The Best and Cheapest Homeowners Insurance in Montana

Best cheap home insurance in Montana

To help Montana homeowners find the best home insurance, our editors collected hundreds of quotes and evaluated customer service ratings from the largest insurance companies across the state.

Cheapest homeowners insurance in Montana

Chubb also offers cheap home insurance, at $1,116 per year, although home insurance policies may only be available to high-value homes.

Home insurance in Montana is 20% more expensive than the average national cost of home insurance, which is $1,516 per year.

Cheap annual home insurance in Montana

Best Montana homeowners insurance overall: Farmers

Farmers offers the best home insurance policies for most homeowners in Montana because of its cheap rates, unique endorsements and discounts. Farmers’ average rate is $1,205 per year, which is $616 cheaper than the state average rate of $1,821 per year.

The company offers multiple discounts that are easy to qualify for. For example, you can save on your premium if you:

Farmers offers tiered packages, so you can upgrade your standard policy. The Enhanced package includes coverage that pays for the cost of rebuilding your home without depreciation, and the Premier package includes coverage that pays 100% of the cost to rebuild your home.

You can also purchase policy add-ons, like a green rebuild endorsement that provides you with up to $25,000 to rebuild, repair or replace your home with eco-friendly materials.

The only downside to Farmers is its poor customer satisfaction rating. The company received a 1.93 rating in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Complaint Index, which means Farmers got nearly twice as many complaints compared to an average insurance company its size.

Best home insurance for high-value homes: Chubb

Chubb specializes in home insurance coverage for high-value homes. Chubb's standard plan comes with a unique cash settlement option for homeowners who want a payout to move elsewhere rather than repairing the damage. This standard policy costs on average $1,116 per year, or $93 per month, in Montana.

Chubb also provides support in home and cyber security. The insurer offers risk consultation in assessing your home’s physical security, as well as offering cyber insurance that covers cyber extortion, cyber financial loss and cyber personal protection.

Chubb boasts outstanding customer service, receiving very few complaints about its home insurance, according to the NAIC.

Although the basic annual rate is cheap, Chubb home insurance may only be available for high-value homes. This means you might pay more or need to get coverage from another company.

Best home insurance for military families: USAA

USAA is the best company for home insurance for U.S. service members and their families in Montana. The average rate is $1,732 per year, or $144 per month. This is $89 cheaper per year than the state average.

USAA's coverage is geared toward military members, with perks like a waived deductible if any issued uniforms or gear are damaged, and protection for your home and belongings while in an active war zone. These coverages are rarely offered by other insurance companies.

USAA also provides some of the best customer service in the state, with a Complaint Index of 0.50 from the NAIC. This means the company receives half as many complaints from customers than insurers of a similar size.

The biggest downside is that not everyone is eligible to purchase a USAA policy. Membership accounts and policies are only available to current USAA members and their families, and active, reserve or veteran U.S. military members and their dependents.

Montana home insurance rates by city

Eureka is the cheapest city for home insurance in Montana, with an average rate of $1,137 per year. This is $684 cheaper than the statewide average of $1,821 per year. This small town sits in Tobacco Valley, just nine miles south of the U.S.-Canada border.

Sumatra is the most expensive city in Montana for home insurance, at an average rate of $3,156 per year. This is $1,335 more expensive than the statewide annual rate. Sumatra is a small, unincorporated community on ranch land in northwestern Montana.

Best home insurance companies in Montana

USAA and State Farm are the best-rated insurance companies in Montana. USAA offers the best benefits specifically for military members and their families, like a deductible waiver for lost, stolen, or destroyed issued gear, and coverage on personal belongings while overseas in an active war zone.

State Farm boasts one of the best ratings in Montana in the NAIC Complaint Index, meaning the company receives virtually no complaints regarding customer service.

Most common homeowners insurance risks in Montana: hail and flooding

Due to the state's mountainous terrain in the west and its prairie in the east, Montana's homeowners may experience a variety of different perils, like hail storms and floods caused by melting mountain snow.

Does home insurance cover hail damage?

Hail damage is typically covered by homeowners insurance, but your policy may only cover some repairs. Data from the National Weather Service shows that Montana experienced 106 reported hail storms during 2021, the ninth most of all states.

Because of the frequency of hail in Montana, some homeowners insurance policies may only allow you to make a claim if your damage is more than cosmetic. Additionally, you may see increased home insurance rates if you live in a part of the state that's especially prone to hail.

However, it's not uncommon for companies to offer discounts on your policy if you reinforce your home's roof or windows against hail damage.

Does homeowners insurance cover flooding?

Standard homeowners insurance policies don't cover flood damage. Montana's mountainous regions in the western part of the state may see several hundred inches of snow per year. Unfortunately for homeowners living in this part of the state, heavy flooding caused by melting snow and ice can cause substantial property damage.

FEMA uses flood zones to designate which regions of the country are most at risk of experiencing flood damage. If you're in a region of Montana that is likely to be affected by post-winter flooding, it's a good idea to consider getting flood insurance.

Since most homeowners insurance companies don't cover flood damage, you'll have to purchase a policy from a private flood insurer, or get a federally backed policy through the National Flood Insurance Program.

Frequently asked questions

Methodology

This survey comprises estimates from seven of Montana's largest homeowners insurance companies. We gathered quotes from every ZIP code in the state using a sample property built in 1978 with $230,600 of dwelling coverage, based on the median home in Montana.

ValuePenguin's analysis used insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services. These rates were publicly sourced from insurer filings and should be used for comparative purposes only — your own quotes may be different.

We ranked each company's customer service scores by comparing the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Complaint Index, J.D. Power's home insurance customer satisfaction rankings and our ValuePenguin editor's ratings.