The Best and Cheapest Homeowners Insurance Companies in Texas

Choosing a home insurance company is all about finding the right balance of price, features, and dependability.

We discovered that the cheapest rate for a typical homeowners insurance policy in Texas was $2,030. However, price alone will not help you find the best coverage. Here is a list of our top insurer recommendations for Texas.

• Best for most people: Amica
• Best for hurricane expertise: UPC
• Best for military families: USAA
• Best for high-value homes: Chubb

The best home insurer for most people: Amica Insurance

Amica insurance is our favorite overall home insurance company in Texas, and we recommend them to most people. Amica's rates are 8% lower than statewide averages, at $2,252 per year, and the company has excellent customer service ratings: J.D. Power gave it a perfect 5/5 customer satisfaction rating, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) gave it a nationwide complaint index of only 0.24. This means Amica received less than one-quarter the number of complaints as other companies of comparable size.

Aside from home insurance, Amica provides a variety of other insurance products, such as auto, motorcycle, life, and umbrella insurance, and the company offers bundling discounts when you purchase multiple types of policies. However, the company lacks the broad range of endorsements that some competitors do. If you're looking for a very specific type of endorsement or protection, you may need to consider a different option.

The best home insurer for hurricane expertise: UPC Insurance

We recommend UPC to Texans who live near the Gulf of Mexico and want hurricane and other coastal storm coverage from a home insurer that specializes in hurricanes and other coastal storms. UPC specializes in coastal areas, and they are well-equipped to respond to hurricanes, floods, and whatever else your home may encounter. The company's rates were also fairly competitive, with a statewide annual insurance cost of $2,311 — $140 less than the statewide average.

In addition to homeowners insurance, UPC provides a variety of flood insurance options. The most common include policies from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), whose rates are set by the government and, as a result, are the same at every company. as well as private coverage via NFS Edge The latter option may provide lower rates or more customized coverages than the NFIP, so homeowners who are unhappy with the standard offering should consider NFS Edge.

It's worth noting that UPC insurance has received more than seven times the number of complaints as the average insurer — its NAIC complaint ratio is 7.05. The vast majority of those complaints, however, were filed in Florida, where complaints are far more common than in other states.

Best for military families: USAA

Members of the military and their families should look into USAA, which is exclusively for them. Aside from offering rates as low as $2,030 per year and excellent customer service, USAA offers a number of military-specific benefits that should appeal to those serving in the armed forces. For example, USAA's personal property coverage extends worldwide, including to war zones — most insurers make an exception for these dangerous areas. Furthermore, active-duty personnel will not be required to pay a deductible on USAA insurance claims relating to their uniforms.

USAA also has an extremely high financial stability rating, indicating an unrivalled ability to meet claims demand in any economic or natural disaster scenario. It has received an A++ rating from A.M. Best, which is the company's highest rating.

In addition to auto insurance, credit cards, loans, and bank accounts, USAA offers a wide range of other financial services. To apply, you must be a member of the military or have a family member who is a member of USAA.

Best for high-value homes: Chubb

We recommend Chubb Insurance to owners of high-value homes who require policies with similarly high coverage limits. Chubb is well-known for its excellent customer service, strong financial standing, and coverages tailored to high-value properties. Chubb policyholders, for example, can choose cash settlements if their homes are completely destroyed. In other words, Chubb will simply write you a check and allow you to spend the money however you see fit.

Chubb has received very few complaints from the NAIC. This indicates that Chubb customers are generally pleased with the company's coverage and service.

We also discovered that Chubb's rates were very reasonable — among the lowest we found for our sample property. It's worth noting, however, that Chubb frequently imposes coverage minimums when selling insurance. To take advantage of Chubb's generous coverage options, you must purchase a certain amount of insurance (which Chubb does not publicly disclose).

The best-reviewed home insurance companies in Texas

When shopping for a home insurance policy, it's critical to strike a balance between getting the best deal and receiving dependable, attentive service. With this in mind, we gathered the NAIC complaint indexes and A.M. Best financial stability ratings of Texas' top companies.

The NAIC complaint index of a company shows how many complaints it received in relation to its nationwide market share. The NAIC index is 1.0 on average, and a lower score indicates fewer complaints.

A better start to the day The best financial stability rating indicates that the insurer is more likely to be able to withstand adverse economic conditions as well as meet demand during times of high claim volume (such as after a hurricane or other widespread disaster).

The cheapest options for homeowners insurance in Texas

We conducted a comprehensive analysis of the cost of homeowners insurance in every ZIP code in Texas to determine which insurers offer the best rates. Chubb and USAA provided the absolute lowest price for our sample property, with annual averages of $1,436 and $2,030, respectively.

However, because Chubb primarily sells insurance to owners of high-value homes and USAA only to people affiliated with the United States military, the average homeowner may have some difficulty purchasing coverage from these two companies. Progressive and Nationwide are the cheapest options for those who are unable to take advantage of these companies' special prices.

The most common homeowners insurance perils in Texas

Texas, as the largest of the 48 continental United States, faces a diverse set of homeowners insurance risks. The primary regional risk for homeowners living near the Gulf of Mexico is damage from hurricanes and other storms; meanwhile, homes further inland are vulnerable to wildfires and tornadoes.

How hurricanes and tropical storms are covered by insurance in Texas

Residents living near the Gulf Coast are at risk of being hit by a hurricane or other major storm, and there are two major insurance perils associated with coastal storms: wind damage and flooding. The good news is that wind damage is almost always covered by homeowners insurance — if the wind breaks a window or causes your roof to need repair, your homeowners insurance will cover the costs.

Flood damage, whether caused by a hurricane or another source, is almost never covered by homeowners insurance. To protect your home from flooding, you must purchase a separate flood insurance policy. If your home is at risk of flooding, you have two options for flood insurance: a federally backed NFIP policy (with standardized rates and coverage levels across all insurers) or a completely private policy (with rates and coverage options varying by company).

Private flood insurance policies were prohibitively expensive until recently, but they are now much more competitively priced. To find the best rates, we recommend obtaining quotes from both publicly backed and private flood insurance companies.

How wildfires are covered by insurance in Texas

Wildfires are a particular concern in western Texas, where conditions are drier and more prone to ignition. Fortunately, fire damage is almost always covered by homeowners insurance, so as long as you have an adequate dollar amount of coverage, you'll be covered.

How tornadoes are covered by insurance in Texas

Tornadoes are common in Texas, especially during the spring. Tornadoes, while not causing as much widespread damage as hurricanes, can often appear with little or no warning. This means you won't have much time to prepare, if any at all. Tornadoes have a travel speed of around 30 mph once formed, but can reach speeds of up to 70 mph in the right conditions. So, if a tornado watch or warning has been issued in your area, stay inside in a safe place until the danger has passed.

Tornadoes, fortunately, are relatively easy to cover from an insurance standpoint. The majority of tornado damage is caused by wind, which is covered by homeowner's insurance. Other sources of tornado-related damage, such as hail, are generally covered, but can vary by insurer and region; therefore, double-check your policy to understand what perils are covered.

Texas homeowners insurance rates: City-by-city breakdown

In addition to a statewide price analysis, we examined the cost of homeowners insurance in Texas' major cities. We calculated the typical price homeowners can expect to pay in each city with a population greater than 50,000, as well as how that price compares to the statewide average.

In Texas, it costs significantly more to insure a home than it does in the rest of the country. Texas, like other coastal states vulnerable to hurricane activity, must deal with an increased risk of wind damage. The state's tornado and wildfire risk makes it an expensive market for home insurance.

Methodology

For our analysis, we gathered insurance quotes from 12 of Texas' largest homeowners insurance companies, for each ZIP code in the state. Our example property is a 2,100-square-foot home built in 1986 with dwelling coverage of $172,200. The companies we surveyed are as follows:

• State Farm
• Allstate
• USAA
• Liberty Mutual
• Travelers
• Texas Farm Bureau Insurance
• Progressive
• Nationwide
• Chubb
• Amica
• AAA
• Homeowners of America Insurance Co.
• UPC Insurance

The insurance rate data used in LowCostInsurance analysis came from Quadrant Information Services. These rates were obtained publicly from insurer filings and should only be used for comparison purposes — your own quotes may differ.