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Affordable base policies with plenty of add-ons and bundling opportunities
There are different ways to protect a home. Security cameras can ward off would-be thieves, 24/7 monitoring will let you know if something’s amiss, and your video doorbell can stop package thieves. In this security discussion, though, we don’t always talk about home insurance. Why is that? When disaster strikes, it’s your insurance that comes to the rescue. In fact, your insurance is just as important as an alarm system.
Trust us — home insurance is home security.
Here we’re going to take a look at one of the most comprehensive providers of homeowners insurance today: Liberty Mutual. But before we start unpacking everything, let’s take a quick look at some of their primary coverages.
To see how add-on protections will affect your Liberty Mutual premium, try building a quote online.
Like many top home insurance providers I’ve looked at, Liberty Mutual has one basic HO-3 policy you can build out with a bunch of extra add-ons or endorsements. The add-ons you choose will depend entirely on what you need and where you live.
For example, most homeowners insurance protects you against wind damage (a storm blows a tree onto your roof), but if a hurricane causes that damage, you’re stuck. So if you live in an area where hurricanes are seasonal events, you’ll want to think seriously about adding hurricane insurance to your plan.
There are plenty of other cases where you’d need special coverage. You’ll want to go through those carefully before you sign off on any policy you’re considering.
Standard | Add-on |
---|---|
Property | Home Protector Plus™ (inflation protection) |
Possessions (actual cash value) | Possessions (replaced at cost) |
Personal liability | Jewelry |
Weather damage | Water damage |
Loss of use | Hurricane damage |
Earthquake damage | |
Flood insurance | |
Identity theft restoration |
Homeowner’s Tip: When it comes to water damage, insurers are thinking about things like freezing pipes, not overflowing sewers or flooding, so expect to pay extra if you want that type of coverage.
Did You Know: The minimum recommended liability insurance is $100,000, but these days purchasing between $300,000 and $500,000 worth of liability coverage makes more sense. Check out our Complete Homeowners Insurance Buyer’s Guide to find out why.
You can build out your Liberty Mutual homeowners policy with add-ons like inflation protection.
FYI: States at high risk of natural disasters, like Oklahoma and Nebraska, will have higher premiums across the board. Other states, like North Carolina, will have higher premiums than average in specific areas — such as coastal areas in the path of hurricanes — where the risk of weather damage is high.
Insurers consider a bunch of different factors when quoting you a premium for your home, including: where you live; the size, age, and condition of your house; your age; your claims history; and your salary. In fact, all of these affect your rate. While we can’t predict what Liberty Mutual will quote you individually, here’s what the industry data says.
Average Liberty Mutual monthly premium | Average Liberty Mutual yearly premium | Average monthly premium in the U.S. | Average yearly premium in the U.S. |
---|---|---|---|
$87-$359 | $1,044-$4,308 | $104 | $1,249 |
My basic Liberty Mutual quote was considerably higher than the NAIC’s national average.
My own Liberty Mutual quote ($237) happened to be higher than both local and national averages. You can read all about my quote-gathering adventures in my in-depth Liberty Mutual review.
When I removed Liberty Mutual’s Home Protector Plus (extra inflation insurance), however, that saved me 16 percent. If I’d indicated a better home security set-up, my Smart Home discount might have been better, too.
And what about that 22-year-old asphalt shingle roof? Liberty Mutual’s quote generator might not have liked it.
Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. The point is, there are too many moving parts to know for sure why Liberty Mutual wanted to insure that particular house at a higher-than-average rate. What’s clear is that I’ve seen much cheaper quotes. The rates State Farm quoted me, for instance, were a fraction of the cost. A budget Lemonade insurance plan cost a lot less, too.
Speaking of the competition, let’s see how Liberty Mutual’s premiums have stacked up against some of our other top home insurance picks this year.
Liberty Mutual writes policies for most types of insurance, including auto insurance.
Liberty Mutual covers an unusually wide range of vehicles — from cars and motorcycles to boats, ATVs and RVs. If you bundle your auto and property insurance into one bill, you can score a special deal. See below for your bundling options. If you’re in the market for money-saving auto and home insurance bundles, you might also like Travelers’ insurance packages.
Thirty-one percent of U.S. households rented in 2021,3 yet only a fraction invested in renters insurance. This can be a mistake. Renters insurance doesn’t just protect your belongings against theft or damage beyond your control. You’re also covered if your apartment is uninhabitable for any reason. I’m thinking of pest infestations here, but problems with plumbing and heating aren’t rare by a long shot either.
Little-known fact: If a fraudster gets ahold of your Social Security number, he can do a lot of damage to your credit, which could drive up your insurance premiums and make it harder for you to take out loans in the future.
Unlike freak accidents that may happen to guests on your property, ID theft is dangerously common these days.4 So whether you prefer to add Liberty Mutual’s ID theft protection onto your home insurance policy or decide to learn more about how to choose an identity monitoring service for your family, now is a very good time to look into it.
Illness and accident insurance covers all the good stuff: deductibles, copays, prescriptions, and physical therapy expenses. Liberty Mutual also sells term, whole, and fixed-income life insurance policies.
Chances are that you never considered it, but reasonably priced coverage for your four-legged friend could make a lot of financial sense. On average, pets cost between $2,000 to $4,000 per year just to maintain.5 And that’s without unexpected medical emergencies.
Liberty Mutual’s business policies vary from straight property insurance with auto, equipment, and workers’ comp add-ons to whole commercial packages. All their plans come with support from local agents, 24/7 phone claims reporting, and access to their online business owner’s portal.
Bundling your auto and home insurance is a way to save even more on your Liberty Mutual policy.
Bundling your homeowners (or your renters or condo) insurance with your auto insurance isn’t just cheaper. One bill is also less of a hassle, especially if you go paperless — and it’s one more way to save with Liberty Mutual.
Bundling home and auto insurance is by far the most popular option, but it’s not the only one. You can shave some extra dollars off your premium by bundling pet insurance or life insurance with your home insurance.
Liberty Mutual is known for its competitive home insurance plans, but they offer plenty of additional incentives to keep monthly premiums low, too.
Liberty Mutual’s home insurance policies aren’t the cheapest I’ve found, but you can add on just about anything you need, and there are bundles and special discounts to make your dollar go further.
There’s been some talk about Liberty Mutual’s slow handling of claims settlements over the pandemic. Certainly, wrangling with insurance agents is the last thing we want to do when our homes and belongings are on the line. But from what I’ve seen, Liberty Mutual is making efforts to put that history behind them with a smarter mobile experience and video property damage reviews for quicker arbitration.
They can be. In some states, Liberty Mutual’s policies are cheaper than the national average. In my experience, however, Liberty Mutual’s premiums were at the high end of the spectrum.
Yes. They also offer accident, life, pet, identity theft, small business, and renters insurance.
Yes, you can. Like with most of our top home insurance providers, you can bundle and save with Liberty Mutual.
They offer early shopper, claims-free, and safe homeowner discounts, as well as discounts for newly purchased or renovated homes.
Yes. It’s called Home Protector Plus and you can add it to your standard HO-3 plan. In fact, we recommend it.
Insurance Information Institute. (2020). Facts + Statistics: Insurance company rankings.
https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-insurance-company-rankings
Reuters (2021, June 9). Smart devices get pandemic boost in U.S. households -Deloitte survey.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/smart-devices-get-pandemic-boost-us-households-deloitte-survey-2021-06-09/
U.S. Census Bureau. (2022, February 2). QUARTERLY RESIDENTIAL VACANCIES AND HOMEOWNERSHIP, FOURTH QUARTER 2021.
https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/currenthvspress.pdf
Federal Trade Commission. (2021, February 4). New Data Shows FTC Received 2.2 Million Fraud Reports from Consumers in 2020.
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/02/new-data-shows-ftc-received-2-2-million-fraud-reports-consumers
El-Bawab, N. (2021, May 30). Thinking about adopting a pet? Here’s how much it typically costs to own a dog or cat. CNBC.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/30/how-much-it-costs-to-own-a-pet.html