What to Look for When Shopping for Homeowners Insurance
Compare dwelling coverage amounts, deductibles, and how each insurer treats your claims history or roof age, not just the price.
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Shopping after a non-renewal is different
When you were dropped or turned down, what you're shopping for changes. Every insurer asks about prior claims, your roof's age, and sometimes your home's wiring or plumbing, and the reason on your cancellation letter is exactly what the next company will ask about first. Look at how each insurer treats that specific issue, since some decline anyone with two or more claims in five years, while others only care about the type of claim. If your roof is the reason, ask whether an insurer will cover you with the roof's current age or wants proof of recent repairs. Check the dwelling coverage amount against what it would actually cost to rebuild your house, not its market value, since underinsuring to lower the price creates a new problem. If you have a deadline from your old insurer, confirm the new policy's effective date covers you without a gap.
One insurer's rebuild estimate on your house can run thousands apart from another's, and a dwelling amount set too low leaves you paying the difference if you ever file a claim. The same gap shows up in how insurers price the exact issue on your letter. Checking more than one quote shows whether what happened to you costs more somewhere else, or less.
What else should you compare besides the price
Look at what each policy actually pays out when something goes wrong, not just what it costs upfront. Two policies with the same dwelling coverage amount can differ in how they settle a roof claim. Some pay replacement cost, meaning what it takes to put a new roof on today. Others pay actual cash value on roofs past a certain age. Actual cash value subtracts for wear and can leave you covering a large share yourself. If your old policy was dropped over roof age, this is the clause to read before you sign anything new.
Check what the deductible does to a claim on the exact problem you're insuring against. A lot of policies carry a separate, higher deductible for wind and hail damage. That deductible is often set as a percentage of the dwelling amount rather than a flat dollar figure, so it can run much higher than the deductible you'd pay on other claims. If wind or hail is common where you live, or was involved in a past claim, ask directly how that deductible is structured before comparing prices.
Ask about additional living expenses coverage, the part of the policy that pays for a place to stay if the house becomes unlivable after a covered loss. Insurers set different limits on this, some as a dollar cap and some as a number of months. A low limit can run out fast if repairs take a while. It rarely shows up as a headline number when you're comparing quotes, so it's worth asking for directly.
Find out how each insurer handles water damage exclusions, since this varies more than people expect. Sudden pipe bursts are usually covered. Damage from a slow leak that went unnoticed, or from an older water heater or supply line, is where policies start to differ. If your wiring, plumbing, or any other system was named in your cancellation letter, ask the new insurer how that specific peril is written into the policy. Don't assume it works the same way your last one did.
What questions should you ask about an insurer's financial standing
None of this matters if the company can't pay the claim. Insurers are rated by independent agencies like AM Best and Demotech on their ability to pay out claims, and these ratings are public. A lower-rated insurer might offer the cheapest price on your renewal, especially if you were dropped and are working with a smaller or newer company willing to take on more risk. That can be a reasonable trade, but it's worth knowing what you're trading.
Ask what rating the insurer carries and what it means. A rating in the lower tiers doesn't mean a company will fail, but it means less cushion if a lot of claims come in at once, like after a large regional storm. If you live somewhere prone to hurricanes, hail, or wildfire, this matters more than it would somewhere quieter, because the insurer's ability to pay is tested exactly when you need it most.
Look at how long the company has been writing policies in your state. Some insurers pull back from a state or a region after a bad few years of claims, which may be part of why your old policy was non-renewed in the first place. A company that just started writing policies in your area has less of a track record to judge. Neither is disqualifying, but it's a different kind of question than price, and worth asking before you commit to a policy that has to be there when something happens to your house.
Check how claims actually get handled, not just whether the company can pay. State insurance departments publish complaint ratios for each insurer, showing how many complaints were filed relative to the size of the company. A high ratio doesn't mean every claim goes badly, but it's a data point most people never think to look up, and it costs nothing to check before you sign.
Before you pick a policy
Pull your old declarations page and find the dwelling coverage number and the reason stated on your cancellation letter. Compare both against each quote you get, then check the effective date lines up before your current coverage ends.
