Auto-Owners home insurance review 2024
“Verified by an expert” means that this article has been thoroughly reviewed and evaluated for accuracy.
BLUEPRINT
Updated 8:34 a.m. UTC Nov. 13, 2023
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Pros
- Very low complaint ratio indicates most customers are satisfied.
- Only local, independent agents sell policies, which means they could freely offer you coverage from another company if it was a better value.
- Offers guaranteed replacement cost coverage and an increased cost endorsement.
Cons
- Above average rates.
- Only available in 26 states.
- Owners of banned dog breeds will be ineligible or have limited liability coverage.
- No option to buy coverage online; must work with an independent agent in your area.
Why trust our home insurance experts
Our team of experts evaluates hundreds of insurance products and analyzes thousands of data points to help you find the best product for your situation. We use a data-driven methodology to determine each rating. Advertisers do not influence our editorial content. You can read more about our methodology below.
- 2,616 rates reviewed.
- 140 coverage details evaluated.
- 5 levels of fact-checking.
About Auto-Owners home insurance
Auto-Owners Insurance has been protecting policyholders since 1916. Its home office is in Lansing, Michigan, and it operates throughout the Midwest, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, plus a few states in the West.
Along with its subsidiaries and affiliates, the insurer also offers auto, umbrella, life, business and other types of insurance.
Auto-Owners home insurance rates
| $200,000 DWELLING COVERAGE | $350,000 DWELLING COVERAGE | $500,000 DWELLING COVERAGE | $750,000 DWELLING COVERAGE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Auto-Owners annual average
| $1,109
| $1,645
| $2,217
| $3,166
|
National annual average
| $1,117
| $1,582
| $2,090
| $2,950
|
Auto-Owners vs. other home insurance companies
Auto-Owners didn’t make the cut in our best home insurance companies rating, mostly due to the insurer’s above-average rates. Here’s how Auto-Owners average rates compare to competitors for a homeowners policy with $350,000 worth of dwelling coverage.
| COMPANY | ANNUAL AVERAGE RATE | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $746 | ||||
| ||||
 Westfield | $1,164 | |||
| ||||
| $1,243 | ||||
| ||||
 American Family | $1,251 | |||
| ||||
| $1,309 | ||||
| ||||
| $1,313 | ||||
| ||||
 Erie | $1,378 | |||
| ||||
| $1,475 | ||||
| ||||
National average | $1,582 | |||
| ||||
| $1,645 | ||||
| ||||
| $1,717 | ||||
| ||||
| $1,877 | ||||
| ||||
 Country Financial | $2,283 | |||
| ||||
 Shelter | $2,337 | |||
| ||||
 Travelers | $2,404 | |||
|
Auto-Owners home insurance coverages
With a standard HO-3 home insurance policy from Auto-Owners, you’ll get the following coverages.
Dwelling coverage
Dwelling coverage pays for repairs to the structure of your house and its attached structures. If your attached garage burns down or your roof collapses after a blizzard, your dwelling coverage will reimburse you to rebuild or repair the damage. Make sure your dwelling coverage matches your home’s replacement cost. You want it to be high enough to cover a total loss to your entire house.
Other structures coverage
This part of your policy will help you fix or replace covered damages to structures that aren’t attached to your house, like sheds, gazebos and fences.
Personal property coverage
All that stuff inside your house needs protection, too. Personal property coverage will reimburse you if you need to replace things like your couch, dishes, toys and home decor after a covered problem, like a house fire, destroys your belongings.
Standard home insurance insures your personal property at its actual cash value, meaning depreciation is factored in.
Loss of use coverage
If you can’t live in your house after that snowstorm that caved your roof in, loss of use coverage can cover your hotel or rental bills so you can be safe and secure throughout the claim and repair process. It also reimburses other approved living expenses you wouldn’t normally incur, like having to order room service for hot meals because there’s no kitchen in your hotel room.
Liability coverage
If you get sued for injuring someone else or damaging their property, like if your dog attacks someone at the park, the liability coverage under your homeowners policy will pay for your legal defense. It also pays the other party’s medical expenses and property damage repair bills, up to your policy limit.
Medical payments to others
Medical payments to others coverage pays for medical expenses — typically up to $5,000 — if a guest is injured in your house, regardless of who was at fault.
Additional coverages offered
The limits and exclusions in a typical homeowners policy help keep it affordable. If it’s in your budget, you might want to bolster your coverage with one of these optional add-ons.
- Guaranteed home replacement cost. This coverage pays to fully rebuild your house in the event it’s destroyed by a covered loss, even if the claim exceeds your original dwelling coverage limit. Your dwelling limit can be too low if a disaster, like a wildfire, destroys many houses in your area and the cost of labor and construction skyrockets.
- Inland flood coverage. If you live in a low-to-moderate flood zone, you may qualify for inland flood coverage through Auto-Owners. This pays for damages to your property caused by flooding. If you don’t live in one of those zones, you may need separate flood insurance.
- Homeowners plus. This add-on pays for damage to your property caused by appliance leaks and offers increased coverage for food spoilage due to power outages.
- Umbrella insurance. An umbrella insurance policy extends your liability coverage once you’ve exhausted the coverage in your homeowners and auto insurance policies. You can be covered for up to $5 million and get legal representation from the insurance company.
- Property and valuables coverage. Also called scheduled personal property, this add-on increases your coverage limits — past what a standard home insurance policy offers — for expensive items, like jewelry, art and firearms.
- Ordinance or law. Also called building code upgrade, this coverage will reimburse you if local codes implemented since your home was built mean that your property has to be repaired or rebuilt to a higher (and costlier) standard.
- Identity theft expense coverage. Pays up to $15,000 in identity theft restoration services.
- Equipment breakdown coverage. Pays to repair your appliances — like HVAC systems and dishwashers — if they break down because of mechanical or electrical failure.
- Home cyber protection. With this add-on, Auto-Owners will help cover the costs of hiring a professional to recover stolen data and restore your device if it’s been compromised. It also pays for legal counsel you may need and help with financial loss due to fraud or extortion.
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What does Auto-Owners home insurance cover?
A standard HO-3 homeowners insurance policy covers repairs to the structure of your house if it’s damaged by any issue unless it’s explicitly listed as an exclusion in your policy. For example, flooding is a type of damage not covered by home insurance, and it is listed in the “exclusions” part of your home insurance policy.
On the other hand, for personal property coverage, you can only file a claim if your belongings are damaged by one of the 16 specific problems, or perils, listed in your policy. These include:
- Fire and lightning.
- Windstorm and hail.
- Explosions.
- Riot or civil commotion.
- Damage caused by aircraft (not your own).
- Damage caused by vehicles (not your own).
- Smoke.
- Vandalism or malicious mischief.
- Theft and home break-in.
- Volcanic eruption.
- Falling objects.
- Weight of snow, sleet or ice.
- Accidental discharge or overflow of water or steam.
- Sudden and accidental tearing apart, cracking or burning.
- Freezing.
- Sudden and accidental damage from electrical current.
What doesn’t Auto-Owners home insurance cover?
No homeowners insurance policy covers every type of damage. A standard HO-3 policy from Auto-Owners is unlikely to cover the following problems:
- Earth movement: Structural and personal property damage caused by earthquakes, sinkholes and mudslides isn’t covered. You’ll need separate earthquake insurance to cover repairs from quake damage.
- Pest infestations: You may want to hire a company to provide regular pest control and annual wood-destroying insect inspections of your home because insurers don’t cover damage caused by pest infestations. Insurers consider pest control to be part of a house’s routine maintenance.
- Water or sewer backup: A standard homeowners policy will not help you if raw sewage seeps up through your shower drain or sump pump. Auto-Owners offers water backup coverage that you can add to your home insurance to provide coverage for damage caused by sump pump or drainage backups.
- Flooding: Home insurance never covers flood damage, whether it’s from hurricane rain or a river overflow. If you live in a low-to-moderate flood zone, you may be able to add flood coverage to your homeowners policy through Auto-Owners. If you don’t qualify for this coverage, you’ll need flood insurance if you want to be covered for repairs due to flood damage.
- Wear and tear: Your 15-year-old maple hardwood flooring has been faded by the sun and scratched by kitty-cat claws. That’s normal wear and tear, and insurance doesn’t cover it.
- Neglect: The wood siding on your home has been rotting for the last five years, and now you have water damage inside. Insurance companies will say this damage was preventable because you knew you had a problem and didn’t fix it.
- Intentional damage: If you drive your car into your living room out of anger, don’t expect your insurance policy to reimburse you. Intentional acts may also be considered criminal depending on the act, and criminal activities are never covered by insurance.
- Acts of war: Home insurance never covers acts of war.
Auto-Owners home insurance discounts
Auto-Owners offers a number of discounts that could help you qualify for a competitive rate.
Advance quote discount
New customers who get a policy quote before they need coverage to begin can get a lower rate.
Automatic backup generator discount
If you can power your home with a backup generator when the electricity is out, you may be eligible for lower premiums.
Favorable loss history discount
Also known in the insurance industry as a claims-free discount, you may pay less if your home has gone several years without any claims.
Green discount
If you forgo paying your home insurance bills by sending a check in the mail and instead pay your premium bills electronically, you’ll pay less.
Mortgage-free discount
Have you paid off your first mortgage and any home equity loans or lines of credit? You might enjoy lower homeowners insurance premiums.
Multi-policy discount
Buying more than one type of insurance from Auto-Owners could get you a discount on all your policies. The company also sells life insurance, auto insurance and more.
Paid in full discount
Rather than pay your premiums in installments, save money by paying your entire premium upfront at once.
Payment history discount
If you have a 36-month history of on-time payments, you could get a discount.
Protective devices discount
Devices such as smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and deadbolt locks that protect your house can also lower your insurance premiums.
Water shut-off system discount
Since water running amok is no homeowner’s friend, Auto-Owners may give you a discount for having a system that turns off the water supply when it detects a leak in your home.
Auto-Owners customer reviews and complaints
Auto-Owners has a very low rate of consumer complaints according to data compiled by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Our insurance experts factored this low complaint rating into Auto-Owners’ star rating.
Consumers who are unhappy with an insurer may file complaints about delays, denials or settlements with their state insurance department. The NAIC keeps track of these complaints.
Methodology
Our insurance experts reviewed rates from 174 home insurance companies and evaluated companies on four key factors: rates, consumer complaints, high deductible discounts available and if the insurer offers extended or guaranteed replacement cost coverage.
Each home insurance company was eligible for 100 points, with each factor carrying a different weight.
Rates: 60 points. We analyzed home insurance rates from Quadrant Information Services. The average rates are based on policies with dwelling coverage of $200,000, $350,000, $500,000 and $750,000. The homeowner profile was someone with a good credit score and no claims history.
Complaints: 25 points. We collected complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which shows the volume of home insurance consumer complaints against each company. When a consumer lodges a complaint to their state’s department of insurance — often about an insurance company’s claims process, delays, denials or settlements — these complaints are logged.
Extended/guaranteed replacement cost coverage upgrade: 10 points. We evaluated whether or not a company offered extended and or guaranteed replacement cost coverage. This type of coverage extends dwelling coverage limits and is increasingly important as we see inflation and natural disasters affect rebuild costs across the country.
High deductible discount: 5 points. Raising your deductible is one of the easiest ways to lower home insurance costs. We evaluated the discount companies offer when you raise your deductible.
Auto-Owners home insurance reviews FAQs
To get a quote, you’ll need to contact an independent insurance agent in your area who sells Auto-Owners home insurance policies. Auto-Owners does not sell policies or provide rate quotes online. However, you can enter your address or ZIP code on the company’s website to find a list of agents who can help you get coverage.
You can file a homeowners insurance claim with Auto-Owners by calling your local independent insurance agent during business hours or visiting their office in person. Outside of business hours, call the company’s after-hours claim reporting service at 1-888-252-4626. Once you’ve filed a claim, you’ll be able to track its status by logging into your account on the company’s website or mobile app.
Based on its very low rate of consumer complaints with the NAIC and its superior financial strength rating from AM Best, Auto-Owners appears to be a good company for home insurance. Since we found that its average premiums are on the higher side, we’d suggest comparing home insurance quotes from several other highly-rated insurers to look for the best value — and ask Auto-Owners how to qualify for its policy discounts.
Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Blueprint has an advertiser disclosure policy. The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Blueprint editorial staff alone. Blueprint adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.
