The Best Homeowners Insurance Companies in Ohio
There’s a lot to love about living in the Buckeye state, including its relative protection from natural disasters. Ohio’s low risk factor for things like tornadoes and earthquakes makes it a safe and affordable place to own a home — not to mention, a cheap place to buy insurance. In fact, Ohio ranks as the seventh least expensive place in the country to insure your home.
Of course, homeowners insurance isn’t all about a low premium. It’s equally important to look for a policy that protects your home inside and out, and provides excellent customer support to boot. We rated Ohio’s top insurers on these criteria to help you find the best one for your home.
How We Found the Best Homeowners Insurance Companies in Ohio
We evaluated Ohio’s five biggest home insurance providers by market share, using the same quality metrics we developed for our review of the best nationwide homeowners insurance.
First we considered financial strength, looking for high ratings from A.M. Best that guarantee your insurer’s ability to pay out on claims of any size. Next, we checked customer satisfaction scores from J.D. Power and Consumer Reports to gauge their quality of service. Our last step was a deep-dive into coverage selections and discounts. We looked for standout options that can either improve coverage or make your policy more affordable.
The Best Homeowners Insurance Companies in Ohio
- Allstate
- Nationwide
- State Farm
- Liberty Mutual
- Grange Mutual
Ohio Homeowners Insurance Reviews
Allstate
What we really like about Allstate are its excellent customer resources. The company’s website is chock-full of educational material, and explains home insurance in a way that’s easy to understand — even for first time homeowners. We also love its Common and Costly Claims tool, which finds the most common home insurance claims by zip code and is incredibly helpful for figuring out what types of coverage you need.
Allstate’s online quote tool is uniquely thorough, too. It lets you choose from three different policy types — standard, choice, and premium — so you can see how pricing and coverage compare at each level. With a premium policy, for instance, you get identity theft coverage and reimbursement for green improvements, as well as lower deductibles and higher levels of protection for both dwelling and personal property.
The other great thing about Allstate? It has one of the longest discount lists we’ve seen. Customers can save by bundling home and auto insurance, installing safety devices, staying claims free — even by setting up autopay or being retired. The sample quote we requested for a choice policy netted six discounts automatically, saving us more than $350.
As for ratings, Allstate falls in the middle of the pack. A 3/5 from J.D. Power puts it on par with Nationwide and Liberty Mutual for customer service, and Allstate falls just behind State Farm for Consumer Reports’ claims satisfaction score. That said, Allstate does rank highly for financial stability, with an A+ from A.M. Best.
Nationwide
Nationwide impressed us with the highest Consumer Reports score of any company on this list. It earns especially good marks for having friendly, responsive agents and timely claims payouts. This rating should give customers a little extra peace of mind knowing that, if something happens to their home, the claim will be handled quickly and painlessly.
When it comes to online resources, Nationwide is pretty much equal to Liberty Mutual and State Farm. It offers clear information about policy options and discounts, as well as a learning center to help you build and understand your policy. The one big difference? Nationwide’s quote tool comes with caveats. The process starts with a few questions (like whether you own an un-fenced-in trampoline or a pitbull), and if you answer “yes,” you’ll be redirected to an agent to complete the process. If you answer “no,” though, you can go ahead and get a quote online.
In terms of price, we found Nationwide to be very competitive. Though it offers fewer discounts than other top companies, like Allstate and Liberty Mutual, its base prices were lower. You also have the option to insure your house for either its cash value (a.k.a. selling price) or its replacement value (what it would cost to rebuild). We appreciated the ability to view premiums for both options, and choose the one that suited us best.
State Farm
State Farm is the largest writer of homeowners insurance in Ohio, holding nearly 22% of the state’s market — and we can see why. State Farm is a national standby, with excellent financial strength ratings and high customer satisfaction scores across the board.
Beyond that, State Farm makes home insurance shopping super approachable for customers. Its online quote process is simple and effective, with some features we loved, like 360Value, a tool that helps you gauge the replacement value of your home (i.e. what it would cost to rebuild, and what you should be insuring it for).
State Farm’s quote page also gives you the option to tinker with coverage and deductible amounts to see how they affect pricing. If insuring your home for its replacement value turns out to be too expensive, for instance, you could enter the home’s cash value instead and see how much money you’ll save per year. The site also applied a number of discounts automatically, saving us up to $400 per year on our sample quote.
Even with discounts applied, State Farm’s quotes were some of the highest we received in Ohio. Of course, your own premium is individual — prices depend on your specific location in the state, your home’s value, your possessions, and more. We suggest checking out a quote from State Farm to see if the company is competitive for your unique situation.
Liberty Mutual
Liberty Mutual is a solid company, with financial ratings in the A range, a Consumer Reports reader score of 83 (“very good”) and 3/5 stars from J.D. Power. What we really like about this company, though, are its standout services.
For one, Liberty Mutual is the only company on this list that offers 24/7 emergency repair service for homeowners. Other companies will let you file a claim at any time, but Liberty Mutual alone will take care of the problem right away. It also has a catastrophe response unit that can help you settle claims quickly and find alternate housing in the event of a disaster.
Liberty Mutual’s great resources come with all-around strong policies. In addition to standard coverage for dwelling and property, this company has a few unique options for homeowners; including things like sewer backup and identity theft. Like Allstate, Liberty Mutual also offers a long list of discounts that can help lower the price of your homeowners insurance policy.
In part thanks to its discount opportunities, Liberty Mutual was competitive in our quote comparisons. We highly recommend getting a quote from this company to see how it stacks up with your other options.
Grange Mutual
As a regional insurer, Grange works a little differently from the larger companies we looked at. Instead of using in-house salespeople, the company relies on independent agents to sell its policies. That means you’ll have to contact an agent directly for information about coverage and pricing (sorry, no online quotes here).
That said, Grange holds its own against big-name insurers in many ways. For example, its educational resources are on par with the national companies. We especially love its Interactive Home feature, which allows you to “walk” through a typical house, gathering info and suggestions along the way. The Tips and Resources section also provides helpful blog posts and answers to common insurance questions.
Grange isn’t big enough to be rated by Consumer Reports or J.D. Power, though A.M. Best gives the company an “A” for financial stability. You can be sure that Grange has the financial resources on hand to pay your claim — along with numerous others — in the case of a catastrophic event in your area.
Our main concern with Grange was the difficulty we had getting a quote. After contacting a few independent agents and sending them our personal information, we had to wait several days before we had numbers in hand. By comparison, getting a quote online takes less than ten minutes with some companies. If you’re interested in insuring your home through Grange, you’ll have to be patient during the shopping stage.
Guide to Homeowners Insurance in Ohio
Know that your pup might affect your prices
Ohio is one of the top ten states in the U.S. for dog bite claims. Dog bites are generally covered under the liability portion of home insurance, but it’s important to ensure that you’re adequately covered. Keep in mind that the average dog bite claim paid out in Ohio was $34,265 in 2016. Check the fine print — or better yet, talk to your agent — to find out how much your policy covers.
If dog bites are excluded from your homeowners insurance, an umbrella policy might make sense. Or if you have a dog that is considered high-risk because it has already bitten someone, there are special canine liability policies that can help (though these tend to be pricey).
Keep an updated home inventory for claims
If your home sustains damage from wind, fire, or flooding, there’s a good chance you’ll end up having to replace some personal items. The good news is that most home insurance policies cover your personal property — but you’ll want to make sure you keep a current inventory, with photos and prices for all covered items. Such a list makes it much easier to recoup your losses through the claims process.
We recommend checking out the Ohio Department of Insurance website: It offers a handy checklist for building a home inventory, along with other helpful resources, like this Severe Weather Toolkit. It’s worth noting that many companies offer their own tool for home inventory, too — we particularly like Allstate’s Digital Locker for this purpose.
Be prepared in the face of disaster
Ohio is a relatively safe state, but that doesn’t mean it’s immune to danger. Whether it’s a flu epidemic, an extended power outage, or the rare case that a tornado touches down, Ohio residents should be prepared to protect their homes and themselves. That’s why the state developed its ReadyOhio program: An online resource that informs Ohioans on how to handle any major incident. It even has a kids’ section with games and information that will teach your children about emergency preparedness without putting the scare on.
Ohio Homeowners Insurance FAQ
How much is homeowners insurance in Ohio?
Thanks to Ohio’s central location and low risk for natural disaster, home insurance here is consistently affordable. The state’s average annual homeowners premium is just over $800 — far below the national average of $1,173. Of course, how much you pay can vary greatly depending on your home’s specific location, how much it’s worth, and your assets. That’s why we recommend checking quotes from multiple companies to find the best deal (for the right coverage) before you buy.
What are Ohio’s homeowner insurance laws?
Unlike some states, Ohio doesn’t have special insurance requirements (compare that to coastal areas, for example, where hurricane insurance is mandatory for many homeowners). The one rule worth noting is that if you’ve taken out a loan on your home, you must insure the house for at least the amount of the loan.
That being said, all homeowners should make sure that their insurance policy will adequately protect them if something goes wrong. Residents looking for coverage suggestions and state-specific information should check out the Ohio Department of Insurance’s official Guide to Homeowners Insurance.
The Best Homeowners Insurance in Ohio: Summed Up
About the Authors
Mary Van Keuren has been covering auto and home insurance for Reviews.com for nearly five years, and has published numerous reviews of state-specific insurance trends and how to find the best insurance deals for your money. She earned B.S. and M.A. degrees from Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y. and has been writing professionally, both in print and online, for 30+ years.
