But it’s possible you’re facing even worse problems than just rising costs. Some homeowners are losing coverage entirely as insurers across the U.S. aggressively cancel policies or leave certain markets. Allstate and State Farm, for example, have stopped writing new policies in California, and Farmers and Progressive have done the same in Florida.
Rate hikes and cancellation can mean you’re suddenly forced to shop around with other carriers to see if you can get coverage at all, or a better deal. Use CR’s latest exclusive homeowners insurance ratings to help. These are based on a national sample of 23,917 homeowners insurance policyholders in the U.S. who reported on 26,936 experiences with insurance companies.
CR rated homeowners insurance companies based on customers’ satisfaction with the cost of premiums, the claims process, the service they received for non-claims-related matters, the quality of available help and advice in choosing a policy, the clarity of the policy, quality of coverage, thoroughness of their policy review, and the utility of the company’s website and mobile app.
This year’s surprising takeaway: Of the 28 companies rated, not a single one received an exemplary rating overall, which appears as dark green in our ratings tables. But three companies—NJM, Erie Insurance Group, and USAA—rose to the top of the pack, reaching our second-highest (light green) tier.
At the other end of the spectrum was Citizens Property, which operates exclusively in Florida. That insurer rated poorly on every attribute.
Overall Scores for popular companies—Progressive, State Farm, and Travelers—were middling, and none of them received top marks for any of our attributes. Companies that wound up in the near-bottom portion of the ratings included Allstate, American Family, Farmers, Liberty Mutual, and Nationwide.
Survey respondents gave even the top three insurers only middling grades on premiums, likely because prices have increased so substantially across the board. “Given that many homeowners across the country have experienced price hikes that greatly exceed inflation, it’s not surprising that consumers aren’t very happy about rising premium costs,” says CR’s Bell.
Erie’s typical premium of $1,153 clocked in at the lowest among all the companies CR rated, and well below the national median at $1,695. USAA’s typical premium was $2,013.
CR members can read on to see which companies top our full homeowners insurance ratings.
