Auto-Owners Home Insurance Review 2023
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Auto-Owners Insurance
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Auto-Owners Insurance
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Don't let the name fool you. Auto-Owners Insurance covers much more than cars. In fact, Auto-Owners home insurance is worth considering, thanks to a variety of coverage options.
The company offers many ways to save on your premium, with discounts for things like having smoke detectors and a history of paying your premiums on time. The Homeowners Plus add-on includes coverage for appliance leaks that lead to property damage and wasted food in the event of a power failure.
Specialty coverage for high-value homes and equipment breakdown is also available.
Auto-Owners home insurance star rating
Auto-Owners home insurance earned 4 out of 5 stars for overall performance. NerdWallet’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The homeowners insurance scoring formula takes into account policy coverage options and discounts, ease of filing a claim, website transparency, the financial strength of the company, complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and more.
State availability
Auto-Owners home insurance is available in 26 states.
Auto-Owners home insurance coverage
You can customize your homeowners policy with numerous add-ons, but below are the types of coverage that generally come standard:
Type of coverage | What it does |
|---|---|
Pays to repair or rebuild the structure of your home. | |
Covers damage to unattached structures such as sheds or fences. | |
Pays to repair or replace personal belongings such as furniture or clothing. | |
Pays for hotel stays, restaurant meals or other expenses if you have to live elsewhere while your home undergoes covered repairs. | |
Covers legal expenses and damages if you're responsible for injuries to other people or their property. | |
Covers injuries to guests in your home, regardless of fault. |
For more details, see What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover?
The Auto-Owners homeowners insurance policy has all the usual coverage, plus several options you can add to your standard policy:
Guaranteed home replacement cost in case your dwelling coverage isn’t enough to repair or rebuild your home.
Water backup for damage caused by backed-up sewers or drains.
Special personal property helps repair or replace your personal items in situations not normally covered by homeowners insurance, like misplacement or stains.
Ordinance or law pays when you spend more to bring your home up to codes after a covered event.
Homeowners Plus is a coverage package that helps cover damage from appliance leaks and spoiled food after a power outage, among other issues.
Equipment breakdown for electrical or mechanical failure of appliances in your home, such as HVAC units or personal computers.
Identity theft expense for costs up to $15,000 related to restoring your identity after it has been stolen.
Cyber protection pays out if you need help recovering lost or corrupted data or if you’re the victim of identity theft.
Increased cost endorsement pays out an additional 25% of your coverage amount if your initial policy can’t cover the cost to repair or rebuild your home.
Appliance seepage and leakage helps pay for continuous water leakage from a household appliance or interior sprinkler system.
Service line pays for damage to water, electric or other utility lines.
Auto-Owners home insurance rates
Auto-Owners' average home insurance rate is $1,725 per year, according to a NerdWallet analysis. That's less than the national average of $1,820.
Our sample rates are for 40-year-old homeowners with good credit, a $1,000 deductible, $300,000 in dwelling coverage and $300,000 in liability insurance. Your own rates will be different.
Discounts
Auto-Owners offers many discounts, several of which can be obtained with little or, in some cases, no effort based on your insurance history. These include:
Green discount if you choose paperless billing and online payments.
Favorable loss history if you haven’t made a large number of claims.
Payment history if you’ve paid premiums on time over the past three years.
Advance quote if you request a quote before your policy expires.
Mortgage-free if you don’t have a mortgage on your home.
Water shut-off system if your water supply is automatically turned off for the home when a leak is found.
Multipolicy discount if you bundle your home insurance policy with certain Auto-Owners insurance products.
Pay-in-full if you pay your annual premium upfront.
Protective devices if you install safety equipment like deadbolt locks and smoke detectors.
Automatic backup generator if you have a qualifying generator installed.
Consumer complaints
Auto-Owners had fewer than the expected number of complaints to state regulators relative to its size for home insurance, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Consumer experience
Website: Home insurance quotes aren't available through Auto-Owners' website. If you live in a state where Auto-Owners provides coverage, you’ll be directed to contact an agent to finalize the rate.
App: The Auto-Owners app is available on Android and iOS. It can be used to pay bills, track claims and view policy documents.
Claims: To file a claim, you must contact an independent agent. Once the claim has been filed, you can track it through the Auto-Owners website or mobile app. For advice, see how to file a home insurance claim.
Customer service: You can contact Auto-Owners at 800-346-0346 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. You can also contact the company by filling out an online form.
Where Auto-Owners stands out
Useful coverage options. Noteworthy endorsements include guaranteed replacement cost for the structure of your home and inland flood coverage, ideal for those in low-risk areas who don’t want to add a separate federal flood insurance policy.
Customer satisfaction. Auto-Owners draws fewer consumer complaints than expected for a company of its size, and it ranked above average for customer satisfaction in the 2022 home insurance study from J.D. Power, a consumer research firm.
Where Auto-Owners falls short
Online access. With Auto-Owners, you’ll need to contact an agent to get a quote or report a claim. (Some insurance companies allow you to complete these tasks online.)
Availability. Auto-Owners sells policies in only about half of U.S. states.
Is Auto-Owners home insurance right for you?
Auto-Owners may be a good fit if you live in one of the states it serves and you’re looking to work with an agent to find the right coverage.
Other home insurance companies to consider
Not ready to make a decision? You may be interested in these other homeowners insurance companies:
Country Financial. Offers solid homeowners insurance with useful add-ons, but it’s available in only 19 states.
Travelers. Offers a solid slate of coverage, including an option to help you rebuild your home with environmentally friendly materials after a claim.
State Farm. Well-established insurer with a lengthy list of coverage options.
Liberty Mutual. Offers homeowners insurance with plenty of ways to save.
Homeowners insurance star ratings methodology
NerdWallet’s homeowners insurance ratings reward companies for customer-first features and practices. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including financial strength, consumer complaints, coverage, discounts and online experience. These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our full ratings methodology for home insurance.
Insurer complaints methodology
NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2019-2021. To assess how insurers compare to one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC. Ratios are determined separately for auto, home (including renters and condo) and life insurance.
Homeowners insurance rates methodology
NerdWallet averaged rates for 40-year-old homeowners from various insurance companies in every ZIP code across the U.S. All rates are rounded to the nearest $5.
Sample homeowners were nonsmokers with good credit living in a single-family, two-story home built in 1984. They had a $1,000 deductible and the following coverage limits:
$300,000 in dwelling coverage.
$30,000 in other structures coverage.
$150,000 in personal property coverage.
$60,000 in loss of use coverage.
$300,000 in liability coverage.
$1,000 in medical payments coverage.
We made minor changes to the sample policy in cases where rates for the above coverage limits or deductibles weren’t available.
These are sample rates generated through Quadrant Information Services. Your own rates will be different.
