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No one wants to imagine their home getting overrun with water damage, enduring a natural disaster, having a fire destroy their property, or having to deal with theft, but it happens. Everyone should have homeowner's insurance for peace of mind and to be taken care of in case of an emergency or unfortunate occurrence. In fact, it's so important that you can't take out a mortgage anymore unless you can prove you have homeowner's insurance in place.
It makes sense that banks don't want to hand over a loan with the risk that something will happen to the property and render the owner unable to continue paying their mortgage. Since your home is such an important asset, you don't want to risk being responsible for thousands of dollars in costs if unexpected damage or destruction were to occur. Being uninsured in a time of crisis could result in total financial ruin.
Sunday, February 9th
You probably would have never put the words "delightful” and "insurance” together in the same sentence, but Lemonade dares to do so. They say they are a full-stack insurance carrier "built to provide the best, most delightful, and most transparent insurance experience in the world.” They offer renters, home, life, and pet insurance all throughout the United States and in parts of Europe. They're a public benefit corporation and certified B-Corp, so they are involved in giving back to the community and environment. Once a year, they give leftover premiums to the nonprofits that their customers choose.
Giving back to charities
Most insurance companies take whatever premium is left over after paying claims and expenses to generate profits. At Lemonade, they take a flat fee from your premium as their profit and donate whatever is left, after paying claims and expenses, to charities (Lemonade Giveback). This ensures that their duty to pay claims does not conflict with their desire for profit. They aren't incentivized to deny claims since none of the leftover money ends up in their pockets anyway. Pretty cool, right?
Potential for savings
Homeowners premiums are calculated through Lemonade based on individualized factors like the value, condition, and construction quality of your home. Your insurance history, previous claims, and other factors will also play a role. A few ways you might be able to save a bit of money is by having a well-maintained home in a low risk area, installing protective devices into your home like deadbolts, smoke, and burglar alarms, bundling with other Lemonade products, and paying annually.
Honest about the competition
We appreciate that Lemonade tells customers upfront that they are confident that their prices are usually lower than other big, established companies. However, they don't promise that it will always be the case. Since all insurers use different models and data sets to establish the prices they charge, it's possible in some cases that the quote you get from Lemonade will be higher than what you've gotten elsewhere. At the end of the day, Lemonade says if you still choose to work through their company, you can have peace of mind knowing that the leftover funds will be donated to a good cause.
6 standard areas of coverage
Homeowners policies are broken into six types of coverage at Lemonade:
Online quote within minutes
Straight from Lemonade's website, you can answer some questions and get a quote for insurance. Just like anywhere else that provides online quotes, Lemonade will ask you your name, email, address, what type of dwelling you have, what security features have been installed, and more. All of these together will give them enough to go off of to give you a quote. Many people are happy with the competitive pricing they're offered and choose to go with Lemonade because of it.
Review the FAQ
Lemonade has an FAQ page about homeowners insurance that's extremely insightful. It covers just about any question you might have about your policy, how to keep your account accurate and up-to-date, how to add extra coverage for things like jewelry, fine art, body cameras, instruments, and how payment and claims work. We highly recommend at least skimming through all this information so that you have a clear overview of how this company runs things.
Impressive customer ratings
We are completely blown away by how well-liked Lemonade is by their customers. We already loved the processes they have and how they generously donate so much money to the community, but they clearly follow through with their promises and deliver positive results consistently based on what we've seen. They continually have customer reviews rolling in and people rave about how quickly claims are taken care of, how responsive customer service is, how user-friendly their site is, and more. There are thousands of people who are extremely satisfied with this company and we're happy to see it. They aren't rated by the Better Business Bureau at this time, but we aren't concerned about it.
The top contender
Overall Lemonade nearly seems too good to be true. A company that takes a fixed rate and donates the leftover money to a charity? Round of applause. As of right now, customers are really happy with rates and performance here, so we are confident in giving them our highest recommendation. We've seen some concerns from people that their stock is dropping and that they only seem to want to insure newer homes to avoid too many claim payouts, but you'll have to see what type of quote you find here and decide if it's a good choice for you. We highly recommend giving Lemonade your top consideration.
Geico (The Government Employees Insurance Company) was founded in Fort Worth Texas back in 1936. They've become a household name, widely recognized because of their gecko and caveman commercials with memorable slogans like, "So easy a caveman can do it” or "15 minutes could save you 15% or more” or their latest, "GEICO: Real service. Real savings.” You can essentially get any type of insurance through Geico. Whether you need ATV insurance, condo/co-op insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, cyber liability insurance, travel insurance, life insurance, home insurance, pet insurance, or even bicycle insurance, Geico has you covered. They have a long list of policy types you can explore to see what would best serve you.
Jump into a survey
When you visit the homeowners insurance page of Geico's website, you'll be directed to begin a survey of questions like your zip code, birth date, name, and address, and details about your home to see what type of coverage is in your area. They'll need to know when you want your coverage to start, when your home was built, when you purchased the house, if it's within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant, the construction type, and other questions that all go into your online quote. These details give Geico an idea of how big of a liability your home is, what safety features it has, and what it might cost to restore if something were to happen.
Varying quotes
Since everyone's home has such different features and was built in different years, has potentially had different claims in the past, has had varying upgrades over the years, and so many other factors, you can't predict what your quote will be like without going through the process of filling out your information. You also can't easily compare quotes with anyone else since no two homes are completely alike. When you complete the questions Geico provides, they show you quotes and also send them to your email that you can review again later.
Need to provide SSN
Unfortunately, the first time we went through the whole process to get a quote, Geico told us they weren't able to provide one at the time and we had to either call a listed phone number or start all over. We begrudgingly started over and finally was asked to provide a social security number at the very end. We really don't like that Geico asks for this. It seems like a really personal thing to hand over just to get a quote. They say they use it to pull information about your driving record, credit, and claims history to offer an appropriate rate. They do say that it will be kept confidential and will not be sold or redistributed.
Standard coverage and add-on options
In a standard policy, Geico will provide dwelling coverage, replacement of personal property, coverage protection for other structures, additional living expenses, medical expenses, and liability insurance. It's important to read through the fine print of all the terms to make sure that the coverage is adequate for your needs. Some common add-on options at Geico are identity theft protection, water backup, scheduled personal property coverage (jewelry, instruments, fine art, antiques), replacement coverage cost, and HOA loss assessment. If these pertain to you, they can be added to your policy for an additional charge.
Some discounts
Geico really pushes the idea that they help you save money beyond what you'll find through other companies. You'll have to compare with a few insurers, though, to decide if this is really the case. They offer discounts for things like bundling with auto insurance, having home security systems, fire safety features, and for people who are military and federal employees.
Less complaints with home insurance
Like most home insurance companies, Geico has its fair share of angry customers and also those who feel like their policies are affordable and simple to understand and utilize. We found that it seemed people who were most disgruntled with the company usually referenced auto insurance claims rather than homeowners insurance claims. Geico has an "A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau and is generally well-respected and widely used. If you feel like you are offered a good deal here and make sure you take time to read through all the details of your policy and even talk through it with an agent, you should find that you're satisfied and know what you're signing up for.
Makes sense to bundle
If you already have auto insurance or some other type of insurance through Geico, it makes a lot of sense to look into a homeowners policy. This might be cost effective and it makes things easy to keep track of. From their website you can review your policy, file a claim, track a claim, and get information on how to contact a representative. Geico has a wide range of insurance types, which is nice, and they've been in the industry a long time, so they've earned a good rating from us.
"Liberty, Liberty, Liberty!” Can you hear the jingle in your head? Liberty Mutual is no exception when it comes to catchy tunes to help you remember their brand. The company was originally formed to provide workers compensation insurance back in 1912. They've grown to be the fifth largest global property and casualty insurer and ranked 86th on the Fortune 100 list of largest corporations in the US. Liberty Mutual is based out of Boston but they operate all throughout the United States and in 29 other countries.
Answer questions for a quote
On Liberty Mutual's homeowners insurance page, there isn't a lot of information, but just a section for you to add your property type and zip code to jump right into an online quote. There are 6 basic steps you'll go through to get a price. First, you'll provide personal information like your address, name, phone and email. If your address matches information they already have in their system, it will save you some time because it will load the year the home was built, square footage, style, heating source, roof type, the number of bathrooms, and other important details. They'll ask a few additional questions about your home like if you have secondary heating, whether or not you have a pool, if you're currently doing construction, and more. The final step will be to input your social security number (we really don't like this) and then Liberty Mutual should provide you with a quote.
Redirected to partners
For whatever reason, Liberty Mutual had a hard time coming up with a quote for us, so instead we were given a list of partners we could try instead. These included companies like Progressive and Allstate. To get a quote from them, we were completely redirected to their websites instead. We don't imagine this would be everyone's experience, but it was ours and we were a bit frustrated by it.
Basic coverage
The basic policies through Liberty Mutual will cover your belongings (personal property and blanket jewelry), damages (personal liability and medical payments, dwelling, wind and hail damage, hurricane damage, and water backup), and expenses (additional living expenses and inflation protection).
"Only pay for what you need”
Liberty Mutual boasts that you can save 10% when you buy customized home insurance online. This is to incentivize you to use their website to get a quote and sign up. They say you can also save up to $950 when you bundle and save with auto insurance and get a better deal on your policy if you have a brand new home.
Quick claim filing
Straight from Liberty Mutual's website you can file and track claims. They also provide a phone number if you need to talk with someone directly instead. They have guides on the auto claims process and home claims process so you can see step-by-step what you should do and what to expect when you file a claim. It only takes 5-`10 minutes after you login into the online portal.
Frustrations over auto policies
Liberty Mutual has an "A-” rating from the Better Business Bureau. Like most major insurance companies, their third-party customer reviews are quite frightening. People who are in bad situations and don't get things resolved exactly how or when they hoped will naturally take to the internet to voice their complaints. This isn't necessarily a representative sample of how all Liberty Mutual customers feel in general, but a lot of them say that customer service gives them the run-around when it comes to getting claims taken care of. By far, though, the majority of people who are upset with the company refer to their auto insurance policies rather than homeowners insurance, so that's important to note.
Good option
If you are able to get a solid online quote from Liberty Mutual, this is a reputable company to go with. As long as you provide accurate information for your quote and carefully review the policy you select, you should be able to trust Liberty Mutual. They primarily work with people in low risk areas, but they've been in the business a long time and have an easy-to-use website for you to manage all your account details. Liberty Mutual has earned a good rating from us.
Nationwide Mutual Insurance (commonly shortened to Nationwide), is a group of financial and U.S. insurance services based out of Columbus, Ohio. They were founded in 1926 and have become one of the largest insurance companies in the world, ranked number 75 in the 2024 Fortune 500 list. They have about 25,000 employees and also rank number 21 in Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For.” They offer vehicle, property, personal, business, and investment insurance.
Basic coverage with solid add-on options
Nationwide warns that nearly half of the homes in the U.S. are underinsured. They boast that with their homeowners insurance, you should be able to get to at least 100% of the estimated replacement cost. Nationwide provides different policies to fit your needs that cover dwelling, other structures, medical payments to others, personal liability, ordinance or law insurance, credit card coverage, personal property, and loss of use. Some optional add-on coverage choices include identity theft, dwelling replacement cost, service line, equipment breakdown, umbrella, roof replacement, water backup, earthquake, and flood insurance. If you're questioning what any of these are for, Nationwide has a brief explanation on their website of all of them to make it clear why you may or may not benefit from a particular type of coverage.
Long list of potential discounts
Some of the other policies offered through Nationwide that you might consider (so you can save some money on all of them) are auto insurance, personal umbrella insurance, and pet insurance. Nationwide actually lists quite a few other ways you might end up saving money on your policy including:
Quick quotes
Straight from Nationwide's website you can change your coverage, get ID cards and policy documents, make payments, and manage a claim. But first, you'll want to get a quote from them to see if Nationwide is a good fit. To start, provide your zip code and you'll be taken to a series of questions. You will need to provide your address, how many people live in your home, when you purchased it, the construction type and features of the property, and even if you own a certain type of dog breed. In total we answered 29 "pages” of questions, but it only took a few minutes. And they never asked for our social security number.
Finalize with an agent
If for some reason you don't meet the requirements for Nationwide to offer you a quote, they'll supply you with a short list of companies you might be able to use instead. If you do receive a quote from Nationwide, you can review all the coverage details and pricing. To lock it in, you'll need to contact one of their representatives by phone. They do say that it's possible that your quote will change during the process, so even though you can get a quote online, it won't necessarily be the exact same dollar amount you end up signing for. The Nationwide customer service team is available Monday - Friday 9 am to 8 pm ET and their phone number is listed on the website.
Pay attention to detail
We're glad to see that Nationwide has an "A+” rating from the Better Business Bureau. Individual customer reviews vary greatly since everyone's policy and situation is different. Some people said that year over year they sometimes receive a price increase of up to 50% when they haven't made any claims the previous year and had no changes to their property. Others say they've had no issue with Nationwide and have been using them for years. Ultimately, if you pay close attention to all the details of your insurance policy and feel comfortable with the pricing, you should have a good experience with Nationwide. They're a huge company and reputable enough to be reassured about using.
If it checks the boxes, go with it
A lot of people choose their homeowners insurance policy based on the monthly or yearly price. If you get a competitive quote from Nationwide and see that the coverage will completely pay for your home in case of a total loss and give you plenty of money for any other event you may experience, then we see no reason not to go with Nationwide. If they do drastically raise their prices year over year, you could always try to get a better quote from another highly-rated company in this review.
Erie's history dates back to 1925. It was started with a vision by founders Henry Hirt and Oliver Crawford, to create an insurance company that placed customer service above all else. Erie is now a Fortune 500 company with over 6,500 employees and almost 7 million policies in force. A tagline Erie uses is "The proof is in the policy” and a notable company quote about the company's purpose from Hirt says, "To provide our policyholders with as near perfect protection, as near perfect service, as is humanly possible, and to do so at the lowest possible cost.” Sounds pretty good to us! But are they living up to it?
Limited service area
Erie boasts that they have over 14,000 agents dedicated to helping customers find coverage. These agents hopefully live close to your local neighborhood and are part of the community. They are there to help you make good decisions about which policy to choose and guide you through the claims process as well. Unfortunately, when we went to get a quote and put in our address to be connected to an agent, we received an error message saying that there were no agencies representing Erie in our local area. Just for fun, we tried other areas to see if we'd run into the same problem. We checked for an agent near San Jose, Houston, and Orlando. Finally we tried Nashville and Brooklyn and had some hits. It seems this company primarily operates in the East, so you are likely out of luck if you live outside of this area. It's definitely not as widespread of a company as many of their competitors.
No online quotes
Since Erie connects you with an agent to get a quote, this means you can't get any sort of estimated costs from their website. This is a sales tactic to try and reel you in rather than letting you easily compare quotes among other companies. As a consumer, it's kind of a pain. On their website, Erie does list a few ways you can save money and has a side-by-side comparison to show you why their policies are better than everyone else's. It's not quantitative, but it shows where they try to place their priorities.
Discount potential
The company has three "featured ways to save” on their site. The first is if you install smoke alarms, a burglary alarm system, and an automatic sprinkler system in your home, you'll get a discount on your policy. The next is an advanced quote discount. This states that if you get a quote from them between 7 and 60 days from when your policy would renew, you could end up with savings (although the details and math on this aren't entirely clear). Lastly, if you sign up for multiple policies through Erie, specifically life insurance, you could save on your home and auto insurance. Bundle and save!
Efforts to be superior
Some ways Erie claims that their base policies are superior to others include the following:
Although this list does not prove that Erie is better than another company and most of this isn't any sort of quantitative data showing that you'll save money or get better coverage, Erie does aim to beat out their competitors in these areas.
Recognized for customer service
J.D. Power ranked Erie Insurance as #1 in customer satisfaction among homeowner and rental insurance providers recently. Erie boasts that their customer service team is available 24/7 to assist their policyholders whenever they need it. They have a phone number listed on their website you can use to get a hold of them. Aside from this, your login to Erie's online portal will grant you access to view, send, and share all your policy information, make online payments and view billing activity, view your claim status, and go paperless with billing.
Well-regarded company
The Better Business Bureau gives Erie an "A+” rating and there are quite a few stories from customers who have had a great experience with the company, which is reassuring. The most positive thing we've found is that people agree Erie is actually significantly cheaper than some bigger-named insurance companies. They're generally well-regarded in the industry and seem to quickly follow through on claims and take care of issues without any problems. We've read about people who have been in car accidents, needed total roof replacements, and had other major homeowner claims and said they were really pleased with the coverage from Erie and how quickly their problems were resolved.
Reach out if you can
Erie also has their fair share of negative customer reviews, as do all insurance companies. However, overall we like what this company stands for and that they aim to put the customer first. Since they don't seem to be in very many areas, this is the reason they haven't earned a higher rating from us. However, give Erie a try and if they have coverage for you, we recommend reaching out to an agent for a quote.
Chubb aims to be a world leader in insurance with operations in 54 countries and territories. In addition to protecting personal property, Chubb also provides insurance for commercial assets, casualty, personal accident, supplemental health insurance, reinsurance, and life insurance. The company has over $225 billion in assets and reported $57.5 billion in gross premiums written in 2023. Chubb employs over 40 million people worldwide and has executive offices in New York, Zurich, London, Paris, and other locations.
Unique insurance endeavors
Chubb boasts that they offer insurance for some pretty unique things. For example, their website says they "insure sailboats for weekend outings and cargo ships for global trade.” This isn't your typical insurance company. When they talk about providing insurance for consumers, they typically refer to high-net worth families. They work with large corporations, are the #1 crop insurer in the United States, and are one of the largest financial lines writers globally. They are also proud of their philanthropic endeavors, providing scholarships to both kids and adults, donating to environmental sustainability, and helping with economic emergency disaster relief.
Coverage highlights
Some of the homeowners coverage highlights that Chubb has listed on their website include extended replacement cost (having your home repaired or rebuilt to original condition), temporary living arrangements, risk consulting, cash settlement, and replacement cost coverage (to cover the things inside your home). If you need additional resources about what these mean, Chubb has a "Masterpiece Homeowners Brochure” you can download from their site.
Quotes from an agent
To get a quote, you'll need to answer a few questions online. First, you'll select what type of property you want insured, your zip code, and how big the home is. Rather than gathering all the information on your property, Chubb will provide a list of contacts based on your zip code. For our area, we had 3 choices and were shown an email address, phone number, and physical office address we could visit. You'll work through one of these options to set up your home insurance. This has its perks and seems efficient, but we wish we could get a ballpark premium quote online before having to dive in with an agent. This is a more complicated and salesy process than some other homeowners insurance companies have set up.
Fast payouts
If you need to make a claim through Chubb, you can do so directly from the website by entering your policy number or logging into your account. They say that their adjusters respond to claims within 24 hours, and once approved, payment can be issued within 48 hours. If you need somewhere to stay in the meantime, they say they'll arrange for a suitable hotel or find a similar home within your school district if one is available.
Mixed ratings
Overall people have mostly good things to say about Chubb and we trust they are legitimate and reliable. We realize this goes against their "D-” Better Business Bureau rating that was caused by their lack of responding to 110 complaints (not good), but in this case there tends to be lots of potential issues when it comes to insurance and individual customer feedback is mostly what we're going off of here. Chubb is not the most well-known company since they typically work with wealthy individuals. You'll likely be getting more from this company than what you need for your comfortable suburban home. We can't be sure on pricing since it will vary person-to-person and you'll need to work with an agent, but we imagine the home insurance policies here are quite pricey.
Don't love their model but it might work for you
It feels like Chubb gives bare bones information about policies on their website as a tactic to make sure you refer to an agent and connect as fast as possible. From a business standpoint, this makes sense. From a consumer standpoint, we want to sit comfortably behind our computer screen and gather all the facts and information about different policies to compare before pulling the trigger on one. Since they don't offer online quotes, this bumps them down a few points in our book. However, if you are looking to secure high-end assets, large homes, or secondary properties and will pay what it takes to get top-of-the-line coverage, do what it takes to get information about Chubb's policies. They're a high-end company and have earned a good rating from us, though they may not be the best fit for everyone.
Insurify doesn't provide their own home insurance for customers, but they assist in helping you find it. Their belief is that everyone deserves to get good insurance for an affordable price, so they simplify the process for choosing home, car, pet, health, or life insurance. The company was founded by an MIT graduate out of a desire to eliminate the exasperating, inefficient process of trying to find insurance while wasting time on phone calls and getting inboxes full of spam. Some of their investors include MassMutual, Nationwide, Viola Fintech, MTech Capital, Hearst Ventures, Motive Partners, and Viola Growth.
Compare a big selection of quotes
Although Insurify doesn't provide your home insurance, you can buy it through them. They are licensed in all 50 states, so they boast that when you find a quote through them, you can purchase the coverage without navigating offsite (though we found this to not necessarily be true). Insurify partners with over 70 top insurance companies to get you the largest selection of quotes. They utilize AI and 100-plus real-time API integrations to give you accurate quotes.
Protected information
Insurify says they understand how annoying it is to fill out personal information to get a quote, only to have it sold to another company and come back at you as endless spam. They promise to never charge you to see quotes and they won't hand over any information you give them to someone else. This is commendable and we appreciate this.
Won't always get a quote
To start comparing quotes, provide your zip code on Insurify's website. They'll ask why you're shopping for insurance, what type of home you have, your address, features of your home (foundation type, roof type, # of stories, roof replacement date, cost to replace your home). Once you provide your email and phone number at the end, you'll see a list of companies that you can get a quote from. For us, the companies listed were Progressive, Stillwater, American Family, and Liberty Mutual. Stillwater was the only company that gave us a yearly estimated price and breakdown, but the other companies made us click "Get Quote” and redirected us to their own websites where we then had to continue answering lots of questions. With some companies like Progressive, we ended up having to call a representative by the end and were frustrated that we weren't actually shown a quote online.
Has its limitations
We assume that Insurify does all they can to help you compare quotes between companies, but certain companies (like Progressive in this case) withhold quotes unless they have certain information from you or you reach out to one of their agents. Insurify can only do so much if the companies they're dealing with aren't transparent and make it difficult to get online quotes.
Reviews too good to be true?
When we saw the customer reviews for Insurify, we thought to ourselves, "Now we're talking!” After reading so many poor experiences from customers through other home insurance companies, it was a relief to find somewhere that people really felt like they could rely on someone to help them find the best coverage and save money. However, the reviews are so positive that it makes us unsure of how much to trust them. From what we can tell, many third-party reviews were promoted by the company, so it's possible that there is some incentivization behind them. The Better Business Bureau gives Insurify an "A+” rating, though, which is reassuring.
Give it a try
If you happen to be matched with home insurance companies that will actually provide you quick, transparent quotes through Insurify, then it's a major win. We like what this company aims to do and you have nothing to lose by trying to utilize their service and compare pricing among major insurance companies. Unfortunately, your efforts might not always be fruitful here since some companies make it difficult to get pricing. This isn't a slam dunk solution to finding an insurance plan, but we recommend giving it a try if you have the time.
Hippo claims to be a "new breed of home insurance.” They're a newer insurance company that was only started in 2016, but they already have over 300,000 homes they insure throughout the U.S. The company aims to bundle modern coverage with smart home technology to keep customers one step ahead of their problems and prevent major (and common) issues from happening.
Prevent accidents
The tagline at Hippo is, "Accidents happen? Not if we have anything to say about it.” This company not only aims to provide coverage for homes in case of an accident, but they take measures to help prevent them in the first place. Their proactive approach includes installing things like leak sensors in your home, cameras and motion detectors, and smart smoke alarms. They also provide resources for customers to do a home health evaluation, get personalized maintenance plans, and DIY guides for projects. Some of their partners include Lennar, Xfinity, Vivint SmartHome, Toll Brothers, GAF, Spinnaker Insurance Company, TOPA Insurance Company and others.
Coverage in 37 states
If you want some information about home insurance in your state, you'll be impressed with Hippo's local guides that give statistics about the average cost of insurance in your state, reference some specific pop culture details, and tell you unique things to be aware of in your area. However, although the company gives fun information about all 50 states, they don't actually provide coverage in all these places. They currently have licenses in 37 states and are working to add more. If you navigate to their help articles, you'll be able to view this list and make sure your state is included before spending any more time on their page.
Quotes in 60 seconds
If Hippo is available in your state, you can get a quote in 60 seconds by providing your address, selecting the type of coverage you're looking for, providing information on your property and occupants, and providing some basic personal information. We were given one quote through Homeowners of America that we could review. To complete the purchase or discuss more details about it, we could request a call from one of their agents.
Fair pricing, low coverage
By taking the steps to prevent homeowner issues, Hippo says they can save customers 25%. We felt like the monthly quote we were given was actually really fair and our deductible was low, but it didn't seem to provide enough home coverage for what we would need in a true disaster or total loss. Very few nitty-gritty details about the policy were provided. So there are pros and cons here, which is why it's important to get quotes from a few highly-rated companies and decide which one gives you the most bang for your buck.
Lots of canceled policies
Hippo is not rated by the Better Business Bureau since all their information was either being reviewed or updated at this time. Since they are a newer company, there aren't as many reviews or stories from people who have filed claims as we've found from competitors. One common thing we found though was that people easily were able to sign up for a policy and felt they were saving a great deal of money only to find out a couple months later that the underwriting department found issues with the policy and decided to cancel it out of the blue. We read so many stories like this that it left us not wanting to risk signing up in the first place.
Seems unsteady
We like where Hippo is going with their company and ideas. It makes sense to ensure that customers are doing all they can in their power to prevent an accident or disaster from occurring, avoiding a lot of claims and keeping costs down. However, it doesn't prevent natural disasters or so many other things that can occur that weren't predicted. We aren't confident that the company is growing and taking time to thoroughly go through and protect all the policies that they have. It seems like they cancel too often on their customers and their customer service isn't especially helpful. When you're dealing with something as important as insuring your home, stick with a more reputable company instead of taking a gamble on something that still seems unsteady like Hippo.
You can't hear Allstate's company name without hearing the commercial in your head asking, "Are you in good hands?” The company was founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck, and Co. and became completely independent in 1995. Allstate is headquartered in Glenview, Illinois and has an annual revenue of over 57 billion dollars. In addition to home insurance, Allstate offers insurance for your car, motorcycle, rental property, and more.
Three basic steps
The main risks and perils that Allstate's insurance covers are theft, fire and smoke, windstorm or hail, falling objects, frozen plumbing, water damage from your water heater, plumbing, or heating/cooling systems (and more). Regardless of where you live, there are risks to your home that need to be covered by insurance. Allstate lays out a basic three step process to get covered through their company. First, you'll work together with an agent to design an insurance policy plan that fits your unique home. Then you'll apply for the policy, and lastly, get accepted for protection. You'll maintain contact with your agent to make sure your policy is up-to-date and covers any changes that may occur in or around your home.
Get a quote within minutes
From the top of Allstate's website, you can click "Get a quote” and select the type of insurance you need. You'll be asked to provide your zip code and basic information like your name, home address, and birthday. Through public records, the site will pull what it can find about your provided address (year built, square footage, residence type). You'll need to input when you purchased the property and select any protective devices your home has. You'll continue to answer specific questions about your property like what types of additions you may have done, if it has a pool, if you have a finished basement, if you have a fireplace, what type of foundation you have, and more. All of this information is used for the company to decide how much of a liability your home is and come up with a quote for you. It takes just a few minutes to fill out all the information.
Easily compare pricing
When you finish filling out all the information about your home, Allstate will show basic, standard, or enhanced choices for your insurance. Each option is priced differently and you can use their "compare options” tool to see the differences between them. The less expensive plans usually have a higher deductible and don't cover quite as much of things like your personal property, additional living expenses, and medical expenses if an event occurs. There are optional add-on coverages you can choose from that will change the overall monthly price such as identity theft expense, extended coverage on jewelry, watches, and furs, green improvements, and other optional things that may pertain to your lifestyle.
Finalize with an agent
Once you're satisfied with everything on your insurance plan, the coverage, and the monthly cost, you can checkout. They'll ask you for some more personal details and you'll provide your phone number so an agent can contact you. When you talk to the agent over the phone, this is when you'll find out for sure what your overall price will be (but unfortunately sometimes it changes slightly from what you see online), and you can get your insurance locked in. If you're not quite ready to checkout, you can save and email your quote to refer back to later. This way you don't have to fill out all the information twice.
Do everything online
In the event that you actually need to use your insurance (ironic how we pay for it but hope to never use it), you can file a claim directly from Allstate's website. You can also track your claims from there, review your billing and payments information, review your policy, view your ID cards, adjust your account settings, or contact a representative directly.
Terrible customer reviews
Allstate has an "A+” rating from the Better Business Bureau, which is actually quite surprising all things considered. When it comes to third-party reviewers about the company, things get dicey. It's hard to know reliably how a company like this performs since most people who deal with them beyond purchasing a policy are usually in some sort of an emergency situation. This means emotions are high and they're dealing with large sums of money, which is never a good combo. Overall, people report that Allstate has rude customer service and makes it difficult to put their policy into effect when they need it the most. People feel that Allstate is disloyal to its customers and don't follow through with the help they promise.
Big name, big problems
It's actually hard to find something good about Allstate online from customers who have dealt with them extensively. This is really concerning to us and makes us worried that the company has gotten so big and lost the heart of their service along the way. Because of their poor feedback from numerous customers, Allstate doesn't earn our recommendation for homeowners insurance.
Based on their name, it's no surprise that one of Progressive's main goals is progress. They boast that their unparalleled coverage and unwavering care help their customers make progress whether it be on the road, in the home, or in business. Progressive was founded in 1937 and has grown to have 27.4 million policies in force. Also, we're not here to judge who makes the best insurance commercials, but if we had to vote, then Progressive would take the cake. If you have some down time, do a quick search to watch all their Dr. Rick commercials and they'll have you rolling with laughter.
All you need from the website
Progressive offers protection for your home and personal property in addition to liability coverage in the event that you're responsible for another person's injury or damage to their property. The standard coverages include dwelling, loss of use, liability, and personal property. If you want to go beyond the basics, you can consider adding water backup and sump discharge or overflow coverage, and personal injury. Progressive has a list of "perils” you're protected against like fire or lightning, smoke, theft, volcanic eruption, vandalism, damage from falling trees, and more. What they don't cover is floods, earthquakes, landslides, or sinkholes and we don't see any options for adding this coverage on.
Fast online quote
If you want a good overview of what Progressive offers and an explanation of some of the terms involved, their website does a good job of simplifying it all for you to breeze through. From Progressive's website you can also make payments, report claims, and get a free quote. As soon as you add your address, Progressive will pull up the details it found that already exist online about your home. This really speeds up the process. Next you'll provide updated details about the interior and exterior to make sure Progressive has a good idea of what matters when it comes to covering your home in a disaster.
Buy online or through an agent
Our quote was a lot lower than what we've received from some other companies. However, the coverage wasn't as great. For example, we only were going to get about ⅓ of what it would actually cost to rebuild our home. To be fair, at the end of the quote questionnaire we did indicate that a lower price was more important to us than extensive coverage. We could either buy this policy right from Progressive's website, or call one of their representatives and do it over the phone. In our case, we'd prefer to work with an agent at this point to see what the cost would be to adjust our policy to include more coverage. Most likely some tweaks could be made for most people to make sure they are happy with their price and they aren't under-insured.
Ways to lower your premium
If you decide to get auto insurance on top of your homeowners insurance with Progressive, they say you'll save an average of 7% on auto. Other ways you might get a lower premium are if you have safety and alarm systems installed on your property, if you're purchasing a home or switching over from renters insurance, receiving home insurance documents by email instead of paper, having a brand new home, paying the 12-month policy upfront, and more. These things will likely be calculated into your online quote as you go.
Rampant disappointment
Despite their "A” rating from the Better Business Bureau, comprehensive website, fast and easy quotes, and competitive pricing, it seems that Progressive is not as great as they appear. Based on nearly 1,000 reviews, Progressive scores extremely low among their customers. Many people agree that their coverage isn't actually enough to take care of repairing or rebuilding their home in the case of an emergency. Some people feel like customer service leaves them in the dust when they need them the most, so if you're able to get a local agent that you could easily get in contact with either by phone or in-person, that would be your safest bet.
Leery of Progressive
Overall, we could hardly find anyone with really good things to say about Progressive. For now we are really leery about going with them for home insurance. Sometimes low prices don't actually pay off in the end.
Most people don't have enough cash in the bank to cover a major portion of or even the entire cost of their home. It's probably the last thing you want to spend your money on when you're already paying a monthly mortgage. Having good home insurance is the best way to stay financially protected and ensure that you always have what it takes to repair and maintain your house if something goes wrong.
If you're a new homeowner, it may seem a little overwhelming to find an insurance policy. Luckily there are lots of companies available these days for you to choose from. Companies have gotten better at using layman's terms and really spelling out all their policies for you, so that you know what you'll be paying monthly, what the policy covers, and how to make a claim if you need to. Usually a company will offer a few different price ranges you can choose from, depending on how much coverage you think you need, and you can easily compare them to decide what works best with your budget and covers the risks that most threaten your property and surrounding area.
We've done some of the heavy lifting for you here by going over the process different companies require for you to get quotes and reviewing what people have to say about their customer service and follow-through with claims. When it comes to a situation regarding insurance, you don't want to mess around. We can't overstate the importance of being able to rely on a company that's affordable and will hold your hand while you navigate stressful situations.
Since there are quite a few insurance companies to choose from that have different types of policies, keep the following things in mind when choosing who to go with:
Top Consumer Reviews has researched the most important things you'd need to know about choosing a home insurance plan. We hope this information helps you find peace of mind knowing that one of your most valuable assets is protected. We've tried to make things as easy as possible for you to feel confident in your decision about which home insurance company to go with.
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