Your home probably has a lot of worth — not just the actual value of your home, but the belongings within your home. After you’ve spent so much of your life creating an environment that you call home, shouldn’t you do everything you can to protect it? Discover how in this guide to finding the best homeowners insurance in Utah.
Best Home Insurance Utah:
- Cheapest Home Insurance in Utah: Farmers
- Best for Flood Insurance: Allstate
- Best for Service Members: USAA
Best Home Insurance Companies in Utah
There are so many insurance providers in Utah, but they’re definitely not all equal. Here are some home insurance providers you should consider.
- Those who own investment properties
1. Cheapest Home Insurance in Utah: Farmers
If you’re looking for a policy that won’t break the bank, Farmers is a provider that you should consider. It offers some of the most affordable homeowners insurance policies in Utah, and the benefits don’t stop there.
Farmers offers other types of insurance, including auto and life, giving you the option to purchase other policies to bundle them with your homeowners insurance. You’ll also benefit from a robust digital presence as well as the option to work with local agents in person.
- No Recent Claims
2. Best for Flood Insurance: Allstate
As a homeowner in Utah, you’re familiar with the unique risks that can come along with it. Allstate offers flood insurance policies that can help extend your homeowners insurance policy for peace of mind. Don’t worry — Allstate’s policies are affordable, so you won’t be paying an arm and a leg just to have to shell out more to get all of the coverage you need.
Allstate offers a helpful website that walks you through all of the features, discounts and other information you’ll need to pick and work with your policy. To help you save even more, Allstate offers several discounts that you may be eligible for to lower your premium.
- Members of the armed forces and their families
3. Best for Service Members: USAA
If you’re a service member, you may prefer to work with an insurance provider that specializes in helping you out. USAA only offers coverage to service members and their families, so you can feel confident that you’re getting personalized customer service from this provider.
If you’re an active-duty service member, USAA can offer you the ability to pause or reduce your coverage during deployment. You may also be able to benefit from its extra coverage options, including identity theft protection.
Average Annual Home Insurance Premium in Utah
There are a few terms you should become familiar with before reviewing your home insurance options. These terms will help you get a full understanding of the cost of your insurance plan.
Premium: Your premium is the amount that you will pay monthly or annually to keep your insurance policy active. When we talk about average costs, the premium is what we are referring to.
Deductible: Your policy will also come with at least 1 deductible. The deductible is the amount of money you’ll have to pay out-of-pocket for approved claims before your insurance company will pay for anything. In many cases, you’ll have separate premiums for the different insurance coverage.
Liability limit: When you review your policy options, you’ll also see liability limits. Your liability limit is the maximum amount of money that your insurance company will pay out on your claims. It’s important to purchase a policy with liability limits that best represent the value of your home and belongings.
The average home insurance premium in Utah is $642. This is using a home price of $200,000 with a $1,000 deductible and $100,000 of liability coverage. We’ll cover the types of coverage, including liability coverage below.
Of course, the cost of your home insurance premium will depend on several factors, including the value of your home and the ZIP code you live in. When you start shopping for home insurance, you should get a quote to compare the options that insurance companies can offer you. Getting a quote is free and easy — all you need to do is enter your ZIP code to get started.
How to Lower Your Home Insurance Premium
You may also be eligible for discounts from insurance companies that can lower your premiums. Some of the most common discounts include:
Bundling your policies: Many insurance companies offer multiple insurance products, such as auto insurance and home insurance. If a company offers multiple types of insurance, it may offer you a discount for purchasing more than 1 insurance product.
Safety and security equipment: Your insurance company will be there for you if you need it, but the insurance company appreciates it if you take steps to minimize your risk. This is why many insurance companies offer discounts if you have equipment such as fire and burglar alarms, sprinklers and more. If you have this equipment in place to minimize your risk of damages or losses to your home, your insurance company may offer you a discount.
Remaining loyal: Your insurance company probably wants to keep you happy so you’ll stick around as a customer for years to come. Many insurance companies offer a discount if you remain a loyal customer for a certain number of years.
Paying in full: If you pay your insurance policy in full for the entire year, you won’t have to worry about monthly payments. It also shows your insurance company that you’re committed to making your payments. Some insurance companies offer a lower price if you pay your annual premium in full.
What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover?
There are a few separate parts of homeowners insurance. Let’s explore these coverages to see what a standard homeowners insurance policy can offer you.
Additional living expenses: If your home is damaged to the point where you can’t stay in it, this is the coverage you will rely on. However, the damage to your home must have been caused by a covered event, such as a fire. Your additional living expenses coverage will help you pay for what you need while you are displaced from your home. This could include hotel bills, restaurant bills and other costs.
Coverage for belongings: Your home is much more than what’s on the outside. That’s why homeownership policies offer coverage for the belongings inside of your home. This can include furniture, clothing and other personal items. Standard homeowner policies offer coverage for your belongings if they are stolen or if they are damaged by covered events such as fires and hurricanes. This means that your insurance company will reimburse you for the value of your items so you can repair or replace them.
Coverage for structures: If your home is damaged by a covered event, your homeowners insurance will cover the cost of repairing or rebuilding your home. Structural coverage usually includes other structures on your property, such as garages and sheds. Covered events usually include fires, hurricanes, lightning and hail. Your policy might also have other included events, depending on where you live. Standard policies, however, usually do not cover damages caused by events such as floods or earthquakes. You may be able to find separate policies to cover events such as these.
Liability coverage: Another element of a homeowners insurance policy is designed to protect you if someone is injured or their property is damaged at your home. This includes damage or injuries that are caused by your family members and even your pets! If you are sued due to an injury or damages caused on your property, your policy will help pay for your legal fees and any court awards. It also offers medical coverage for guests if they are injured in your home.
What Does Homeowners Insurance Not Cover?
While homeowners insurance covers a lot, a standard policy certainly doesn’t cover everything. Here are some of the main things that you should know.
Earthquake, flood and water damage: A standard homeowners insurance policy covers a lot of catastrophic events. However, it doesn’t offer coverage for some events that could cause a lot of damage, depending on where you live. Most standard insurance policies do not cover damage that is caused by earthquakes, floods or other types of water damage such as sump pumps or sewer systems. You may be able to receive coverage for these events by purchasing addendums to your policy, but not all companies offer this.
Issues related to maintenance: Homeowners insurance won’t pay to repair your home if it’s damaged due to lack of maintenance. As the homeowner, you’re still responsible for keeping your home in good condition. This means taking the steps to avoid rust, rot, mold and damages from rodents and insects. Your policy also won’t cover general wear and tear on your home.
Other factors: A common question is if your homeowners policy will help reimburse you if you have to throw out spoiled food due to a power outage. Unfortunately, this is not something that is typically covered by a homeowners insurance policy. Most policies also do not cover things such as smoke damage from nearby industrial plants.
Next Steps
Now that you have had the opportunity to review your homeowners insurance options, you may be wondering what you should do next. Benzinga wants to make this process as easy as possible. All you need to do now is get a quote for your home by entering your ZIP code and providing basic information. Then you can compare each provider to decide which company offers the best coverage to meet your needs. Don’t forget — you’ll need to consider the value of your home and belongings to find the right amount of coverage.