How We Review Homeowners Insurance Companies
Choosing homeowners insurance shouldn’t require a PhD in policy language or blind faith in a company’s advertising budget. We built a scoring system that measures what actually matters when you’re trusting a company to rebuild your home after a disaster.
Every homeowners insurance company in our reviews gets scored across six categories using a weighted system. Scores are based on a combination of industry data (J.D. Power, NAIC complaint records, AM Best financial ratings), third-party review platforms, consumer feedback, and our own editorial analysis of coverage terms, pricing, and policy features. Here’s how the scoring breaks down and why each factor carries the weight it does.
Coverage Options: 25%
This carries the heaviest weight because coverage is the entire point of insurance. A cheap policy means nothing if it doesn’t actually cover what you need when your roof caves in or your kitchen floods.
We evaluate what comes standard in each carrier’s base homeowners policy (HO-3 form) and what requires an add-on or endorsement. Specifically, we look at dwelling coverage terms and replacement cost methodology (guaranteed, extended, or capped), personal property protections, liability limits, and whether common gaps like water backup, equipment breakdown, and service line damage are covered by default or require extra premium.
Carriers that include more coverage as standard score higher than those that sell the basics and charge extra for everything else. We also assess the depth of optional endorsements: flood, earthquake, identity theft, scheduled valuables, and specialty coverages like wildfire defense or green rebuilding. The goal is identifying policies that protect you broadly without requiring you to bolt on a dozen riders to close obvious gaps.
Pricing and Value: 20%
Price matters, but the cheapest quote is not always the best value. A $1,400 policy that caps your dwelling replacement at 80% is a worse deal than a $1,800 policy that guarantees full replacement cost. We compare premiums across standardized dwelling amounts ($300,000 is our benchmark) using carrier-specific rate filings.
We also look at what that price actually buys. Two carriers quoting $2,000 per year can deliver wildly different coverage if one includes water backup and replacement cost for contents while the other treats those as add-ons. Our pricing scores account for the coverage you get per dollar, not just the dollar amount on the declarations page.
Rate stability matters too. We track recent rate increases through state insurance filings and consumer reviews. A carrier that raised rates 30% in a single year gets dinged here even if the current quote looks competitive, because that pattern tends to repeat.
Claims Experience: 20%
This is where insurance companies prove themselves or fall apart. Your policy is a piece of paper until you actually need to file a claim, and that moment usually comes during one of the worst days of your life. We evaluate claims using three primary data sources.
First, J.D. Power’s annual U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study, which surveys thousands of homeowners who recently filed claims and scores carriers on a 1,000-point scale across settlement, repair process, claim servicing, and first notice of loss. Second, NAIC complaint data, which tracks how many complaints each carrier receives relative to its size. A complaint index of 1.0 means a carrier received exactly the expected number of complaints. Below 1.0 is better than expected. Above 1.0 means more complaints than the industry norm. Third, consumer reviews on platforms like ConsumerAffairs, Trustpilot, and the BBB, where real policyholders describe their claims experiences in detail.
Companies that process claims quickly, communicate clearly, and pay what they owe score well. Those that lowball settlements, drag out timelines, or create bureaucratic obstacles during a crisis lose points fast.
Customer Service: 15%
When you need to update your policy, ask a coverage question, or report a change to your property, the experience should be straightforward. We assess availability (hours and channels), the quality of agent networks, and whether the carrier provides knowledgeable support across phone, chat, email, and in-person interactions.
We factor in J.D. Power’s homeowners satisfaction studies, which measure the full customer relationship beyond just claims. We also pull ratings from the BBB, Trustpilot, ConsumerAffairs, WalletHub, and other consumer platforms to see what real policyholders say about day-to-day interactions. Companies with large, responsive agent networks and multiple contact channels earn higher marks. Those where customers report long hold times, unhelpful representatives, or difficulty reaching anyone score lower.
The agent-versus-digital debate matters here too. Some carriers (Erie, Chubb, Travelers) require you to work through a local agent for everything. Others (Lemonade, Hippo, Nationwide) let you manage most things digitally. Neither model is inherently better, but we evaluate how well each carrier executes its chosen approach.
Discounts and Savings: 10%
The number of available discounts and the potential savings they offer make a meaningful difference in your annual premium. We catalog every discount each carrier offers: multi-policy bundling, claims-free, new home, safety devices, smart home technology, loyalty, autopay, advance quote, and any carrier-specific options like generational discounts or membership partnerships.
Carriers with a broad discount menu give policyholders more ways to reduce costs. A company offering 12 discount categories provides more flexibility than one offering 4, even if the individual discount percentages are similar. We also look at the maximum bundling discount, since combining home and auto is the single biggest savings opportunity for most homeowners. Bundling discounts in our review set range from 20% to 40%.
Digital Experience: 10%
This category carries the lowest weight because digital tools don’t pay your claim or rebuild your house. But in 2026, your insurer’s app and website are how you interact with your policy 95% of the time. We evaluate mobile app quality (iOS and Android ratings, feature set, claims filing capability), online quoting availability, policy management tools, and overall digital accessibility.
J.D. Power’s Insurance Digital Experience Study provides a baseline ranking. We supplement that with App Store and Google Play ratings, hands-on review of carrier websites, and consumer feedback about digital usability. Carriers that let you get a quote, buy a policy, file a claim, and manage your account entirely online score highest. Those that require a phone call or agent visit for basic tasks score lower, regardless of how good their agent network is.
How We Calculate Final Scores
Each company receives a score out of 5.0 in every category. We then apply the weights above and calculate a weighted average. Here’s the formula:
- Coverage Options: __/5.0 (weighted 25%)
- Pricing and Value: __/5.0 (weighted 20%)
- Claims Experience: __/5.0 (weighted 20%)
- Customer Service: __/5.0 (weighted 15%)
- Discounts and Savings: __/5.0 (weighted 10%)
- Digital Experience: __/5.0 (weighted 10%)
The weighted average produces a score that we round to the nearest 0.5 for the final rating. A carrier scoring 3.87 weighted becomes a 4.0. A carrier scoring 3.34 becomes a 3.5. This rounding keeps ratings clean and comparable while still reflecting real performance differences.
Our Data Sources
We pull data from a combination of industry, regulatory, and consumer sources:
- J.D. Power: U.S. Home Insurance Study, U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study, and Insurance Digital Experience Study (2024 and 2025 editions)
- NAIC: National Association of Insurance Commissioners complaint data by carrier and line of business (2022-2024)
- AM Best: Financial strength ratings and credit rating reports for each carrier’s underwriting subsidiaries
- State Insurance Filings: Rate increase history and regulatory actions
- Consumer Review Platforms: ConsumerAffairs, Trustpilot, BBB, WalletHub
- Carrier Documentation: Official product pages, coverage brochures, endorsement details, SEC filings, and earnings reports
When sources conflict, we prioritize NAIC complaint data and J.D. Power studies over individual consumer reviews, since they represent larger sample sizes and standardized methodologies. Consumer reviews inform our analysis but do not override statistical data.
Our Commitment
These ratings come from independent research and analysis. We regularly update reviews when carrier performance changes, rate filings shift, financial strength ratings are upgraded or downgraded, or market conditions evolve. No carrier pays for placement or a higher score. Affiliate relationships exist with some carriers in our review set, but they do not influence ratings, rankings, or editorial conclusions.
Homeowners insurance exists so that the worst day of your life doesn’t also become a financial catastrophe. Our methodology helps you find a carrier that will actually deliver on that promise when it matters most.
| Insurer | Coverage | Pricing | Claims | Service | Discounts | Digital | Overall Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chubb Home Insurance | 5.0 | 3.5 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 9 |
| Amica Home Insurance | 5.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 9 |
| USAA Home Insurance | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 9 |
| State Farm Home Insurance | 3.5 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 8 |
| Nationwide Home Insurance | 4.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 8 |
| Erie Insurance Home Insurance | 1.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 6 |
| Lemonade Home Insurance | 4.0 | 4.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 4.5 | 7.5 |
| Allstate Home Insurance | 4.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 7 |
| Liberty Mutual Home Insurance | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 7 |
| Farmers Home Insurance | 4.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 7 |
| Travelers Homeowners Insurance | 3.5 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 7 |
| American Family Home Insurance | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 7 |
| The Hartford Home Insurance | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 7 |
| Hippo Home Insurance | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 5 |
| Progressive Home Insurance | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 7 |
