Everything’s bigger in Texas, and Houston — the country’s 4th most populated city — is the perfect place to live big. A hub of oil and gas industries and a major center for manufacturing and healthcare, Houston offers opportunity while still maintaining a low cost of living.
Homeowners insurance helps provide protection for your Houston home — and it’s important you find the right provider to suit your needs. Take a look at Benzinga’s guide to help you find the best home insurance in Houston.
Best Home Insurance Providers in Houston, TX:
- Best Overall in Houston: Amica Mutual
- Best Modern Home Insurance Option: Lemonade
- Cheapest Home Insurance in Houston: Farmers
- Best for Veterans: USAA
- Best for Condos: ASI Lloyds
- Best for Coverage Options: Allstate
Best Home Insurance Providers in Houston, TX
You’ll find a big pool of providers serving Houston, so knowing where to begin can be hard. Aim to strike a balance between service and affordability.
Keep in mind — the Houston metropolitan and southeast Texas are prone to tropical storms and water damage. On top of typical home protection, be mindful of Houston’s geographic risk as you browse our top providers:
- First time policyholders
1. Best Overall in Houston: Amica Mutual
Amica offers standard home insurance coverage, but goes beyond to provide extended coverages like dwelling replacement, home business coverage and even identity theft loss coverage. And its catastrophic loss add-on will cover your property damage in the event of a flood or earthquake.
The company’s Platinum Choice® Home lets you live big with top-of-the-line protection including coverage for water backup and sump pump overflow, computers, credit card theft and more.
You can manage your account online 24/7 or speak with an Amica representative. All policies are sold directly through Amica corporate — not agents.
- Ratings, price and customization
2. Best Modern Home Insurance: Lemonade
Lemonade provides a top-rated homeowners insurance experience that’s easy and hassle free. Award-winning customer service and digital, super-fast everything from just $25 a month.
Leveraging insurtech to rewrite the traditional insurance model, Lemonade offers home insurance for the tech-savvy consumer.
Using the Lemonade app you can get insurance in 90 seconds. It takes about 3 minutes to get paid for a claim. Boasting simplicity and transparency, Lemonade takes a flat fee, pays claims quickly and donates what’s leftover to causes close to your heart. It’s like receiving and giving all in one.
Coverage includes things like theft (whether inside or outside your home), perils (fire, water damage, storm damage) and extra living expenses.
Lemonade is available in many states including Texas.
- Those who own investment properties
3. Cheapest Home Insurance in Houston: Farmers
Houston’s average annual premium through Farmers comes in well below the city’s average of nearly $3,000. Farmers offers optional coverages you won’t find through other providers, too.
Farmers has an eco-build option that pays to repair damages with green building materials. It’s also one of the only insurers in the industry to offer claim forgiveness. This keeps your rates from going up following your first claim on your policy.
- Members of the armed forces and their families
4. Best for Veterans: USAA
Military servicemembers and relatives may be eligible for homeowners insurance through USAA. Founded by servicemembers in the 1920s, the company now boasts more than 12 million members. USAA homeowners insurance covers fire, theft, vandalism, most weather-related events, liability and identity theft.
Savings are offered for bundling homeowners and auto policies, going claims-free for 5 years, choosing a higher deductible and installing security systems. USAA offers a mobile app for filing your claims.
- Access to vetted companies
5. Best for Condos: ASI Lloyds
American Strategic Insurance — also known as ASI Lloyds — is a part of the Progressive family. ASI Lloyds specializes in property insurance, including condominium, investment property and homeowners insurance. Flood insurance coverage is also offered as an add-on.
If you happen to live in a Houston condo, specialized condo insurance covers your property and contents as well as the attached physical dwellings you may rent to tenants. ASI has a simple 6-step claims process, and claims should be resolved within 30 days.
6. Best for Coverage Options: Allstate
Allstate brings all the options to the table with coverage for everything from business property to yard and garden property — even identity theft protection.
You can save up to 25% when you bundle home and auto policies with Allstate. And you could see a 20% savings when you switch to the company with no recent property claims on your record. If that’s not enough, Allstate proves you can really save big with additional discounts for recent homebuyers and those who purchase a newly-constructed home.
Average Annual Home Insurance Premium in Houston, TX
Your premium will always depend on a number of personal factors, including the value and location of your home.
For example, if you have $200,000 in coverage with your Houston homeowners policy, your premium will likely be at least $2,500 annually. Meanwhile, $400,000 in coverage will add up to $4,000 or more annually.
Rates and coverages vary — it’s best to seek quotes based on your home.
What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover?
Basic homeowners insurance covers your financial loss due to weather or catastrophes. Weather-related losses could include lightning or hail, while catastrophes could be explosions or fire. Two basic forms of coverage are replacement cost and actual cash value (ACV).
Replacement cost coverage includes the replacement or repair property. If your roof is damaged in a hail storm, you will receive funds for the full replacement cost to repair the ruined shingles. The age and condition of the shingles do not affect your payment.
ACV coverage is based on the age, life expectancy and pre-loss condition of your property. Let’s say your roof is destroyed by a hail storm and is determined to be a total loss and needs completely replaced. It’s 10 years old and the shingles have a normal life expectancy of 20 years.
Because 10 out of the 25 years of your roof’s useful life has gone by, your final payment will be reduced by 40% also. ACV is a cheap and affordable option, but you and your property can suffer financially when you sustain a loss.
Broad form is likely your best bet — your property damage should be covered unless it is listed as an excluded peril. A peril is simply the cause of damage.
A named peril policy covers only the causes of damage listed, so everything else is excluded.
Generally, a standard homeowners policy will include:
- Dwelling coverage: This is your standard insurance policy and it covers the physical structure of your property.
- Personal property coverage: This includes your belongings, whether inside or outside of your home.
- Liability protection: Liability protection covers you in case someone is hurt on your property or you damage another person’s property.
- Guest medical protection: This coverage is specifically to cover people who are injured on your property.
If you want to get detailed about what homeowners insurance covers, you need to look into the policy type. Ideally a trusted agent can walk you through the fine print.
What Does Homeowners Insurance Not Cover?
Most homeowners insurance policies do not include coverage for flooding, earthquakes, neglect, power failure, war or intentional loss. Though just an inch of water can cause thousands in damage, homeowners insurance never includes flood damage — a separate policy is needed. If you need to look into flood insurance, start with the National Flood Insurance Program. You can purchase flood insurance through a private agent, but all providers simply represent this national program.
Again, homeowners insurance policy exclusions depend on your specific policy type. You’ll need to work with your agent or provider to understand which policies include or exclude certain perils. A good agent will listen to your needs and help walk you through policy coverages before you commit to the premium.
Live Big in Houston
Life in Houston is bursting with opportunity, and you can protect your chance to live big with the right homeowners policy.
Before you find yourself blindly searching — homeowners insurance Houston, TX — check out our top picks and get your personalized quote. Comprehensive homeowners coverage is just a few clicks away.