When you buy a home, you want it to last. With reliable home insurance, you can protect your investment. Amica home insurance provides standard coverage for homeowners and plenty of optional add-on coverages. Established in 1907 with headquarters in Rhode Island, Amica is best known for its high customer satisfaction ratings and wide variety of discounts. We used our SimpleScore system to rate and review Amica’s home insurance product by comparing discounts, coverage, customer satisfaction, support and accessibility so you can make an informed decision on the best home insurance to fit your individual needs.
Pros of Amica home insurance
- Top-rated customer satisfaction
- Trustworthy financial strength
- Cash dividend policies available
Cons of Amica home insurance
- Not offered in Hawaii
Our Two Cents: Thinking about ways your house could be destroyed is never fun. Thankfully, Amica will do the heavy lifting so you can rest easy knowing you’re covered.
Amica home insurance at a glance
| SimpleScore | 3.75/5 |
| In business | Since 1907 |
| States served | 49 states & D.C. (Not offered in Hawaii) |
| Best for | Anyone who values excellent customer service |
| Not for | Homeowners seeking guaranteed cost replacement coverage |
| Standout features |
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| Available bundles | Auto, condo, renters, life and umbrella |
What we like about Amica
Customer satisfaction
When it comes to customer satisfaction, Amica reigns supreme. The most recent J.D. Power Home Insurance Survey ranked Amica with a perfect 5 out of 5 for overall customer satisfaction. J.D. Power doesn’t go easy on insurance providers, so winning perfect marks is a big accomplishment for Amica and speaks to the strong customer-focused culture at the company.
[Read: The Best Home Insurance Companies of 2020]
Financial strength
When you file a claim with your insurer, you want to make sure that it can cover that claim. Amica has been around for over a century, and it holds an A+ financial strength rating from AM Best. That means this insurer will have no problem paying their bills if you need to file a claim. So when disaster strikes, you can count on Amica having your back.
Cash dividend option
Cash dividend policies are a cool spin on home insurance that pays the policyholder back a portion of their annual premium. Amica advertises average dividend payments of 5% to 20%, which means the dividend value will range quite a bit from policy to policy. Amica’s website isn’t clear on what determines the dividend rate on its policies. If you’re interested in a cash dividend home insurance policy, we recommend calling in to get the details.
Things to consider
No coverage in Hawaii
Although Amica home insurance is available almost everywhere in the U.S., homeowners in Hawaii will have to look elsewhere for their home insurance needs. The lack of coverage in Hawaii is unfortunate, but it’s not unusual for home insurance companies to avoid Hawaii, due to the increased risk of insuring homes in areas highly prone to natural disasters. For Hawaiian homeowners, there are plenty of other options for the best home insurance companies to insure your property.
[Read: The Complete Guide to Homeowners Insurance]
Amica vs. the competition
Travelers
SimpleScore: 4.8/5
Founded in 1864, Travelers has been around even longer than Amica. The 2019 J.D. Power Home Insurance Study only ranked Travelers with a 2 out of 5 in overall customer satisfaction, which is significantly lower than Amica’s perfect 5 out of 5 score. But Travelers home insurance shines when it comes to customization. The coverages and discounts Travelers offers its policyholders can be mixed and matched to meet the needs of most homeowners. Amica has a decent amount of optional coverages, but Travelers definitely offers more. Read our full Travelers home insurance review to see all of the company’s coverages and discounts.
USAA
SimpleScore 4.5/5
Just like Amica, USAA receives a perfect score of 5 out of 5 from J.D. Power’s 2019 Home Insurance Study. And USAA’s total score of 878 in the study is even higher than Amica’s total score of 845. However, USAA is only available to current and formerly active members of the U.S. military and their families. So unless you fall into this group, you will not be able to apply for USAA homeowners insurance. If you do fall into this group, then USAA is an excellent home insurer well worth your consideration. Read our full USAA home insurance review to see what the company can do to help you insure your home.
MetLife
SimpleScore 2.5/5
MetLife is one of the few home insurers that offers guaranteed cost replacement coverage, which pays the total amount to repair or rebuild your home, regardless of depreciation. Although Amica offers an optional dwelling replacement coverage, it only provides an additional coverage of 30% above your policy’s regular coverage limit. Metlife only scored a 2 out 5 in overall customer satisfaction in J.D. Power’s 2019 Home Insurance Study, while Amica scored 5 out of 5. Read our full MetLife review to see all of the provider’s coverages and discounts.
Amica home insurance rates
Home insurance rates are highly individualized. The premium you receive for your policy will be determined by a number of factors, including home information such as year built, roof material, square footage, location and more. Personal information can also affect the cost of home insurance.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, the average annual cost of insurance in the U.S. is $1,211. However, this number varies quite a bit depending on which state you live in. The best way to decide if you’re getting a good value is to get quotes from a few different insurance providers and compare the coverages offered for the price.
To help policyholders reduce the price of coverage, Amica offers a few discounts, and most of them are fairly easy to qualify for. When getting a home insurance quote from Amica, make sure to pay close attention to the discounts to get the lowest possible premium on your policy.
[Read: How to Find Cheap Homeowners Insurance in 2020]
Amica home insurance coverage
- Dwelling coverage: covers the home.
- Other structures: covers other structures like fences.
- Personal property: covers belongings inside the home.
- Loss-of-use: covers expenses of living elsewhere if the house is damaged in a covered peril.
- Personal liability coverage: covers claims of property damage and bodily injury if someone is hurt on your property or if someone else’s valuable item is damaged on your property.
- Optional dwelling replacement: provides an additional 30% coverage above the regular coverage limit.
- Optional personal property replacement: covers full repair or replacement of personal items up to the coverage limit.
- Optional valuable items: provides broader protection for expensive items like jewelry and collectibles .
- Optional catastrophic coverages: covers property damage or loss due to a flood or earthquake.
- Optional identity fraud expense: covers unauthorized use of your credit card up to the policy limit and helps you restore your identity.
- Optional home business: Covers business equipment and work-related liability for your home business.
[Read: Best Flood Insurance Companies 2020]
Amica home insurance discounts
Policy discounts:
- Loyalty: discount for policies active for at least two years.
- Claims-free: discount for no claims in three years.
- Multi-line: discount when combining home insurance policy with an Amica auto, condo, renters, life or umbrella policy.
- Auto pay: discount when you pay the premium with automatic deductions.
- E-discount: discount for paperless billing.
Safety discounts:
- Alarm system: discount for homes with burglar alarms, sprinkler systems or fire alarms.
- New/remodeled home credit: discount for new or remodeled homes.
- Automatic detection devices: Discount for homes with a temperature monitoring system, or a water leak or gas leak detection system.
How to submit a claim with Amica
Amica gives its policyholder’s three options for filing claims: through the company website, through the mobile app, or over the phone.
Keep in mind that submitting a claim will increase your premium, and Amica does not have claim forgiveness in their home insurance policies.
If you need to file a claim, follow these steps:
- If the situation is safe, it’s always a good idea to take pictures of the damages.
- Call the company, or log in to your account using the web portal or mobile app.
- Tell the agent the details of your claim, or fill in the details in the online claims form.
- If Amica decides to send an adjuster to check out the claim, the claims handler will contact you to let you know.
- If you don’t hear anything for a few weeks, make sure to follow up on your claim.
Amica also has a claims FAQ on its company website that contains helpful information.
Amica online and mobile app
Aside from filing claims, Amica’s online portal and mobile app both allow you to view your policy’s coverages and discounts. If you have a quick question about your policy and don’t feel like waiting on the phone for an agent, try checking out your policy’s details using the web portal or mobile app.
Amica home, auto and life
Amica offers many kinds of insurance, including auto, condo, renters, life and umbrella. If you use Amica for more than one kind of insurance, you might qualify for a discount. The provider’s website advertises discounts of up to 30%.
Amica in the news
- In June, Amica announced its Auto Refund Program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will refund up to 10% of customers’ monthly auto premiums for four months.
- In January, Amica announced its partnership with FAST, which will see Amica’s back-end insurance system updated with new technology to better serve its customers.
- In December 2019, Amica announced its partnership with QA Consultants. The partnership will help Amica beef up its cloud services, which will make the company’s software faster and more accessible.
Too long, didn’t read?
Amica’s home insurance leads the industry in overall customer satisfaction. This provider has been in business for over a century, and it enjoys an excellent financial strength rating from AM Best. Potential policyholders have a good amount of coverage and discount options to choose from with Amica.
[Read: Best Cheap Insurance of 2020]
Keep reading
- Traditional Financial Advice Is No Longer Relevant
- Consider These 3 Things Before Getting a Home Equity Loan
- 6 Ways to Make Your Mortgage Application Easier
Methodology
The SimpleScore is our proprietary scoring metric to compare products and services at The Simple Dollar in a transparent, evidence-based way. Our editorial team identifies five quantifiable aspects to compare for every brand, determines the rating criteria for each aspect score, then averages the five aspect scores to produce a single SimpleScore. For home insurance, we compared discounts, coverage, customer satisfaction, support and accessibility for every major company. Our ratings are meant to be a directional tool to help you in the process of choosing a home insurance provider. Be sure to continue your research and shop around for the best home insurance that fits your specific needs.
Last updated August 26, 2020 – Updated SimpleScore data and editorial review.
We welcome your feedback on this article and would love to hear about your experience with the home insurance companies we recommend. Contact us at inquiries@thesimpledollar.com with comments or questions.
