I shopped around for new homeowners insurance and discovered I could save $900 a year
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Holly Johnson
- I looked into getting new homeowners insurance and found I could save around $900 a year.
- I tried using the comparison platform The Zebra, but found it didn't meet my needs.
- I'm not ready to make the switch quite yet, but it was empowering and easy to find the info I need.
- Get customized quotes online in minutes with Insurify.
I have been an Allstate homeowners insurance customer for more than 20 years, and that's despite the fact I have shopped around for new coverage options several different times. I've definitely had the chance to save money by switching providers over the years, but I've never found a big enough discount to go through all the trouble.
Plus, I not only had my primary residence insured with Allstate, but also two rental properties and a car. We have also had a $2 million umbrella insurance policy for the last few years, which complicates matters even more.
But in recent years, we've sold our two rental properties, so we're back down to the basics of homeowners insurance, auto coverage, and umbrella insurance. With that in mind, I decided to shop around for homeowners first and foremost, then use the quotes I received to decide if making the switch might be worth it — or not.
Ultimately, I decided to get quotes from four different insurance providers that are popular in my area — Progressive, State Farm, GEICO and Liberty Mutual. Amazingly, I found I could be saving more than $900 per year if I was willing to change companies. But what would I be giving up?
See Insider's picks for the best homeowners insurance »
Finding out what coverage I could get
The chart below shows the amount I was quoted for each of the companies I reached out to, plus an overview of the coverage amounts and deductibles I was shown.
Allstate | Progressive | State Farm | GEICO | Liberty Mutual | |
Annual homeowners insurance premium | $2,495.86 | $1,588 | $2,311 | $1,713 | $1,600 |
Dwelling protection | $625,013 | $574,919 | $541,000 | $506,200 | $659,500 |
Deductible | $2,500 | $1,000 | $2,705 | $1,000 | $1,500 |
Personal property protection | $375,008 | $287,460 | $405,750 | $379,650 | $494,630 |
Additional living expense protection | Up to 24 months not to exceed $125,003 | $114,984 | Not included in the quote | Up to actual losses | Up to actual losses |
Getting homeowners insurance quotes
The first thing I noticed about getting homeowners insurance quotes is the fact it is so incredibly easy to do online. I didn't have to talk to an insurance agent or answer a bunch of personal questions to find out how much coverage costs. Instead, I got quotes easily online by providing information on the home I own and the types of coverage I currently have and want to emulate in a new policy.
Note that you can also use a homeowners comparison site like The Zebra to compare several homeowners insurance quotes in one place. That was my original plan for this comparison, but I was pretty dismayed to find all the quotes offered through The Zebra suggested a dwelling coverage amount of just $189,600.
Since I purchased my Central Indiana home for $389,000 in August of 2020, I knew that amount of coverage wasn't even close to what I needed. For that reason, the quotes I was offered through the platform were pretty much useless. Worse, there was no way to tweak the amount of suggested coverage to see what premiums would look like with a higher amount.
Next Steps: Get customized quotes for any home value online with Insurify.
Comparing costs and coverages
Ultimately, I found that switching homeowners insurance companies could help me save as much as $900 per year. However, the lowest cost coverage I was offered came through Progressive, and I would have to settle for some lower dwelling coverage amount of $574,919 and a lower personal property coverage amount of $287,460 to lock in that price.
Truth be told, I was more intrigued by the homeowners insurance quote I received from Liberty Mutual, which came with $659,500 in dwelling coverage (replacement cost coverage) and $494,630 in protection for personal property with a $1,500 deductible for typical perils as well as windstorms and hail.
Other policy details I was offered through Liberty Mutual made their coverage very similar to what I have had through Allstate, but at a cost that is almost $900 less without factoring in the costs of securing an auto policy and umbrella policy at the same time.
I'm holding off — for now
At the end of the day, the prospect of saving up to $900 wasn't enough to get me to switch policies in the middle of my own coverage term. However, my Allstate homeowners insurance policy is set to expire at the end of August 2023, and I decided I will reach out to agents at Liberty Mutual and Progressive at that time to get quotes for all the coverages I need in a few months.
Either way, this experience reminded me of something I was already sure of — that taking the time to compare insurance rates can be well worth the trouble. Now that I know how much I can save by jumping through a few hoops and submitting some paperwork, I think I'm ready to make the switch.