, where someone thought they were protected but either had insufficient or incorrect coverage. Those issues can usually be addressed by either upgrading a policy (before disaster strikes) or switching providers to one with better coverage options.
However, there are certain situations that aren’t likely to be covered by any insurance company — situations that can leave you on the hook for a lot of money if you aren’t prepared. Here are some of the most common:
Flooding
Home insurance does not cover damage caused by weather-related flooding. Many insurance companies do offer special coverage or water damage endorsements, but they only cover accidents occurring inside the home or on the property, such as flooding caused by burst pipes. They won’t cover water damage caused by heavy rain or overflowing rivers. If you think your home is at risk of flooding, or want the peace of mind of the added coverage, the government does offer protection through the National Flood Insurance Program.
Earth Movement
- Earthquakes: The most common earth movement damage is that caused by earthquakes. Special endorsements can be purchased for an extra fee in all states except California, but without them, no standard policy covers earthquake damage.
- Landslides and sinkholes: Earthquakes aren’t the only forms of earth movement to consider. Standard policies also won’t cover the damage caused by sinkholes or landslides. Like with earthquake endorsements, some companies may offer this protection, but with the exception of the state of Florida (which mandates sinkhole coverage) they aren’t legally required to.
Wind Damage
Wind damage is unlikely to be covered under a basic home insurance policy in hurricane-prone areas, such as the Atlantic or Gulf coasts. In these areas, you’ll most likely need to purchase added endorsements to your policy to cover the increased risk.
Simultaneous Events
The most common simultaneous event scenario that could be problematic for homeowners is a storm that causes both wind and flood damage. Depending on your policy and endorsements, you could be covered for one, but not the other. If an insurance adjuster attributes all of the damage to the uncovered cause, you could be liable for the cost of damages from both.
Maintenance Neglect
Home insurance companies assign a certain level of responsibility to the homeowner for performing both routine and preventative work on a home to keep it properly maintained and livable. As such, there are many maintenance-related issues not covered by standard policies:
- Burst pipes: As pipes age, they can become brittle and are at a greater risk or cracking or leaking. That risk can be exacerbated by any number of factors, like frozen pipes in winter, or unlicensed DIY plumbing. The home damage caused by a burst pipe may be covered if you have extra water damage endorsements, but the cost of the actual pipe repair isn’t.
- Sewer backups: Blockages, torrential rainfall, and even cracks caused by tree roots can cause a sewer line to back up and flood your home. Unfortunately, these backups fall under the same category as burst pipes. The resulting damage may be covered if you have the special endorsements, but the cost of the line replacement won’t be.
- Mold: Rooms with high humidity such as basements, attics, or crawl spaces (or any room which experienced previous water damage) can be a breeding ground for mold. Mold growing on floors or walls can be a potent allergen and cause any number of respiratory problems. Because mold can easily be controlled with preventative maintenance, home insurance policies rarely cover it without additional, costly endorsements.
- Termites: Termites cause billions of dollars in damage to homes every year. The wooden beams that support your home are a food source that can sustain massive colonies of the pests as they slowly destroy your house. Home insurance companies view infestation by termites, or any animal or pest, as a sign of neglect and will not cover the cost of damage.
- Ordinance changes: In some instances, new laws or government regulations could require upgrades on a home that isn’t otherwise damaged, such as updates to an aging yet functional natural gas pipeline. Some cities have even passed ordinances that require homes of a certain size to install fire suppression systems, at the cost of the homeowner. A standard policy will not cover the cost of government-mandated upgrades, though some insurers offer added ordinance coverage. The same is also true if the government confiscates or condemns your home or property for any reason. Home insurance will not cover the damages.
Nuclear Accidents
Any damage caused by accidents at a nearby nuclear power plant are not covered by home insurance policies. However, federal law requires nuclear power companies to contribute to an insurance pool that will cover the costs of nuclear accident damage.
Acts of War
Living in the United States, being covered against acts of war probably isn’t a primary concern when purchasing home insurance. However, with the number of domestic terror attacks either executed or prevented over the past few years, more people are probably starting to think about it. As it stands, home insurance companies do not cover any terror attacks using nuclear, biological, chemical, or radioactive weapons. They are considered acts of war, and therefore uninsurable. However, those are extreme cases. Most insurance policies do cover damages cause by explosions, smoke, and fire, which are the most likely of an unlikely scenario.
Certain Dog Breeds
Many policies include coverage for the medical costs incurred in the event that a homeowner’s dog bites a guest or neighbor. However, some breeds with a reputation for being aggressive may be charged a higher premium, or not be covered at all. It’s important to always report dogs to your insurer to identify any breed-related gaps in coverage, or any extra steps needed to make sure that you’re protected.
For those companies that will still insure your home and pet, but at a higher rate, you may be able to reduce that premium by completing an approved training and socialization program for your dog.
Additional Protection
In addition to the basic coverage options listed above, the policies of each major company include other types of coverage to complement the basic options outlined above. For example, Allstate also offers optional coverage for identity theft restoration, scheduled personal property, water backup, and more.
Most home policies cover damage from wind and fire, but natural disasters like floods or earthquakes almost always have to be added on as an additional policy option. If you live in areas particularly susceptible to these threats, you should look into the catastrophic coverage options offered by the provider before making a purchase.
Important Things to Keep in Mind
As you compare quotes and shop for the best home insurance policy, remember these tips.
You might be under-insured.
Most people concerned about the scope of their insurance coverage try to protect themselves against all possibilities by adding extra endorsements to their existing policies. However, even someone who’s completely “covered” could still be underinsured — in fact, about half of homeowners are. Most are insured for repairs, but in the event of catastrophic damage, it might be necessary to rebuild.
Rebuilds are a part of your policy’s dwelling coverage. However, that coverage has limits. When purchasing a home insurance policy, most people chose a coverage limit equal to the cost of their home. This is especially true because most home insurance policies are bought as a requirement for mortgage approval. Most lenders only require the minimum dwelling coverage, which is the selling price of the home. Their only concern is recovering their investment in the event of a total loss.
However, there are a number of factors that could make a rebuild more expensive than the original purchase price or tax assessment of your home. For example, the cost of building materials has increased significantly in recent years. Also, depending on what caused the damage, specialized workers may be needed for a rebuild in order to prevent further damage to the property. And there’s always the possibility that building codes may have changed since your home was built, requiring new, costly features that you didn’t have before. It’s very important to make sure that you have enough dwelling coverage to cover the full cost of a rebuild.
Some valuable items need their own endorsements.
Your personal property coverage reimburses you for the cost of replacing the valuable items in your home should they become lost or damaged in a covered event.
However, that coverage does have a specific dollar limit. What that limit is depends on your policy, but for very valuable, high-priced items (like a very expensive engagement ring), you’ll need to purchase a special endorsement for the official appraised value to ensure that you’re fully reimbursed.
Home insurance covers damage; a home warranty covers mechanical breakdowns.
Most people wouldn’t expect their home insurance policy to cover the cost of a broken-down dishwasher or mini-fridge, but many mistakenly assume that large, vital systems are covered, such as furnaces or water heaters. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
Home insurance does not cover mechanical breakdowns. Those systems fall under the umbrella of general maintenance. However, a home warranty does cover those systems, as well as important appliances. It also covers many of those “routine maintenance” areas that home insurance doesn’t, such as electrical systems, plumbing, garage doors, and even some roof replacement.
The Bottom Line
If you’re currently renting and just thinking about home ownership, you won’t want to miss my next article that discusses the best renters insurance companies.
If you do own a home and want to make sure you have the best homeowners insurance for your needs, the tools and information on this page should be helpful to your cause. Take the time to compare several companies in terms of their pricing, their ratings, and their homeowners insurance offerings before moving forward with a policy. With advance research, you can wind up with a high-quality homeowners insurance policy that fits your budget and your needs.
