7 Best Homeowners Insurance Companies in Ohio of 2023

Purchasing a new home will be one of the most expensive and important decisions of your life. To protect your investment, you should purchase homeowners insurance.

For those who have home mortgages, homeowners insurance is often mandatory. But even if it isn’t, it’s a good idea to have it so you are covered if the unexpected or unforeseen happens.

A homeowners policy covers the physical structure of your house, as well as your personal belongings.

So, if a fire destroys your home, the policy will cover the cost of repairs to rebuild your home. And if that same fire damages your personal items, the policy will pay to replace them.

It also has your back in case that a guest visits your home and breaks her leg because you just mopped your floor. It will pay for medical expenses and even any legal bills if that guest decides to sue you.

In Ohio, it’s imperative for residents to have homeowners insurance. The state suffers from many natural disasters, including storms and hurricanes. If you didn’t have a policy and these disasters destroyed your home and the contents within, what would you do, cover the losses?

Most people don’t have that kind of money to replace everything out-of-pocket.

Having a policy will free you from any financial setbacks and give you the peace of mind you need to get on with your life worry-free.

But where do you start when you embark on your search for the best home policy that caters to your needs and your budget? There are too many insurance companies in Ohio, and the task can be daunting,

That’s why we’ve put together a list of the best homeowners insurance companies ranked by category to make it easier and to give you an idea of what’s out there.

Best Homeowners Insurance Companies in Ohio

• Liberty Mutual: Best for Many Discounts
• Allstate: Best for Intuitive Website and Mobile App
• Progressive: Best for Multi-Policy Discount
• State Farm: Best for Home Coverage While Away
• Travelers: Best for Personal Property Replacement Coverage
• Amica Mutual: Best for Many Coverages
• Farmers: Best for Flexible Coverages
• Lemonade: Best for Generally Known to Offer Some of the Lowest Rates

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Liberty Mutual: Best Homeowners Insurance for Many Discounts

Liberty Mutual Homeowners Insurance offers a wide range of discounts to help customers save on their policies.

These could include credits for bundling home and auto insurance, home emergency protection systems, claims-free, and loyal customer credits, among others.

Liberty Mutual also boasts excellent customer service on top of some of the broadest coverages compared to other leading insurance providers.

With Liberty Mutual Homeowners Insurance, you can rest assured that your home and family are covered.

Liberty Mutual may have average rates, but because it offers a plethora of discounts—the most a homeowners policy has in the industry besides Progressive—you can significantly lower your premium.

Allstate: Best Homeowners Insurance for Intuitive Website and Mobile App

Allstate is highly rated due to its favorable customer service and many additional coverages to make your policy more comprehensive.

But its website and app stand out for being very easy to use and allowing you to take care of all your insurance needs without contacting an agent.

You can get a quote on the website, easily file and track claims, and pay your bills.

The website also offers a unique home value estimation tool to help you better understand how much coverage you need.

In addition, it has a good deal of articles and videos to educate you about home insurance.

With the app, you can also file and track claims and pay bills. The app also lets you view your policy documents and contact your local agent.

Read a full Allstate homeowners insurance review.

Progressive: Best Homeowners Insurance for Multi-Policy Discount

You can even get a multi-policy discount for bundling RV, boat, motorcycle, and more.

The benefit of a multi-policy is that you have all your insurance policies under one roof.

Why manage multiple insurance policies through different companies when you can do it all with one insurer?

You’ll save time, have more flexibility, and have fewer insurance hassles.

As you change in life, you can do that seamlessly with Progressive. Say you are a renter and then become an owner of a new home. Or if you are a single driver and transition to a multi-car family. Progressive will allow you to move from renters insurance to homeowners insurance hassle-free.

State Farm: Best Homeowners Insurance for Home Coverage While Away

With State Farm, one of the largest insurance companies in the US, you can customize your standard homeowners insurance policy with numerous add-ons.

Two add-ons stand out if you want your home to be covered while away or while it is being rented out.

• Renters Coverage. Coverage of home if it’s rented out for more than 30 nights.
• Vacancy Coverage. Coverage for theft or vandalism if a home is left vacant for more than 30 days.

Travelers: Best Homeowners Insurance for Personal Property Replacement Coverage

When purchasing your homeowners policy, you’ll need to decide whether you want the actual cash value personal property coverage, which is typically included as standard in a homeowners policy, or the optional replacement cost coverage.

Most homeowners insurance policies cover your personal property after a covered peril based on the actual cash value (ACV) at the time of loss.

ACV factors in depreciation. This means your insurer will only reimburse you for what your $1,000 three-year-old laptop was worth when it was damaged or stolen.

The optional way will most matter to you. Replacement coverage means you are getting the exact amount to replace your item using today’s market prices.

So, if that three-year-old laptop that costs $1,000 was stolen, you will get the full $1,000 to replace it.

That said, if you want to be fully insured for your personal property, Travelers offers personal property replacement coverage (also known as replacement cost value) as an add-on on top of your standard home policy.

Amica Mutual: Best Homeowners Insurance for Many Coverages

Amica has the most insurance policies compared to similar insurers. These include auto, home, life, renters, condos, boat, and motorcycle insurance.

Amica Mutual is known for its many coverage options.

Farmers: Best Homeowners Insurance for Flexible Coverages

Unlike other insurers that just offer the standard plan and you have to buy extra coverage to make it suit your needs, Farmers offers two other policies that allow for flexibility.

These policies cater to your budget and allow you to buy only the necessary insurance, saving you money.

• The Basic Policy. This is the basic or standard policy. Because of its affordable rate, it is best suited for new homeowners.
• Enhanced Package. Offers higher policy limits and includes several extra features. This includes covering the cost of replacing your roof and getting the full price for your damaged or stolen items without factoring in depreciation.
• Premier Package. Offers even higher limits on property coverage than the enhanced policy. Most notably, this package has guaranteed replacement cost coverage that can fully reimburse you for the cost of rebuilding your home regardless of your policy limit.

Read a full Farmers homeowners insurance review.

Lemonade: Best for the Lowest Rates

Powered by AI, Lemonade is best overall for homeowners insurance because of its fast claims process, excellent, easy-to-use website and app, and extra coverages that can make your basic policy from Lemonade more comprehensive.

But Lemonade stands out because it is generally known to offer some of the lowest rates.

Rates for homeowners insurance starts at a low $25 per month, or $300 per year, according to Lemonade’s website.

The monthly rate is lower than both the national and industry average.

But keep in mind that your rate will go up if you add more coverage or live in an unsafe neighborhood where crime rates are high, and natural disasters are frequent.

How We Picked the Best Homeowners Insurance in Ohio

In choosing the best homeowner policies, we looked at various factors to narrow our search.

Discounts

Discounts are important for both the customer and the insurer. If a company has discounts, it can attract more people.

A company with many discounts makes a premium more affordable for policyholders.

So, the number of discounts a company had made an impression on us.

A multi-policy or bundling discount was also important to us because it gives policyholders the highest percentage off their premiums.

Coverage

A company’s coverage options narrowed down our list. If the company had many types of coverage, we took note.

If an insurer’s standard or basic homeowner insurance policy included coverages or features that usually cost an additional amount (such as RCV) with another insurer, we put that company on our list.

If the coverage did not come standard in a basic policy and had to be added on at an extra cost, then we evaluated insurers by the number of endorsements they had.

Technology

An insurer with its own easy-to-use and intuitive website and app makes the process of getting a quote, buying a policy, or making a claim easier. Using technology provides great convenience, as you can pay your bill or track a claim, for example, at any time you want.

So, we made sure that each company we looked at had a website and app that could be navigated by virtually everyone, not just by the tech-savvy.

Customer Reviews

We reviewed, vetted, and published customer reviews using websites that catered to insurance reviews.

Insurers with a good number of quality consumer ratings and reviews were included in our list.

Price

Naturally, we looked at insurers with low premiums when it came to price. And if an insurer had a good deal of discounts that can lower your policy rate, we took that into consideration.

Is It Mandatory to Buy Homeowners Insurance in Ohio?

You aren’t required to buy homeowners insurance, which is not mandatory in Ohio.

But most homeowners have a home mortgage.

In that case, your lender will likely require a policy to protect its investment.

The lender will want coverage equal to at least the value of your loan.

What is Homeowners Insurance?

Homeowners insurance protects your home and your personal property from the financial impact of unforeseen or unexpected disasters.

The insurance will pay to have your home repaired or rebuilt after damage from fire, heavy winds, and hurricanes.

And if your belongings are stolen or destroyed, homeowners insurance will replace them.

What Does a Basic Homeowners Insurance Cover in Ohio?

Dwelling

This covers damage to your house. So, if your home is destroyed due to a fire or other covered event or peril, your insurer will cover the cost of rebuilding your home.

For example, if a windstorm damages your window casements and glass, your dwelling coverage will pay to repair them.

Medical Payments

This pays if someone is injured on your property and needs medical treatment, regardless of who’s at fault. It also pays if you, a family member, or a pet like a dog injures someone elsewhere.

For example, if a guest slips on your just-mopped floor and breaks her hip, Medical Payments will provide coverage for the guest’s medical bills.

Personal Liability

This pays for medical bills, repair, or replacement costs if you are held responsible for physically hurting someone or damaging his or her personal belongings. Personal liability also handles legal fees if that person sues you.

For example, if you’re sued because someone got injured on your property or if you damaged someone else’s property or stuff, your personal liability will cover you.

And if you’re faced with legal fees for accidents for which you or someone else on your policy are at fault, once again, personal liability will cover you.

But note that personal liability only covers injury to other people, not yourself, and not to people listed on your policy.

Other Structures

Covers stand-alone outdoor structures on your property like fences, sheds, detached garages, driveways, pools, or anything not attached to your home.

For example, if a fire burns down your shed, your Other Structures coverage will pay to rebuild it.

Personal Property

Covers the actual cash value to replace your personal belongings if your house was robbed or burned down. Covered personal property often includes furniture, clothing, electronics, everyday items like kitchenware, and high-cost valuables like jewelry.

For example, if your home is burglarized, your personal property coverage will pay to replace any items stolen.

But your personal property doesn’t have to be at home. It travels with you when you leave the house. If you leave your laptop in your car and a thief breaks into it and steals it, or if you lock your bike in front of a store and someone cuts the chain, you could file a claim for the theft.

Loss of Use

If a covered event destroys your property to the point that it is unhabitable, loss of use will pay for your temporary living expenses.

For example, if a fire destroys your home, loss of use will pay for dwelling coverage, such as staying in hotels or motels.

In sum, if you don’t have homeowners insurance, all these coverages will have to be paid out-of-pocket.

Many homeowners don’t have that kind of money to replace their belongings or rebuild their houses.

That’s why, for homeowners in Ohio, home insurance is a must.

What is a Covered Peril?

A covered peril is when your insurer agrees to reimburse you after filing a claim.

Covered perils include:

• Fire, wildfire, and smoke damage.
• Weather conditions like lightning, hurricanes, windstorms, hail, and the weight of ice, snow, or sleet.
• Explosions.
• Theft, vandalism, and malicious mischief.
• Damage from an aircraft or a car, or another type of vehicle.
• Water damage unrelated to natural floods.

What Isn’t Covered in a Basic Homeowners Insurance Policy?

No matter what the company, homeowner insurance never covers floods andearthquakes.

How Much Homeowners Insurance Do I Need?

The amount of home insurance you need depends on how much personal property you have.

To determine how much personal property coverage to buy, take a home inventory of everything in your home using photos or any documentation, and estimate what it would cost to replace your belongings.

You may think you don’t have enough property to cover but remember that everything you own can be covered, from everyday items like clothing and kitchenware, furniture like sofas and beds, and appliances and heating and cooling systems.

A home inventory is very important because you determine the total cost of insurance you would require if you had to replace everything after a fire or other covered peril.

Not only that, but you can also save money. Since you’ll know the dollar amount of how much coverage you should buy, you’ll only pay for what you need.

You should never underestimate the importance of a home inventory.

When you shop for homeowners insurance, the quotes you get are based partly on the amount of personal property you have.

Do I Need Extra Coverage for My Valuables?

You should get extra or additional insurance coverage for expensive items like jewelry, fine art, musical instruments, or a rare book collection.

Getting extra coverage means scheduling your valuables or adding a rider or an endorsement—these terms are used interchangeably—to your policy to cover your high-cost items in full.

The personal property coverage in a standard homeowners policy pays only up to its limit for damaged or stolen belongings.

This means the amount of coverage provided in your basic policy is usually not enough to replace valuables if you have to file a claim.

For example, if your engagement ring is stolen, there may be a cap of $1,000 or more to replace it. So if that ring costs $2,000 and your policy only covers up to $1,000, you’ll be only getting $1,000 and must pay the rest of the cost out-of-pocket.

So, to make sure your ring is insured to its full value, you should schedule it.

Scheduling your personal property means you’ll list it for its full value. So, if you schedule your engagement ring, it will be removed from your personal property limits, and it will be insured separately.

When Flooding is Covered and When it is Not

Flooding is one of those natural disasters that homeowners insurance never covers.

So, if water comes into your home due to natural flooding from a hurricane or storm, your insurer won’t cover flood damage to your home or your property.

If you live in Ohio, where floods are frequent, you can buy a separate flood insurance policy.

You can still get coverage for water damage—but only if it’s not the result of a natural disaster.

The only time an insurer will pay for the property, and home damage due to flooding is if water backs up. This is additional coverage.

Sump pumps, plumbing, and sewers can get backed up, and when they do, you are left with pricey repairs.

Water backup coverage covers damage from water that backs up, overflows, or discharges from sewers, drains, sump pumps, or related equipment.

For example, if your sump pump breaks down, and water backs up into your basement, damaging your carpet, furniture, and belongings, the water backup coverage will pay for sewage removal and damage to your property.

How Much Dwelling Coverage Do You Need?

Homeowners insurance policies will cover your house, which insurers refer to as “dwelling.”

When choosing how much dwelling coverage you need, consider how much it would cost to rebuild or reconstruct your home, including the specific materials and labor you’ll need.

It’s often wise to get dwelling coverage that goes beyond the coverage you need to replace or rebuild your home in case the unexpected happens, such as if there is theft of building material while your home is being repaired (this also comes as an add-on).

Insurers will estimate this rebuild cost when you get a quote. They’ll use the information about your property characteristics that you provide as part of calculating your insurance quote.

Will Homeowners Insurance Cover my Appliances?

A basic homeowner insurance policy will repair or replace an appliance provided that the damage was due to a covered peril.

But if the appliance is at the end of its lifetime and is so old that the parts to fix the appliance are no longer being made, the insurer will not cover it.

And if the damage to your appliance is due to your negligence and poor maintenance, you also won’t be covered.

But if you purchase Appliance Coverage or Equipment Breakdown Coverage (EBC), this endorsement will covet you against certain household appliance malfunctions.

What Factors Determine My Homeowners Insurance Rate?

The cost of a policy can vary significantly, depending on factors such as your credit score, distance to a fire hydrant or a fire department, location, and your home’s condition, to name a few. Here are some:

Your State 

Homeowners insurance differs from state to state. States with a higher chance of natural disasters generally have higher premiums than states that don’t.

Your Zip Code 

Not only will your state come into play when it comes to your insurance rate, but also your address. For example, you'll pay a lower rate if your home is near a fire department or you live in a gated community. But if your home is in an area with a high crime rate, your rate will go up.

The Condition of Your Home

Are your pipes and electrical systems out of date? Is your roof in bad shape? Are your appliances malfunctioning? If so, you may live in an old or older home, and your rate will go up if these things are not current.

The older your house is, the more prone it is to damage. So older homes mean higher premiums.

But if you correct these issues and have made big improvements to your home, such as installing a new bath and a new kitchen, your rate will go down. So too is having a new or newly constructed home.

Your Deductible

Your deductible is the amount you agree to pay out of pocket if you file a claim. With a higher deductible, you’ll pay a lower premium. But keep in mind that in the event of a claim, a higher deductible also means you’ll pay a lot more out of pocket before your insurer chips in.

The Amount of Coverage You Choose

If you purchase additional coverage for water back-up and sump pump failure, replacement cost value, identity fraud protection, and add-ons to increase the coverage of your valuables like riders or endorsements, your rate will go up.

Most Common Natural Disasters in Ohio

Homeowners insurance never covers floods and earthquakes.

Ohio suffers from floods, severe storms, and tornadoes.

Severe Storms

Storms, hurricanes, and lightning are common in Ohio, but luckily these are considered covered perils, so homeowners don’t need to buy separate storm coverage.

Floods

Floods are common in the low-lying areas of Ohio and the regions near the rivers. The lowest elevation in the state is 455 feet above sea level, and the highest point is only 1,549 feet. 

So if you live in an area with a lot of flooding, as Ohio residents do, you should seriously consider buying flood insurance on top of your basic homeowners policy.

Tornadoes

Ohio experiences an estimated 19 tornadoes each year. That’s a lot. The good thing is that homeowners in Ohio don’t need extra coverage for tornadoes. That’s because insurers classify tornadoes as windstorms, which most homeowners insurance policies cover.

How Can I Lower My Homeowners Insurance Premium?

Shopping Around

Get quotes from as many insurers as you can.

A quote is an estimate of your premium cost.

If you compare multiple quotes for the same coverage from different companies, you’ll arrive at the most affordable policies that will fit your needs or budget.

Getting Discounts

If you want to reduce the cost of a policy, you should ask your insurer for any discounts that may apply to you. Discounts are things offered by an insurance company that will lower your premium.

Making Your Home Safe

Your home doesn’t need smart home devices to help lower your insurance premium. If you start with a standard fire alarm and burglar alarm, (and gradually add more safety devices), you’ve already lowered your risks. And lowered risks equals lowered premiums.

Home Reinforcements

If you live in an area that is prone to natural disasters, you’ll pay a higher premium. But if you add some reinforcements, you can make your home more weather-proof.

You can save on your rate if you replace your roof with new materials to lower the chance of getting damaged and add storm shutters and laminated glass windows.

You can also replace your heating, plumbing, and electrical systems to reduce malfunctions and reduce the risk of fire and water damage.

Increase Your Deductible

Increasing your deductible will lower your premium. The higher you’ll pay on your deductible, the lower you’ll pay on your premium and vice versa. 

How Much is Homeowners Insurance in Ohio?

The average cost of homeowners insurance in Ohio is $105 per month or $1,260 per year.

The national average and the Ohio average are similar in cost.

However, your premium varies by state and depends on factors such as your house’s age, the rebuild cost, and the coverages and add-ons you purchase separately.