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Friday, August 12th
That crazy, yellow-shirted emu that you see in all the commercials represents the fourth-largest home insurer in the US. You can get your Liberty Mutual policy online, via the app, or on the phone for more personal service. Their policies are available across the country, which isn't the case for all homeowners insurance companies. They might seem like a new company to you, but they've been around since 1912.
Standard coverage
Nationwide will repair or rebuild your home and other structures on the property, and they'll do the same for your personal property up to a certain amount. If your home is uninhabitable, they'll pay for a stay in a hotel, restaurant meals, and other expenses while your home is under construction for repairs that are covered. If you're responsible for injury to others or their property, that's covered too.
Add-ons
You can add other policies to cover your personal belongings. You can get policies for backups due to sewer, sump pump, or drain overflow; jewelry coverage if it's lost or stolen, without deductible or appraisal; identity theft insurance; inflation protection which gives you a discount with regular adjustments of coverage at renewal time; and replacement cost coverage, where you can get brand new replacements for what was stolen or destroyed.
Discounts
We all love a discount, and Liberty Mutual offers some nice discounts that you might be able to take advantage of. You can bundle home and auto with them. If your home is newly purchased, newly built, newly renovated, or has a new roof, there's a discount. If you help them out by getting the policy before your old one expires, sign up for paperless billing, or enroll in autopay for your premiums, they thank you with discounts. Their website lets you know you can get a 10% discount by applying online.
Online or with a live person
You can take care of most of your needs via the website or app, such as sign documents, pay bills, sign up for auto pay, review your policy, and file a claim, but if you'd like to talk with a person, give them your zip code and they'll put you in contact with someone.
Customer experience
Customers seem to be content with the online experience of Liberty Mutual; however, when they talk with someone, it seems that they end up talking with more than one person about the same issue. Those people seem to be inconsistent in their answers, and someone also said that Liberty Mutual assured them they'd cancel the previous insurance policy for them but didn't, causing $1,000 in owed premiums. Customer service seems to be a huge, consistent complaint, and on the BBB site, Liberty Mutual doesn't seem to reply to many of the customers who have complaints. The Better Business Bureau gives them an A+ rating, and BBB's reviewers give them an average of 1.1 stars with 760 reviews.
You get what you pay for
Liberty Mutual caters to those on a budget, offering good, standard insurance and the expected add-ons. They offer a variety of discounts to keep the premium costs down as well. However, when it comes to customer service, there's a big red flag. You'd be wise to check out the options with other home insurance companies first.
Your home is probably one of the most important and valuable assets you have. Whether you've purchased a new home or have paid off the mortgage years ago - congrats on either! - your home is an asset you'll want to protect and not be without.
If you have a mortgage on your home, the lending company may require you to show proof of insurance to assure both them and yourself that you are protected, financially and otherwise, in case of a disaster causing damage or complete destruction. Even if you have paid for your home in full, a disaster that leaves your home damaged or uninhabitable could cost thousands to repair or hundreds of thousands to replace. Most people don't have that cash on hand; or if they do, that's not how they would choose to spend it.
It's fast and easy to get a policy online. For many, it's a great decision. However, when it comes time to make a claim, you might not have purchased the right policy for you. For example, you may not have considered flood or earthquake insurance. You might not have insured your very valuable items individually, and if they're stolen, they're probably not covered.
On the other hand, if you work with an agent to get your policy, they will probably ask you a myriad of questions to get the policy you need. Online can be great, just be sure you know what you want in a policy.
Here are a few things to consider when purchasing a homeowners policy.
To provide you with the best information so that you can get the right policy and best insurance company for you, TopConsumerReviews.com has evaluated and ranked the most popular sources of homeowners insurance available today. Getting the right policy is like cuddling with a warm blanket, since you'll have that assurance you'll be covered if any damage or destruction to your home. The process of choosing a homeowners insurance policy might have seemed daunting and you may have avoided it for as long as you can, but we can help make it easy.
Select any 2 Home Insurance Companies to compare them head to head