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Heading-spinning auto and home insurance bundles may be all State Farm needs to win us over.
It takes a multifaceted approach to protect your home. You need burglar deterrents like alarm systems and security cameras, but you also need to consider what you’d do if those primary systems don’t work as intended. That’s where homeowners insurance comes in. It’s a critical piece of your overall posture of protection, or more simply put: Home insurance is home security.
That’s why we’re talking about State Farm today. I spent the last few weeks diving deep into this 99-year-old behemoth’s home insurance policies. I even simulated insuring a few actual properties with State Farm, comparing rates against national averages.
What I found wasn’t a surprise. State Farm is cheap with top-rated customer service. But I also uncovered some hard-to-believe bundles and a robust menu of basic protections. Of course, it isn’t the perfect home insurer (the online quote builder could sure use a fresh coat of paint), but it checked many of my boxes. Stay with me for the whole story.
Fun Fact: State Farm founder G.J. Mecherle was a 33rd-degree freemason. He kept a standing bell (which rang whenever a new life insurance policy was sold), a bust of Abraham Lincoln, and his masonic belt on display in his office.
State Farm’s online quote generator isn’t a marvel of design, but it’s quick and easy.
Just a quick note. State Farm’s website doesn’t do justice to the coverage you’ll actually find when you build your quote. When it was time to get down to the nitty-gritty, I discovered plenty of unexpected protections. Here’s a quick overview.
Homeowner’s Tip: It pays to get your dwelling coverage right because that’s the amount you’ll get to rebuild your house in the event of disaster. If you need a little help, check out the 360Value Tool® on the State Farm website.
State Farm’s 360Value Tool helped me figure out the right amount of dwelling coverage.
Did You Know: According to FEMA, California has 90 percent of the earthquakes in the U.S., and yet only 10 percent of California’s residents have homeowners policies with earthquake coverage.2
My State Farm quote was highly customizable, if a little old-fashioned-looking.
At first sight, State Farm’s online quote builder looked more like a USPS tracking form than some of the fancier home insurance widgets I’ve played with. But it gets the job done. Once State Farm pulled up my “virtual” property, I reported on the security I had in place and filled in any gaps (major renovations or upgrades), and out popped my quote.
All of that was par for the course.
Then State Farm threw me a curveball: a whopping 40 percent discount for bundling my home and auto insurance. How is that even possible? Let’s break it down.
No matter how many hours you spend studying home insurance premiums, you’ll never arrive at a predictive rate that makes sense for even a whole state.
For my quote, I checked out a few properties in the Greensboro and Charlotte areas of North Carolina; i.e., inland enough not to be considered a high risk for wild weather.
I scoped a variety of price points, but the property I’m quoting below is an older-than-average house (1969) with a market value slightly over the national median ($257,000). I did check off some major overhauls (roof, wiring, and plumbing), but those hardly impacted my State Farm quote.
FYI: The safer our homes are, the more we save on insurance. So, whether you’re a first-time homeowner or you’re looking to switch providers, now is the time to get your home security up to snuff. Check out our complete guide to home security systems to get started.
State Farm offered me 40 percent off my premium for bundling auto and homeowners insurance.
My $109.66 State Farm quote was actually higher than average for North Carolina. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the median HO-3 insurance premium for North Carolina homes in the $200,000-$290,000 range was $89.25 in 2018.3
That may be true, except, one, home insurance premiums have gone up since 2018. And, two, that was before I figured in my State Farm auto bundle, which could potentially drop my premium to $71 monthly. If that still isn’t hitting home, State Farm’s bundled quote was even cheaper than my cheapest Lemonade quote — something I never expected to see.
Here’s a complete breakdown of the HO-3 package that State Farm quoted me.
Type of coverage | Amount of coverage |
---|---|
Dwelling | $244,000 |
Other structures | $24,400 |
Belongings | $170,800 |
Loss of use | $48,800 |
Personal liability | $100,000 |
Medical payments to others | $1,000 per person |
Dwelling replacement cost | No |
Valuables | $1,500 |
Business property | $2,500 |
Building ordinance | 10%* |
Water backup | No |
Earthquake | No |
Computer coverage | No |
ID restoration | No |
Deductible | $1,000 |
Monthly cost | $109.66 |
Monthly cost with auto bundle | $71.25 |
Yearly cost | $1316 |
Yearly cost with auto bundle | $855 |
* Up to 10% of my property coverage to offset future costs for rebuilding to code
Homeowner’s Tip: There are eight types of homeowners insurance: HO-1 through HO-8. The most common type of home insurance policy today is an HO-3, which covers property and possessions against most common perils. Roughly 80% of homeowners policies in the U.S. are HO-3.
It goes without saying that the home you insure will be different from mine. As long as you keep that in mind, the table below will give you a ballpark idea of what to expect from State Farm for standard HO-3 coverage for a home with standard fixtures and home security; i.e., no earthquake, water backup, or flood insurance.
Home value | Estimated monthly rate* |
---|---|
$250,000 | $109.66 |
$300,000 | $119.41 |
$350,000 | $129.16 |
$400,000 | $138.91 |
$450,000 | $148.66 |
$500,000 | $158.41 |
* These rates are for home insurance only, not for State Farm auto and homeowners bundles.
The past two years have been a doozy for all of us, insurance companies included. All things considered, State Farm isn’t doing badly in the customer complaints department. Yes, they racked up a slightly higher than average score (1.63) on the NAIC’s national complaint index. But we’ve seen other popular insurance providers with substantially higher complaint levels.
I’d say a better indicator of the State Farm experience is J.D. Power’s 2021 overall customer satisfaction study. State Farm scores fourth there (out of a packed field of 20). State Farm also earned a solid score in digital experience thanks to its handy mobile app, which lets customers file claims in minutes.
Or you can take it directly from a lifetime State Farm customer whose property was leveled by a tornado back in 2017. An agent was on her property in less than two hours, she said. And an hour after that, she had her settlement check.
FYI: A.M. Best awarded State Farm an A++ financial strength rating in 2021, the highest rating they give.
Did You Know: Hail can grow to the size of a softball by the time it smacks our roofs.4 And it can strike at speeds up to 90 miles per hour (yikes!). If you ever wondered why companies like State Farm offer discounts for roofs that can take that kind of a beating, now you know.
State Farm may be the nation’s largest homeowners insurance provider,5 but they don’t write insurance in Rhode Island or Massachusetts. This isn’t random or personal. Until 2008, Massachusetts regulated insurance rates, which kept a number of providers out of the local market. State Farm still hasn’t ventured in.
If you happen to live in either state, it isn’t the end of the world. While we really like State Farm — it’s one of our top home insurance providers of the year — there are plenty of other excellent alternatives.
Provider | Lemonade | Liberty Mutual | Nationwide | Progressive | State Farm |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Online quote | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Our score | 9.4 | 8.6 | 9.1 | 8.7 | 9.2 |
Availability | 22 states | 50 states | 44 states | Most states | 48 states |
BBB rating | Not rated yet | B | A+ | A- | A- |
Years in business | 6 | 110 | 95 | 85 | 99 |
Customer satisfaction | A | B- | B | B | A- |
Discounts | Limited | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Bundling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
State Farm’s HO-3 policies come with an unusually long list of standard protections. RCV coverage and building ordinance insurance, for instance, aren’t extra endorsements with State Farm. While the monthly rate State Farm quoted me ($109) was a little higher than the local average, once I bundled in my auto insurance, the savings were head-spinning: $461 off my yearly premium.
When I’m exploring a new insurance provider online, I really want to fall in love with their website. State Farm has a good one. It’s well-stocked, easy to navigate, and generally right on target. If there were two things I could change about that experience, though, it would be their clunky quote builder and the lack of information about their identity theft protection service.
Another gripe is that I’d like to be able to purchase a policy on the spot without having to connect with an agent first.
State Farm’s Drive Safe & Save™ program calculates my auto premium based on my actual driving behavior.
State Farm is probably best known for its auto insurance, which offers homeowners who bundle some pretty great perks besides lower premiums, such as their Drive Safe & Save program, where the safer you drive, the less you pay.
State Farm writes term, whole, and universal life policies. Because life policies are longer-term investments that may affect my entire family, if I were shopping for life insurance, my first stop would be State Farm’s life insurance calculator.
Pro Tip: If you take care of eldery family members, a medical alert system will help you sleep better at night. Check out our roundup of the best medical alert systems for seniors for more information.
State Farm writes individual health policies and supplemental health insurance, which would cover me for unexpected medical expenses like outpatient surgery, copays and coinsurance, and even child care during recovery.
Disability insurance would help cover major expenses, like my mortgage and car loan, if I can’t work because I’m sick or injured. State Farm offers special discounts for what they call Triangle of Protection bundles: life, disability, and home.
State Farm partners with pet insurance giant Trupanion. One benefit of working with Trupanion, besides the fact that they’re available 24/7 and would cover 90 percent of my bills, is that they pay my vet bills directly in standard cases so that I can avoid the rigamarole of filing a claim.
Did You Know: Over 25 percent of the population under the age of 20 will become disabled by retirement age.6
Even if you don’t get as much of a kick out of online insurance quotes as I do, seeing your homeowners quote magically drop from $1,131 to $755 right before your eyes is pretty spectacular. Granted, my State Farm quote was basic, but basic for State Farm still includes a lengthy menu of protections you don’t see every day with standard HO-3 policies.
I think State Farm could definitely improve the online quote experience and cut agents out of that process. As a VPN geek, I’d also like to see more specs on their computer network insurance (and their identity theft monitoring service). Other than that, State Farm homeowners insurance is a pretty hard act to follow.
You can file a claim online via the State Farm website or app (it takes about 10 minutes). Or you can reach out directly to your agent.
According to our analysis, State Farm homeowners insurance was a bit more expensive than average. However, when we bundled our home insurance with a State Farm auto policy, our rate dropped by 40 percent.
State Farm writes homeowners policies in every state except Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Yes, you can purchase a State Farm policy online. But for auto and homeowners bundles, you may need to speak to an agent first.
Yes, besides discounts for bundling products, State Farm offers roof, home security, and claims-free discounts.
Earthquake Track. (2022). Today’s Biggest Earthquakes.
https://earthquaketrack.com/
FEMA. (2021, September 9). Earthquake Insurance.
https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/risk-management/earthquake/insurance
National Association of Insurance Commissioners. (2020). Dwelling Fire, Homeowners OwnerOccupied, and Homeowners Tenant and Condominium/Cooperative Unit Owner’s Insurance Report: Data for 2018.
https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/publication-hmr-zu-homeowners-report.pdf
Henson, B. (2018, August 16). U.S. Hail Damage Could Hit an Eleventh Straight Year Above $10 Billion. Weather Underground.
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/US-Hail-Damage-Could-Hit-Eleventh-Straight-Year-Above-10-Billion
Javier, R. (2021, September 10). Homeowners insurers log record high in premiums written during Q2’21. S&P Global.
https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/homeowners-insurers-log-record-high-in-premiums-written-during-q2-21-66501505
Social Security. (2022). The Faces and Facts of Disability.
https://www.ssa.gov/disabilityfacts/facts.html
As Managing Editor for SafeHome.org, Rob Gabriele has written and edited over 1,000 articles in home security. His expertise is in smart home automation and home protection with thousands of hours of testing and research under his belt. Formerly a reporter and producer for the USAToday network, Rob has been a writer and editor for over 10 years. He holds a Master’s of Science with an emphasis on writing from the University of Montana, and he currently lives in the Reno/Tahoe area of Nevada.