After researching home insurance quotes, check also the insurance firms offering the quotes and the coverage being offered.
Make sure you get the lowest quotes from among insurance companies that have track records in responding to claims promptly and that have been operating successfully over the past several years. See to it also that you are comparing quotes for the same type of coverage. A certain quote from a particular company might be lower because it pays only a fixed amount or reduced amount while the higher quote pays the amount needed to replace a destroyed house.
To ascertain whether an insurance firm is stable, call the Department of Insurance in your state at 1-866-470-NAIC and ask for information.
You may also want to compare only quotes from insurance companies that are being cited in consumer surveys. In the most recent insurance industry survey conducted by J.D. Power, the top issuers of house insurance based on customer satisfaction were Amica Mutual, Erie Insurance, Auto-Owners and State Farm.
You can also try others cited in the survey such as Alfa, Hartford Insurance, Farmers, Nationwide, Allstate, Cincinnati Insurance and Automobile Club of Southern California.
In many websites that provide home insurance quotes, these insurance companies are also cited – GMAC, Unitrin, Liberty Mutual and American Family Insurance – in addition to the previously-mentioned insurance firms.
You can also choose insurance quotes from among issuers that topped in 2008 based on direct premiums written, as compiled by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. They were State Farm, Allstate, Zurich, Liberty Mutual, Travelers, Nationwide, USAA, Chubb & Son, American Family and Hartford Fire.
After getting insurance quotes within your budget from one or more of these companies, then you can go and compare the perils covered and the claims accepted. Make sure that property damages from fire, lightning, hail, wind, water, freezing and theft are covered and that your liabilities for property damage, bodily injuries and medical costs are also included.
In 2007, according to the Insurance Services Office, around 95 percent of house insurance claims involved property damage and theft, so make sure you are properly covered against these and against the most common perils in your state.
After researching home insurance quotes to help you purchase your best policy, consider obtaining a policy that protect against perils like earthquake, flood or hurricane which are not usually covered by standard house insurance policies.
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