Openly Home Insurance Review 2024

Openly’s policies generally include guaranteed replacement coverage for your home — a rare perk.

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Written by Sarah Schlichter
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Openly

4.5

NerdWallet rating 
Premium coverage for high-end homes.

Coverage options

More than average

Discounts

Average set of discounts

NAIC complaints

Far fewer than expected

Openly

4.5

NerdWallet rating 
Premium coverage for high-end homes.

Coverage options

More than average

Discounts

Average set of discounts

NAIC complaints

Far fewer than expected
  • Strict editorial guidelines to ensure fairness and accuracy in our coverage to help you choose the financial products that work best for you. See our criteria for evaluating homeowners insurance.

  • More than 270 million rates analyzed by our team of specialists.

  • More than 50 insurance companies analyzed in all 50 states and Washington D.C. (See our top picks.)

Openly home insurance review

4.5

NerdWallet rating 

Openly homeowners insurance earned 4.5 out of 5 stars for overall performance. Openly sells premium coverage primarily to owners of high-value homes. Its policies include features that typically cost extra from other insurers, if they’re available at all. The company sells insurance exclusively through independent agents.

What's new with Openly?

Openly recently started selling homeowners insurance in Virginia and Delaware.

Where Openly home insurance stands out

Generous coverage. Not all insurance companies offer guaranteed replacement cost coverage for your dwelling, and having it included in a standard policy is even more rare.

No dog breed restrictions. While some companies refuse to insure certain breeds such as pit bulls or Dobermans, Openly will provide liability coverage for any dog as long as it doesn’t have a history of aggression. Learn more about homeowners insurance and dog bites.

Where Openly home insurance falls short

Limited online presence. With no mobile app and no online quote feature, Openly doesn’t offer as extensive a digital experience as many larger insurers.

Why Openly home insurance is worth a look

Openly may be a good fit if you have a higher-value home, coverage is important to you and you want to speak with an agent to make sure you have what you need.
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State availability

Openly insurance is currently available in 24 states.

Availability may change at any time. Coverage may not be available to all homeowners in a given state.

Openly 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.

Openly’s default homeowners policy goes significantly beyond these basic coverage types. Most notably, it typically offers guaranteed replacement cost coverage for the structure of your home. That means if your house is destroyed by a covered disaster, Openly will pay whatever it takes to rebuild it the way it was before, up to $5 million.

Openly also offers generous coverage for your personal belongings. Most homeowners policies cover your stuff on a “named perils” basis, meaning that they’ll pay for damage only from causes specifically named in your policy. Openly covers your belongings on an “open perils” basis instead, paying for damage from anything except perils your policy excludes.

If your things are stolen or destroyed, Openly will pay enough for you to buy brand-new replacements, rather than paying less for older items that have lost value over time.

Openly policies also include the following:

  • Ordinance or law coverage, which pays to bring your home up to current building codes during covered repairs.

  • Water seepage coverage, which pays for rot or other damage due to hidden water leaks.

  • Coverage for refrigerated property, such as food that goes bad when lightning knocks out your electricity.

  • Landscaping coverage to replace damaged trees or other plants.

Depending on where you live, you may be able to add the following optional types of coverage:

  • Water backup, which pays for damage due to sump pump failure or backed-up sewers or drains.

  • Home-sharing coverage for people who occasionally rent out all or part of their house.

  • Buried service lines, which pays to fix damage to underground utility lines you’re responsible for.

  • Equipment breakdown, which covers appliances if they have a mechanical or electrical failure.

  • Blanket or scheduled property for valuable items.

  • Personal cyber, which can help you recover from hacks and other online threats.

  • Earthquake, sinkhole or mine subsidence for homeowners who live in areas where these are a risk.

  • Under construction for theft of building supplies from a home being renovated.

What's not covered

Standard Openly homeowners insurance policies don’t cover damage due to:

  • Flooding.

  • Earthquakes.

  • Landslides.

  • Lack of maintenance.

  • Infestations.

As noted above, Openly sells optional earthquake coverage that you may be able to add to your policy. If you live in an area at risk of flooding, learn how to find the best flood insurance.

Discounts

The company offers a bundling discount if you buy your Openly policy and an auto insurance policy from the same agent.

You may also be able to save by strengthening your home against windstorm damage, getting an advance quote at least eight days before your policy takes effect or choosing to have documents delivered electronically.

Discounts vary by state.

🤓Nerdy Tip

When comparing quotes from different home insurers, make sure you understand what is and isn’t included with each policy. Companies like Openly that insure higher-end homes may include coverage that other insurers charge extra for — so a quote that appears higher than others may end up being a better value for your home. Learn more about how to shop for homeowners insurance.

Consumer complaints

Openly received far fewer than the expected number of home insurance complaints to state regulators relative to its size, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. (NAIC home insurance complaints also cover other home policy types, including mobile home, renters and condo insurance.)

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Consumer experience

Website: The Openly website has a sleek, elegant design, but it’s short on coverage details and lacks an online quote function. Instead, you can submit your details in an online form and the company will match you with a local agent.

Claims: You can file an Openly claim online, by calling your agent or by calling the company at 888-808-4842. Learn more about how to file a home insurance claim.

Customer service: You can contact Openly by submitting a request form on its website, calling 888-808-4842 or using the website’s live chat function.

Other insurance companies to consider

Here’s how Openly home insurance stacks up against policies from other popular companies:

Insurer

NerdWallet star rating

Policy highlight

4.5

NerdWallet rating 

Includes guaranteed replacement cost coverage for the structure of your home.

5.0

NerdWallet rating 

Generous coverage for high-end homes.

4.5

NerdWallet rating 

Customizable coverage with a "Prestige" offering for higher-value homes.

4.5

NerdWallet rating 

Policies may include coverage to bring your home up to current building codes after a claim.

4.5

NerdWallet rating 

Extended dwelling coverage included with standard policies.

How we rate homeowners insurance

NerdWallet’s star ratings reward companies for consumer-first features and practices. We evaluate factors such as financial strength, consumer complaints, coverage, discounts and customer experience.

In our research, we analyzed:

  • More than 270 million homeowners insurance rates.

  • More than 50 insurance companies.

  • Nearly 200 homeowner profiles.

Frequently asked questions

Openly sells only homeowners insurance. Its policies are available for primary homes, vacation or secondary homes, and houses used as rental properties.

Openly was founded in 2017. One of its underwriters, Rock Ridge Insurance, was founded in 2001. The other, MS Transverse, was founded in 2018.

Openly has received funding from a number of venture capital firms. Its policies are underwritten by Rock Ridge Insurance Company or MS Transverse Insurance Company.

Methodology

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 2021-2023. 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.

In This Review . . .