Home insurance policies can make a major difference for people living in areas where homes are often damaged. Chicago homeowners are no exception. The best homeowners insurance companies in Chicago offer comprehensive coverage with a variety of customizable add-ons and affordable monthly premiums. Read on to learn more about our top four picks.
Chicago’s Top 4 Homeowners Insurance Companies
Here are the top providers of homeowners insurance in Chicago:
Lemonade: Easiest Sign-Up Allstate: Best Coverage Options Farmers: Most Customizable Coverage Amica: Best Customer Service
Lemonade
J.D. Power Rating: N/A A.M. Best Rating: N/A
Lemonade is a relatively new home insurance company, but it has already made a big impact with its charitable angle and efficient technology. The provider pools the premiums and donates any leftover money to charity at the end of the year. Its technology-driven approach includes a video function for homeowners to record videos explaining their claims, and nearly a third of Lemonade claims are handled instantly.
Pros and Cons of Lemonade Home Insurance
✔ Convenient mobile app✔ Almost a third of claims handled instantly✔ Charitable Giveback program✘ Not available nationwide
Discounts
Lemonade offers several discounts to help lower the cost of your home insurance:
Fire protection Protective devices Gated community Multi-policy
Endorsements
Lemonade offers a variety of optional add-on protections.
Scheduled personal property: Covers the cost to replace damaged or stolen valuable items like jewelry, art, and furs Home business: Covers equipment necessary to operate a business out of the home Earthquake: Covers the cost of repairing and rebuilding structures after damage from an earthquake Sewer backup: Covers cost of damage to home after sewer backup
Learn More: Lemonde Home Insurance Review
Allstate
J.D. Power Rating: 829/1000 A.M. Best Rating: A+
Allstate is the second-largest home insurance provider in the country with a solid reputation and strong financial backing. The company offers a lengthy list of endorsements, including identity theft protection and sports equipment coverage. Its 24/7 customer service center goes beyond the norm—customer service representatives are available to answer all home insurance questions, going beyond simply assisting with claims.
Pros and cons of Allstate Home Insurance
✔ Extensive endorsement options to customize your policy✔ Second-largest homeowners insurance provider in the U.S.✔ 24/7 customer service for all insurance questions✘ Average customer satisfaction ratings
Discounts
Allstate offers many discounts to help reduce the cost of your premium:
Multi-policy Early signing Claim-free Home alarm Roof Smoke-free Storm shutter Homebuyer Easy Pay Plan Age 55 and retired Welcome and loyalty
Endorsements
Here you can see a sample of Allstate’s endorsements. Add-on coverages might vary depending on the state, but you can confirm which ones are available in your personalized quote.
Personal umbrella policy: Increases limits of personal liability coverage and adds coverage for lost wages and legal fees Earthquake: Covers repairs or replacement of your home after an earthquake Flood: Covers repair or replacement of your home in the event of a flood (required for homeowners in certain locations) Water backup: Covers water damage caused by clogged drains or sump pump failure Scheduled personal property: Covers valuable personal belongings, including jewelry, antiques, and more Business property: Covers computers and other home office equipment or equipment from a small business run out of the home Sports equipment: Covers golf clubs, skis, bicycles, and other sports equipment Identity theft protection: Covers legal fees and others costs associated with identity theft or fraud Green improvement reimbursement: Increases coverage to upgrade appliances with more energy-efficient uses after a loss Electronic data recovery: Covers costs from recovering lost computer data Yard and garden: Covers trees, landscaping, and ornamental plantings or adds coverage for lawn equipment Musical instruments: Covers valuable musical instruments
Learn More: Allstate Home Insurance Review
Farmers
J.D. Power Rating: 820/1000 A.M. Best Rating: A
Farmers is a nationwide home insurance company and a household name. The company’s impressive perks include some uncommon features like claim forgiveness and declining deductibles. Claim forgiveness waives your surcharge when you go five years or more without filing a claim, and the declining deductibles policy means every year your policy is in force, Farmers will reduce your deductible by $50.
Pros and Cons of Farmers Home Insurance
✔ Claim forgiveness✔ Declining deductibles✔ Available nationwide✘ Fewer endorsements than competitors✘ Website lacks some details
Discounts
Farmers offers several discounts to lower your monthly premium:
Claim-free Non-smoking Multi-policy Protective devices New home Roofing materials
Endorsements
Farmers offers several endorsements to help you round out your coverage.
Eco-rebuild: Provides extra coverage to rebuild your home with green, energy-efficient materials after a covered loss Personal articles floater: Provides additional coverage for valuables like art, collectibles, or jewelry Identity Shield: Provides coverage if your identity is stolen, up to your policy limit Contents replacement cost: Provides the full replacement cost of stolen or damaged property (not less depreciation)
Learn More: Farmers Home Insurance Review
Amica
J.D. Power Rating: 854/1000 A.M. Best Rating: A+
Amica® is a reliable home insurance company known for high-quality customer service and extensive coverage options, like protections for computers, smartphones, and tablets. Its customer service includes the Contractor Connection program, which links homeowners to vetted, experienced contractors within 24 hours. Homeowners can track repair progress online, and all repairs come with a five-year workmanship guarantee.
Pros and Cons of Amica Homeowners Insurance
✔ Comprehensive coverage✔ Affordable rates✔ Contractor Connection✘ Not available in Alaska and Hawaii✘ Does not use local agents
Discounts
Amica offers a range of discounts:
Multi-policy Claim-free E-discount Autopay Loyalty Alarm system Automatic detection devices New and remodeled homes
Endorsements
Amica offers a variety of optional endorsements.
Personal property replacement: Fully covers the replacement cost for stolen or damaged items, instead of depreciated value Scheduled personal property: Offers more extensive protection for valuable items like jewelry or antiques Automatic dwelling coverage increase: Increases coverage limits when the cost to rebuild your home exceeds what your underlying policy allows Credit card: Covers up to $5,000 if your card is used fraudulently Water backup/sump pump failure: Covers damage from water backup and sump pump failure Computer: Covers computers, tablets, smart televisions, and smartphones Catastrophic: Covers damage due to earthquakes and floods Liability and medical payment: Increases liability coverage for legal fees and medical expenses
Learn More: Amica Home Insurance Review
Compare the Best Homeowners Insurance Companies in Chicago
See how the top homeowners insurance companies in Chicago stack up on key metrics. *Cost may be calculated for homes of slightly varying values Learn More: Best Homeowners Insurance in Illinois
Industry-Standard Coverage
Most homeowners insurance companies offer six essential forms of coverage—dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use/additional living expenses, personal liability, and medical payments to others. Each of our top companies offers these protections. You can find a breakdown below.
Our Conclusion
Each home insurance provider that cracked out top four stands out. Allstate is our choice for best overall, with a 24/7 customer service center and an extensive range of endorsements that allow you to purchase the coverage you need. Amica offers high-quality customer service, including the Contractor Connection program. Farmers offers wallet-friendly benefits like declining deductibles and claim forgiveness, and Lemonade uses a technology-forward approach that simplifies the claim-filing process.
Who has the cheapest home insurance?
Home insurance rates depend on a variety of factors, including the size and age of your home, the materials it was constructed with, where you live, the deductible you choose, and more. From the companies we’ve evaluated, we’ve found that Lemonade and Costco have some of the cheapest home insurance rates.
What is the highest deductible for home insurance?
According to Smartasset.com, home insurance deductibles can go as high as $100,000.
Is Allstate good for homeowners insurance?
We believe that Allstate is the best overall homeowners insurance company, followed by Farmers, Amica, and Lemonade. Other top options include Liberty Mutual, State Farm, and USAA.
Our Rating Methodology
The This Old House Reviews Team is committed to providing comprehensive and unbiased reviews to our readers. This means earning your trust through transparency and having the data to back up our ratings and recommendations. With that in mind, we created an objective rating system to score each home insurance company. Here’s what that review process looked like:
We analyze the information on each company’s website. This allows us to determine what products and services are offered by each home insurance provider. We get a sample quote from the companies by either talking to a sales representative or by using the online quote tool. This tells us what a policy looks like and costs. We test customer service by talking to a company representative, finding out their hours of operation, and determining what technological features are available for customers. We update all of this information on a continuous basis, storing it in a proprietary database that allows us to compare dozens of home insurance companies against each other.
With this data, we created a rating methodology to score each home insurance company. Our rating system is a weighted, 100-point scale based on the following factors:
Coverage (30): We rated home insurance companies higher if they offered the six main types of homeowner protection—dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, liability, and medical payments to others coverage. State availability (7.5): Companies scored higher if they covered more states than their competitors. Customer service (15): This factor is based on our communications with the company representatives, as well as the companies’ claims and quotes processes, availability throughout the week, and customer service information found on their websites. Technology (12.5): Technology can increase the efficiency of filing and tracking home insurance claims. Companies scored higher if they had technology options like mobile apps and online chat functions. Reputation (20): We gauged trustworthiness based on years of experience and Better Business Bureau ratings. Additional benefits (15): Companies that offered optional features, like discounts and endorsements, scored higher than competitors that didn’t.
The This Old House Reviews Team has a full-time researcher who collects and regularly updates data points from every company to help us compare them on key factors such as coverage, service, and dependability. To share feedback or ask a question about this article, send a note to our Reviews Team at reviews@thisoldhousereviews.com.
