J.D. Power’s best and worst homeowners insurance companies for claims and customer satisfaction

The best and worst homeowners insurance companies for claims

The 2024 J.D. Power U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study found that customer satisfaction with home insurance companies was at a seven-year low last year. Severe weather events — costing $92.9 in damage across the country — resulted in slow repair times for policyholders, Garrett says in a press release. 

“Catastrophic weather events are straining an already fragile system still experiencing supply chain issues that affect the availability and cost of materials. Resources become strained for both insurers and the contractors doing the work. Unfortunately, it’s when claims last beyond three weeks that J.D. Power sees things decline,” he says.

For the claims survey, J.D. Power asked 6,019 homeowners insurance policyholders how they felt about recent claims experience in key areas, including the final settlement, interaction with representatives, and the estimate and repair process. Amica is No. 1 for claims satisfaction in 2024. J.D. Power releases its claims satisfaction survey annually in February. 

Here are J.D. Power's homeowners insurance rankings on a 1,000-point scale.

Ten-time award winner Amica came in first place this year, with AIG and Erie Insurance following. The report also pointed out that USAA received the second-highest score of (899), but wasn't included on the list because it only sells insurance to military personnel and their families.

The study found that overall satisfaction with claims has dropped from last year, with an overall rating of 869 out of 1000. That’s a decrease of five points from 874 in 2023. Claims took, on average, more than six days longer to complete repairs than in 2022, with an average time of 23.9 days. 

The 2024 study had several other important findings, including: 

• While customers who use digital tools to submit a claim usually experience a smoother claims process, they don’t always experience higher satisfaction than other customers, as digital claims have been taking longer than expected. 
• Cost is affecting overall satisfaction. Many customers are finding themselves paying rising premiums as well as a deductible when they file a claim, leading to lower customer satisfaction.
• Higher customer satisfaction occurs when there is consistency in service. Customer satisfaction dropped by 200 points among the 27% of people who didn’t experience this from their insurer.

The best and worst homeowners insurance companies for overall satisfaction

The 2023 J.D. Power U.S. Home Insurance Study found that overall satisfaction with home insurance hasn't changed much in the past year. The study found that people who have been with their insurance company for at least eight years are more satisfied. Home insurance satisfaction is affected by rate increases and the ongoing home insurance crisis in states like Florida and California, where companies are leaving the market.

The headlines have focused on states like California and Florida where catastrophic weather claims have been at an all-time high, causing insurance companies to back away, but this pattern is playing out nationwide, affecting thousands of homeowners in every state,” Breanne Armstrong, director of insurance intelligence at J.D. Power says in a press release.

The larger overall home insurance study surveyed 11,221 homeowners on five factors: interaction, policy offerings, price, billing process and policy information, and claims.

Amica, which has led the pack in this study for over a decade, was pushed into second place by Erie, which bumped Amica out of the top spot for claims in 2023 as well.

Below is a list of J.D. Power's best insurance companies for overall satisfaction. 

Many top companies from last year, like American Family and The Hartford, dropped significantly. Meanwhile, Auto-Owners climbed from the eighth spot up to the third spot. USAA, which was not ranked due to its eligibility requirements, scored 894.

A few other findings of the home insurance study include:

• Most of those who switched carriers (57%) did so for a better price.
• Auto and home bundle rates among those who switched dropped by 10%.
• Bundling is less common in the states where carriers are leaving and rates are rising, especially Florida, California and Louisiana.

How to file a homeowners insurance claim

The Insurance Information Institute (III) suggests taking these steps when filing a homeowners insurance claim:

• Report any burglary or theft to the police.
• Contact your agent or company immediately. Insurance policies place a time limit on filing claims. Ask questions. Am I covered? Does my claim exceed my deductible? How long will it take to process my claim? Will I need to obtain estimates for repairs to structural damage?
• Follow up the initial contact with an explanation of what happened in writing, at your agent's or company's request.
• Make temporary repairs and take other steps to protect your property from further damage. Save receipts for your spending and submit them to your insurer for reimbursement.
• Prepare a list of lost or damaged articles. Save receipts from any additional living expenses you incur if your home is so severely damaged that you must find other accommodations while repairs are being made.
• Provide needed information to the insurance representative assigned to handle your claim.