State Farm home insurance review 2024
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BLUEPRINT
Updated 10:19 a.m. UTC May 6, 2024
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Pros
- Extended replacement cost coverage available.
- Potential to save over $1,000 when you bundle home and auto coverage.
- Up to 16% off for raising your deductible from $500 to $2,000.
- Very low customer complaint level.
Cons
- More expensive than some competitors in our analysis of the best home insurance companies.
- No longer offering new home insurance policies in California.
- Only offers roofing discounts in 26 states.
Why trust our home insurance experts
Our team of experts evaluates hundreds of insurance products and analyzes thousands of data points to help you find the best product for your situation. We use a data-driven methodology to determine each rating. Advertisers do not influence our editorial content. You can read more about our methodology below.
- 31,600 rates analyzed.
- 14 companies evaluated.
- 5 levels of fact-checking.
About State Farm home insurance
State Farm is the largest home insurer in the country, as well as the largest auto insurer. Founded in 1922 and based in Bloomington, Illinois, it’s a mutual insurance company. That means it’s supposed to operate in the best interest of its customers and doesn’t answer to shareholders. Another bonus — State Farm has the highest financial strength rating from AM Best: an A++.
State Farm home insurance rates
State Farm vs. other home insurance companies
State Farm didn’t make the cut in our analysis of the cheapest home insurance companies, but its rates are still cheaper than the national average. Here’s how State Farm’s rates compare to competitors for a homeowners policy with $350,000 worth of dwelling coverage.
| HOME INSURANCE COMPANY | AVERAGE MONTHLY COST FOR $350,000 DWELLING COVERAGE | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $61 | ||||
| ||||
| $96 | ||||
| ||||
 Erie | $105 | |||
| ||||
| $106 | ||||
| ||||
| $108 | ||||
| ||||
 Westfield | $112 | |||
| ||||
| $116 | ||||
| ||||
| $127 | ||||
| ||||
| $151 | ||||
| ||||
 American Family | $168 | |||
| ||||
| $170 | ||||
| ||||
 Country | $172 | |||
| ||||
 Shelter | $197 | |||
| ||||
 Travelers | $268 | |||
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State Farm home insurance coverage types
State Farm’s home insurance provides financial protection against loss caused by disasters, accidents and theft. Most standard homeowners insurance policies include coverage for the structure of your house, your personal belongings, liability protection and additional living expenses.
Dwelling coverage
This coverage helps pay for damage to the house itself, including the roof, interior and exterior walls, slab, flooring, water pipes and supply lines, and attached structures like an attached garage.
Other structures coverage
This pays for damage to detached garages, sheds, fences and other detached, permanent structures on your property.
Personal property coverage
Your personal property coverage pays for damage to or theft of your personal belongings, like furniture, appliances, electronics, tools and books.
Most home insurance companies pay out for your belongings’ actual cash value, meaning depreciation is factored into your claims reimbursement. With State Farm, you may be able to add additional coverage to your policy to ensure you’re paid out at today’s prices for your belongings.
Loss of use coverage
Also called additional living expenses (ALE) insurance, or Coverage D, loss of use coverage helps pay for costs beyond your normal living expenses if you have to live somewhere else while your home is being repaired or rebuilt because of a problem covered by your policy. This could include expenses for hotel rooms, housing rental, pet boarding and restaurant meals.
Liability coverage
Liability insurance pays for other people’s property repairs, medical bills and lost wages — up to the limit in your policy — if someone is injured or their property is damaged and you’re found to be at fault. For example, if your dog gets loose at the park and attacks someone and it results in an injury. The insurer will also pay to defend you if you’re sued.
Medical payments to others
This coverage pays for another person’s medical bills if they’re injured while visiting your home, regardless of who was at fault. Medical payments coverage is available in small amounts, typically up to $5,000. Larger claims would fall under liability insurance, if you’re at fault for an injury.
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What State Farm home insurance covers
The most common homeowners insurance policy, an HO-3, covers your house structure for any problem unless the problem is listed as an exclusion, such as floods and earthquakes.
An HO-3 covers your personal property for 16 specific problems, or perils, which will be explicitly listed in your policy. These include:
- Fire and lightning.
- Windstorm and hail.
- Explosions.
- Riot or civil commotion.
- Damage caused by aircraft (not your own).
- Damage caused by vehicles (not your own).
- Smoke.
- Vandalism or malicious mischief.
- Theft and home break-in.
- Falling objects.
- Weight of snow, sleet or ice.
- Accidental discharge or overflow of water or steam.
- Sudden and accidental tearing apart, cracking or burning.
What State Farm home insurance doesn’t cover
No homeowners policy covers every type of problem. Some losses are too risky for insurers to cover if they want to stay in business and be able to pay homeowners’ claims.
Here are some of the losses a standard home insurance policy won’t cover:
- Water or sewer backup: You’ll have to pay out of pocket for repairs if raw sewage comes up through your drain pipes while the city is doing sewer work.
- Flooding: When water enters your home due to heavy rain, dam failure, river overflow or other causes, you’ll need a separate flood insurance policy to get reimbursed for your losses.
- Earth movement: Damage caused by an earthquake, sinkhole, landslide or volcanic activity isn’t covered by home insurance, though you can buy earthquake insurance for some earth-movement hazards.
- Settling: Cracks in your walls or foundation caused by settling, bulging, shrinking or expanding aren’t covered.
- Neglect: If your home is damaged because of general upkeep issues, you’ll have to pay out of pocket to fix it.
- Fungus: Keep your bathrooms and basement dry, because insurance won’t help you remediate mold damage in most circumstances.
Options for State Farm home insurance add-ons
State Farm offers many types of additional coverage options:
- Extended replacement cost. Reimburses you for amounts beyond your policy limit you had to spend to repair your house, typically due to increased labor or material costs.
- Umbrella insurance. This separate policy supplements the liability coverage provided by home, auto and boat insurance. Umbrella insurance kicks in once you’ve exhausted your liability limits in your home and auto policies. Coverage is sold in increments of $1 million.
- Personal articles insurance. State Farm’s basic policy provides limited coverage for theft of certain categories of valuable items such as jewelry, firearms and silverware. If what you own is worth more than those limits, you can pay extra to insure its full value by adding personal articles insurance, or scheduled personal property coverage, to your policy.
- Inflation coverage. Automatically increases your home insurance coverage to keep up with the rise in inflation in your area to ensure that you’re not underinsured.
- Wedding present coverage. Temporary — usually 90 days after your wedding — coverage for your wedding gifts.
- Building ordinance or law. If building, zoning or land use codes in effect at the time of a covered loss make it more expensive to repair or rebuild your property, this extends your coverage to cover those increased building and zoning costs to make sure the structure of your house is up to code.
- Incidental business. This coverage applies to losses to your equipment, furnishings and supplies — but not computer equipment — if you do any work out of your home.
State Farm home insurance discounts
Like most homeowners insurance companies, State Farm offers its customers discounts for having more than one policy with the company and for taking steps to reduce the risk of losses. Here are some ways you may be able to save on State Farm home insurance.
Bundling
State Farm earns 5 stars out of 5 in our analysis of the best home and auto bundles. If you insure both your home and your vehicles with State Farm, you could save up to an average of 23% annually on your home insurance costs.
High deductible
Your deductible is the amount subtracted from your claim payout before your insurance company issues you reimbursement for repairs. The higher your deductible is the cheaper your home insurance rates will be, but it also means the more you’ll have to pay out of pocket for repairs.
With State Farm, if you raise your deductible from $500 to $2,000 you may save 16% on your home insurance costs. This was a factor that went into our analysis of the best home insurance companies.
Home safety and security
If you have home monitoring devices such as burglar alarms and smoke detectors, State Farm may reduce your homeowners insurance premiums.
Roofing
State Farm offers homeowners insurance discounts in 26 states for using certain types of impact-resistant shingles.
Ting Fire Safety Technology Program
Although it’s not technically a discount, State Farm will cover the cost of a Ting device and a three-year subscription to monitor your home’s electrical system for problems that could cause a house fire. If the device detects a problem that requires professional attention, Ting will provide up to $1,000 in electrician services per year to repair the problem.
State Farm customer reviews and complaints
State Farm has a very low rate of complaints according to data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). State Farm’s complaint level is below the industry average, and better than some of the other home insurance companies we analyzed. The NAIC logs the complaints consumers make with state insurance departments about homeowners insurance companies. Complaints are often about delays, denials or settlements when filing a claim.
Methodology
Our insurance experts analyzed rates from 14 home insurance companies.
Home insurance companies were eligible for 100 points, with each factor carrying a different weight.
- Rates: 60 points. Our home insurance experts analyzed home insurance rates from Quadrant Information Services. The average rates are based on policies with dwelling coverage of $200,000, $350,000, $500,000 and $750,000. The homeowner profile was someone with a good credit score and no claims history.
- Complaints: 30 points. Our team of experts collected complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which shows the volume of home insurance consumer complaints against each company. When a consumer lodges a complaint to their state’s department of insurance — often about an insurance company’s claims process, delays, denials or settlements — these complaints are logged.
- Extended/guaranteed replacement cost coverage upgrade: 10 points. Companies that offer extended and or guaranteed replacement cost coverage got full points. This type of coverage extends dwelling coverage limits and is increasingly important as we see inflation and natural disasters affect rebuild costs across the country.
State Farm home insurance reviews FAQs
State Farm has a very low customer complaint rate for homeowners insurance according to data from state insurance departments compiled by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, implying that most policyholders are satisfied with State Farm’s claims process and customer service.
State Farm offers several ways to file and track the status of your claim: by phone, through its website or through its mobile app.
No, State Farm is not a home insurance company that bans dog breeds.
Some homeowners insurance companies won’t cover any liability you incur if you own a breed they don’t cover and your dog injures another person or their property.
The most commonly banned breeds include Doberman Pinschers, pit bulls and Rottweilers.
Yes, State Farm offers the type of home insurance policy that provides property and liability coverage for mobile homes. If your home was manufactured in a factory and assembled where it resides, you can apply for coverage with State Farm. This coverage has exclusions, but they are similar to the exclusions for a site-built home.
Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Blueprint has an advertiser disclosure policy. The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Blueprint editorial staff alone. Blueprint adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.
