2017 RANKING & REVIEWS
TOP RANKING BEST SITES TO COMPARE HOME INSURANCE OFFERS
What To Know Before Searching for the Best Home Insurance Rates
Home insurance, also commonly referred to as homeowners’ insurance, is an essential insurance product that offers a broad umbrella of protection for policyholders.
Homeowners insurance protects against damages that may occur to an actual home, as well as the items contained in a home.
Homeowners insurance also protects policyholders if there is an accident where someone gets hurt that occurs on the property.
In addition to standard homeowners insurance policies and coverage, consumers will also see as they compare insurance rates and search for home insurance quotes online, they can add additional layers of protection to policies.
Award Emblem: Top 6 Sites to Get the Best Home Insurance Quotes & Rates
As consumers start to search for the best home insurance quotes and the best home insurance rates, the following are some specifics to keep in mind to compare policy and company options.
There are different types of policies, and the most common are HO-2 and HO-3.
These are standardized categories that are found across insurance companies. HO-2 tends to be less comprehensive than HO-3, and it covers specific problems such as smoke, theft, vandalism, damage caused by vehicles, and freezing of household systems, among other situations.
HO-3 insurance, as compared to HO-2 policies, is called open-peril. You’ll learn as you compare insurance rates and home insurance offers that this means all risks are covered unless they are specifically excluded by the insurance company or policy you go with.
For consumers who want the broadest possible insurance coverage, they’ll see as they compare the best home insurance rates that they should opt for HO-5 home insurance. This covers both the house itself and the personal property it contains against all problems unless they’re excluded specifically.
While you can add a separate policy to your homeowner’s insurance to cover things like flooding, earthquakes, and landslides, your actual homeowner’s policy isn’t going to protect you against these events. You would need to buy separate coverage in addition to your comprehensive homeowner’s insurance policies.
The following ranking of the best sites to compare home insurance rates and home insurance offers also goes into more specific details of what homeowners insurance is, and how consumers should begin comparing policies and companies.
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AdvisoryHQ’s List of the Top 6 Best Sites To Find Home Insurance Offers
List is sorted alphabetically (click any of the site names below to go directly to the detailed review section for that home insurance quotes site):
Top 6 Best Sites To Find the Best Home Insurance Rates | Brief Comparison
Sites to Compare Home Insurance Offers | Key Benefit | Featured Insurance Carriers |
| Coverhound.com | Offers the option to speak to a licensed insurance advisor who doesn’t work on commission | Safeco Insurance MetLife Auto & Home ASI |
| Esurance | Features advanced tools and guides to homeowners insurance | Esurance is a direct provider of insurance, and they offer products through their partners as well |
| Insurance.com | Provides an in-depth side-by-side comparison of live rates | Liberty Mutual Progressive Esurance |
| InsuranceQuotes.org | Has a library of written and video informational resources | Liberty Mutual Progressive Direct Choice |
| NetQuote.com | Simple 3-step quote process | State Farm Traveler Liberty Mutual |
| QuoteWizard.com | Features state guides to homeowners insurance | American Family Insurance Met Life 21st Century Insurance |
Table: Top 6 Best Sites To Compare Home Insurance Offers | Above list is sorted alphabetically
How Are Home Insurance Quotes Determined?
When consumers begin to compare insurance rates and look for home insurance quotes online, one of the first questions they often have is how the quote is determined. Insurance companies may look at a wide variety of factors when they provide house insurance rates, and some of these factors include:
- How much it would cost to rebuild the home being insured, as well as the age of the home.
- The proximity of the home to nearby sources of water.
- The municipal fire protection rating of the city where the home is located.
- The claims history of the policyholder and other policyholders who live nearby.
- The amount of coverage and deductible.
- The presence of structures or items that could be considered risky, such as a pool.
Important to understand before beginning to research home insurance online and searching for the best home insurance rates is the deductible.
A deductible has a significant impact on home insurance rates.
Image Source: Propertycasualty360
A deductible is the amount that’s deducted from claims payments. What this means is that if you have a $5,000 deductible, if you file a claim, that amount is deducted from the claim check you receive.
Essentially, you’re responsible for paying the amount up to your deductible, so that $5,000 would be your responsible if something were to happen to your home. In most cases, a liability claim doesn’t have a deductible associated with it.
Of course, $5,000 is only being used as an example, and that’s actually much higher than most deductibles for home insurance, which often fall between $500 and $1,000.
Optional Coverage Options
In addition to being able to purchase separate policies to cover events like floods and earthquakes, many insurance companies will also offer the option to include extra coverage within your actual homeowners’ insurance policy. You might be able to find home insurance deals if you include these optional coverages in your policy.
Some of the most common optional coverage options available from home insurance companies include:
(1) You’ll find as you search for home insurance deals and compare insurance rates that one of the most common additional coverage options is aimed at water backup.
Water backup refers to events such as a burst pipe, and it covers the damage to your home that might happen as a result, although, as noted, this wouldn’t cover water damage from a flood.
(2) Enhanced dwelling protection is another option you’ll see as you look for competitive home insurance quotes and home insurance rates.
This is just more coverage for the actual structure of your house. This could be useful if you didn’t initially purchase enough coverage. It’s also helpful if the price of construction and materials goes up and you need to rebuild your home.
(3) Another optional coverage option you’ll frequently see as you look for the best home insurance quotes is a scheduled personal property endorsement, designed to cover more expensive items such as jewelry, that are in excess of your general limitations on personal property.
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AdvisoryHQ’s Selection Methodology
What methodology does AdvisoryHQ use in selecting and finalizing the credit cards, financial products, firms, services and products that are ranked on its various top rated lists?
Please click here “AdvisoryHQ’s Ranking Methodologies” for a detailed review of AdvisoryHQ’s selection methodologies for ranking top rated credit cards, financial accounts, firms, products, and services.
Detailed Review – Top Ranking Best Sites to Compare Insurance Rates
Below, please find the detailed review of each of the home insurance rates comparison sites on our list of the best sites for home insurance quotes. We have highlighted some of the factors that allowed these sites to find the best home insurance quotes to score so well in our selection ranking.
Coverhound.com Review
Coverhound.com is a home insurance quotes comparison engine that offers policy comparison options for individuals as well as businesses. This site can be used not only to find home insurance deals and compare insurance rates for homeowners’ policies but also other insurance options as well, such as renters insurance and auto insurance.
Coverhound describes their goals as being the continuous provision of transparency, choice and competitive rates for people’s varying insurance needs.
As well as being a technologically-driven online resource to find home insurance quotes online and compare insurance rates, Coverhound also features the option for users to receive personalized service and connect with a licensed agent when they choose.
Image Source: Coverhound
Key Factors That Led To Our Ranking of This As One of the Top Sites to Find the Best Home Insurance Quotes
Features of using Coverhound that led to its inclusion on this site of the best places to find an online home insurance quote are detailed below.
Finding Discounts
Coverhound is one of the best sites to compare insurance rates for a range of reasons, including how easy they make it to determine if you’re eligible for discounts and helping you find companies offering relevant discounts.
As soon as a consumer starts the process to get a homeowners insurance quote using Coverhound, they’re asked whether or not they
- Have an alarm system
- Have smoke detectors
- Have a sprinkler system
These are three key questions that are used by insurance companies as they determine home insurance rates and whether or not a consumer could qualify for certain discounts.
Transparency and Convenience
Coverhound represents the modern era of looking for a homeowners insurance quote online. The site is well-designed, simple to use and has a clean, contemporary interface.
In addition, Coverhound strives to make the process of shopping for home insurance quotes and policies transparent with the provision of accurate rates and curated lists of best available options. The goal is to offer a comparison shopping experience that saves the consumer money, and this site is free to use, with carriers paying a commission based on policy sales and renewals.
Finally, while the process of obtaining an online home insurance quote can be done exclusively through the Coverhound site, users can also speak with professional insurance advisors who deliver objective service and comparisons, because they’re not paid on sales commissions.
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Esurance Review
Esurance is unique as compared to the other names included in this ranking of the best sites to compare insurance rates, because they are an Allstate company, and in addition to being a comparison engine, also offer insurance products directly.
Esurance offers everything from car insurance and motorcycle coverage to homeowners’ and renters insurance.
When a consumer does opt to purchase a policy from Esurance, they have unique features such as the ability to make photo claims and do video appraisals, and the company has an A+ rating from A.M. Best.
Esurance also features different options for customers to save money by bundling their car and homeowners’ insurance policies.
Key Factors That Led To Our Ranking of This As One of the Top Sites to Find the Best Home Insurance Quotes
Esurance is unique and included on this list of the best sites to compare home insurance online for reasons like the ones listed below.
Discount Options
Esurance prides itself on offering some of the most competitive home insurance offers and home insurance deals, as well as a variety of discount options. Their site proactively encourages homeowners to identify discounts they might be eligible for so they can save on their home insurance rates.
First, Esurance outlines what homeowners insurance can cost, and they highlight the factors that determine the price, such as the age of your house, coverage limits, deductibles and the location of your house.
Then, there are many options for homeowners to save money thanks to specific home insurance offers including an available Multi-Policy discount. Other potential discounts available to customers of Esurance include a Hail Resistant Roof discount, Home Safety Features Discount, Storm Shutter discount, and a Preferred Buyer discount, available to customers who pay their premium on time.
Informational Resources
The process of searching for home insurance quotes and identifying the best home insurance quotes can be overwhelming, particularly for consumers who are doing it for the first time.
Esurance is included in this ranking of the best sites for home insurance offers because they strive to take the complexity out of the process, both through streamlined, modern technology and mobile offerings, as well as educational resources.
For example, Esurance offers a guide to what homeowners insurance coverage includes. This identifies what homeowners insurance protects, the different types of coverage, additional living expense coverage options, and other coverage options.
Esurance also offers an exclusive home insurance calculator, which estimates certain coverage limits based on the answers provided by the customer.
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Insurance.com Review
Insurance.com is a third-party resource that strives to provide educational tools and resources to consumers as they search not only for home insurance quotes and house insurance rates but also other types of insurance including auto and health policies.
Insurance.com, one of the best places to find an online home insurance quote, features direct quotes and connections from consumers to companies.
Also, consumers can take advantage of not only the opportunity to find the best home insurance rates but also insightful data and calculators that aid them as they make a decision. Once a consumer searches the best home insurance quotes, they can then buy a policy online or over the phone with an Inusrance.com licensed agent.
Key Factors That Led To Our Ranking of This As One of the Leading Sites to Find the Best Home Insurance Rates
Insurance.com is named on this ranking of the top places to find the best home insurance quotes and the best home insurance offers for reasons like the ones listed below.
Easy Comparisons
The belief behind Insurance.com is that it’s easy to find the best home insurance rates when a consumer knows what all of their options are. This site features multiple side-by-side quotes and the consumer only has to fill out one form.
Insurance.com also features search tools that help consumers identify potential discounts and bundling options so they can save even more money.
When consumers use Insurance.com, they not only get the best home insurance quotes, but they get live rates instantly. There are also options to see offers available from different carriers, edit coverage details to see more personalized results, and then ultimately buy a policy online or by phone.
Product options include not only a home and auto bundle but also umbrella coverage, renters’ insurance, and condo insurance.
Privacy
Sometimes consumers can feel a bit wary about the idea of searching for home insurance quotes online because they worry their email inbox will be flooded with spam after they share their information with a third-party site.
Insurance.com is unique among online home insurance quote sites because they value customer privacy and security. When someone shops with Insurance.com, they guarantee they’ll be able to choose exactly how they want to receive their quotes.
Insurance.com also promises customers they won’t receive any additional information, and their information isn’t shared with anyone else.
Additionally, Insurance.com is a BBB-accredited business, TRUSTe Verified, and Norton Secured.
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InsuranceQuotes.org Review
A completed insurance resource, InsuranceQuotes.org is an independent third-party site that strives to offer a platform that makes it easier to get the best home insurance rates and buy all insurance products more easily. The site features a free quote finder for not only home insurance offers but also auto, renters, life, health and business insurance.
Everyday InsuranceQuotes.com offers not only up-to-date home insurance rates and tools to compare insurance rates but also newly published content on all things related to the insurance industry. The site features a streamlined interface, expert commentary, and a team of staff members that can help users in any way they need.
In many ways, InsuranceQuotes.com is a resource that empowers consumers to make the right insurance choices and find the best home insurance quotes that are affordable and yet offer what they need.
Key Factors That Led To Our Ranking of This As One of the Top Sites To Compare Insurance Rates
InsuranceQuotes.org is included on this list of the best places to find a homeowners insurance quote and compare home insurance offers for reasons like the ones listed below.
Home Insurance Comprehensive Guide
As mentioned, InsuranceQuotes.org isn’t just a good place to find the best home insurance rates and see a convenient, easy-to-understand side-by-side comparison. This site is also included in this ranking of the best places to find home insurance offers because of the informational resources they include on their site, all of which is independent, third-party information.
For example, the Home Insurance Comprehensive Guide is one of the most in-depth information resources that provides users with material on everything from home what home insurance covers to how to lower their home insurance rates.
Some of the specific topics covered by the guide include:
- Why you need home insurance
- What your policy should cover
- How to read your policy
- Identifying coverage gaps
- How to shop for your best-fit policy
- How to lower your risk level and your home insurance rates
Videos
Unlike many of the other names even on this list of the sites where you can find the best home insurance quotes, InsuranceQuotes.org also offers videos for consumers to educate them and help them make the right insurance choices.
Insurance.org has been featured in Mashable, Search Engine Watch, and Living Green Magazine, often because of their in-depth video series and comprehensive consumer education resources.
If consumers ever have questions about anything they see on InsuranceQuotes.org, the company encourages them to contact their team of experts.
For example, InsuranceQuotes.org has a Resident Home Insurance Expert with more than 20 years of experience in both commercial and personal insurance, and an extensive background in homeowners insurance policies.
NetQuote Review
NetQuote is a site exclusively designed to help consumers compare insurance rates, get home insurance quotes and also educate themselves about home insurance. NetQuote was founded in 1989, and since that time has provided millions of users with a free way to shop for insurance online. NetQuote offers shopping opportunities not just for home insurance deals, but also health, renter, life, business and auto insurance.
NetQuote has a strong relationship with thousands of local, reputable insurance companies from more than 100 of the top businesses in the U.S.
In addition to providing online home insurance quote options and a connection to the best home insurance rates, NetQuote also features articles, information, and guidance for consumers.
Key Factors That Led To Our Ranking of This As One of the Best Sites To Compare Home Insurance Online
When comparing resources to shop home insurance online and compare house insurance rates, the following are specific reasons NetQuote is on this list of the best sites to find a homeowners insurance quote.
3-Step Process
There is an understanding by NetQuote, one of the leading places to find home insurance deals and an online home insurance quote, that homeowners insurance can be daunting. That’s why NetQuote has designed one of the simplest, most straightforward processes to get home insurance quotes.
The process with NetQuote, one of the best home insurance online resources, is as follows:
- First, users begin by completing a very brief, direct online quote request for the type of insurance they’re looking for. After a user submits that request, their information is immediately matched against agent profiles in their network, and the user is connected with the right licensed insurance agent for their needs.
- Once the insurance agents receive the home insurance quotes requests, they’re contacted, and the user can start comparing the details of each policy including coverage, payments, and deductibles. This is also the time the consumer can ask questions.
- Finally, the user then decides on the policy that’s right for them.
It’s as simple as that to compare insurance rates with NetQuote and find home insurance online.
Home Insurance Rate Information
NetQuote, like so many of the sites on this listing of the best resources to compare insurance rates and home insurance offers, also features informative guides for users. One of their guides is entitled “Understanding Home Insurance Rates.” This guide highlights the fact that not all home insurance companies or products are the same.
This guide begins by defining what many people don’t know about home insurance quotes and home insurance rates, such as the fact that they change by the minute. The reason is that home insurance quotes are tied to the financial markets.
The guide also provides realistic ways to evaluate the best home insurance quotes and home insurance companies, such as casting a wide net, vetting companies and referring to consumer advocate organizations such as J.D. Power and Associates.
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QuoteWizard.com Review
QuoteWizard has a tagline of making insurance easy, by providing low rates to consumers from top insurance companies including Liberty Mutual, MetLife, AAA Insurance, Esurance, and 21st Century Insurance.
This site is both a fast and free way to look at home insurance online and compare house insurance rates.
QuoteWizard.com is an online resource that works well for consumers who might not have compared home insurance quotes online recently, and may have coverage, but aren’t saving as much money as they could be. All a user has to do when they get home insurance quotes online from QuoteWizard is fill out a fast form, and they then receive free homeowners insurance quote options from multiple companies.
Key Factors That Led To Our Ranking of This As One of the Top Sites to Compare Insurance Rates
QuoteWizard is named as an excellent resource to compare house insurance rates and find home insurance deals online for reasons like the ones listed below.
Homeowners State Guide
All of the names on this list of the best sites to find a homeowners insurance quote and compare home insurance offers feature educational resources, but QuoteWizard is the only home insurance offers portal that features a highly detailed and localized state and city homeowners insurance guide.
Consumers can use the city and state guides to learn about factors, requirements, and laws that impact homeowners insurance.
This guide highlights natural disaster risks that may affect a city or state, and also how rates vary depending on the state you live in. For example, Florida is the most expensive state in terms of home insurance rates, while Idaho is the least expensive.
Buyers Guides and Discounts
In addition to state and local guides to homeowners’ insurance, QuoteWizard was also included on this list of the best places to find home insurance offers and home insurance deals because of their comprehensive buyer’s guides and discount guides.
The following are some specific buyers guides and discount guides available on QuoteWizard.com
- 19 Ways To Save Money on Home Insurance Policies
- Signs You’re Being Overcharged For Homeowners Insurance
- Homeowners Insurance FAQ
- 16 Common Homeowners Insurance Mistakes
- Homeowners Insurance Tips for First Time Home Buyers
- 15 Things Home Insurance Doesn’t Cover
- How to Choose a Homeowners Insurance Company and Policy
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Conclusion—Top 6 Best Sites to Find the Best Home Insurance Quotes
It’s important to regularly compare insurance rates and home insurance offers for several reasons. One of the top reasons is because home insurance rates can change rapidly depending on the markets and financial factors, so you may be able to save money by taking the time to compare home insurance quotes online.
Additionally, your needs for home insurance may have changed, so you may either be paying for too much coverage, or too little, so it could be time to reevaluate your current policy and explore current best home insurance rates and best home insurance quotes.
The above names on this list of the best tools to compare insurance rates and find home insurance online are all valuable in their own ways, but they also have several things in common including convenience and simplicity, the ability to compare several home insurance offers and home insurance quotes simultaneously, and comprehensive guides to home insurance rates and the factors you should consider before purchasing a policy.
AdvisoryHQ (AHQ) Disclaimer:
Reasonable efforts have been made by AdvisoryHQ to present accurate information, however all info is presented without warranty. Review AdvisoryHQ’s Terms for details. Also review each firm’s site for the most updated data, rates and info.
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