Money Magazine recently published an article about homeowner’s insurance – https://money.com/best-home-insurance/ which gives a good explanation of coverage’s. It is a good start, especially for new home buyer’s without a prior home insurance policy. While I don’t agree with their top 7 companies, the rest of the article is very, very good and spot on.
Using an independent insurance broker is usually your best bet (we have 14 homeowner companies) because we have multiple rates. For example, a Rotary member (love Rotary) had me look at his insurance policies and is/was with Liberty Mutual (#2 on www.money.com list). My review was to keep the auto insurance with them, as 2 young driver’s, with accidents was hard to replace elsewhere. But the homeowner’s was $2,189 on a $330,000 value home and one of our smaller Co-OP insurance companies came in at $979 for the same coverage.
Five of the 7 companies mentioned, they have decent rates most of the time but it is ONE rate only – theirs. The independent insurance agent is the only one who can truly shop around and get multiple rates for the age & value of the home. Since home insurance (and auto insurance) is a state regulated industry, the swings in rates can vary widely, as you can see in my example (a true example too). So while overall the home insurance companies mentioned are good, well known nationally, doesn’t always mean the best in your town or state. It does pay to shop around.
Tom Larsen, Independent insurance broker.