The Best and Cheapest Homeowners Insurance Companies in Georgia
The Best and Cheapest Homeowners Insurance Companies in Georgia
Get the best homeowners insurance in Georgia by comparing coverage.
Find Cheap Home Insurance Quotes in Georgia
For most people, choosing the best homeowners insurance provider comes down to a comparison of rates. But when we looked at the policy details and service reputations of a dozen insurers in Georgia, we found that the state's cheapest home insurers weren't necessarily the best option.
After gathering hundreds of quotes, we found that insurance coverage for a typical home in Georgia can cost as little as $936 per year. However, our research also showed that the "best" choice tends to change depending on your individual needs. To help you find the best fit, we identified a handful of providers that stand out in different ways.
Best homeowners insurance for most people: Farmers
The best homeowners insurance for most people in Georgia is Farmers. Its standard, enhanced and premier homeowners packages mean just about any homeowner can find coverage that fits their needs. Additionally, Farmers' affordability and convenience make it stand out from its competitors.
The average cost of homeowners insurance from Farmers is about $1,100 per year, more than one-third cheaper than Georgia's mean price of coverage.
Standard homeowners insurance from Farmers contains protection against perils commonly covered by other providers, including hail, fire and theft. Additionally, each plan comes with $50 off your deductible for each consecutive year your policy remains in force. You may purchase any of Farmers' add-ons, including:
- Contents replacement-cost coverage
- Identity theft protection and recovery services
- Sewer and drain backup protection
- Up to $25,000 to rebuild your home with eco-friendly materials after a loss
- Guaranteed replacement-cost coverage for qualifying homes
Farmers has one of the best online experiences of the homeowners insurance companies we surveyed. You can request a quote, personalize your policy's limits and finalize your purchase in less than 10 minutes. After you have a policy, you can pay your bills and file a claim online. You can even request roadside assistance through Farmers' website if you qualify for coverage.
Most affordable homeowners insurance: Cincinnati Insurance Co.
On average, Cincinnati Insurance Co. has the most affordable homeowners insurance in Georgia. You can typically purchase coverage for $936 per year, which is nearly half the average cost of homeowners insurance in the state. Additionally, you could reduce your premium if you:
- Have a good claim history.
- Outfit your home with a security system or fire alarm.
- Own a new home.
- Bundle your homeowners insurance with an auto policy.
Cincinnati Insurance has multiple levels of homeowners insurance, meaning you could find coverage if you need more than basic protection. However, if you own special items, such as jewelry, it could be beneficial to upgrade your coverage: Cincinnati Insurance requires you to assign individual coverage to these items if you have a basic package.
You can also choose replacement-cost coverage and include repairs to damaged trees and shrubbery in your policy. You may also qualify for an endorsement that covers the costs of complying with building ordinance changes if your home has to be repaired or rebuilt after a loss.
Like other smaller providers, Cincinnati Insurance has a limited online presence. You can't request a quote without contacting an agent, but you can pay your bills electronically. Even so, Cincinnati Insurance's customer service is well-regarded. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), it receives far fewer complaints than a typical insurer of its size.
Best homeowners insurance for complete coverage: COUNTRY Financial
COUNTRY Financial offers the best homeowners insurance for people who want to maximize their coverage with many endorsements. COUNTRY's add-ons include three types of replacement cost coverage, including protection up to 25% in excess of your policy's limits.
Aside from COUNTRY's replacement-cost upgrades, you can also purchase:
- Sewer and drain backup protection.
- Identity theft recovery and case management services worth up to $25,000.
- Up to $1 million of personal liability coverage.
- Protection for medical payments to others worth up to $25,000.
Standard homeowners insurance from COUNTRY costs about $1,230 per year, 30% cheaper than the average cost of coverage in Georgia — although adding endorsements and increasing your limits will increase the cost of your premium.
You may be able to lower the cost of COUNTRY's homeowners insurance if you can qualify for the insurer's discounts. You could be eligible for savings if you have an auto policy with COUNTRY, own a newer home, or have a new or remodeled roof.
Best for military families: USAA
USAA's homeowners insurance policies are available to Georgia's thousands of active or retired military service members and their families. If you can purchase this coverage, it's worth considering. The average cost of homeowners insurance from USAA is $1,642 per year, around 4% less than the statewide mean.
Each policy comes with replacement-cost coverage and protection for your uniform if it's damaged while you're on active or reserve military duty. Additionally, you won't have to pay a deductible to use USAA's uniform coverage. Your policy also includes up to $5,000 in identity theft coverage and recovery service with the option to add more protection if you need it.
USAA's homeowners insurance comes with its high-quality customer service, too. According to data from the NAIC, the insurer receives the second fewest number of complaints of the companies we surveyed. In 2018, USAA received about 14% of the complaints expected for its size. Only nine of its complaints came from Georgia in that year.
The best reviewed homeowners insurance in Georgia
To judge which homeowners insurance company in Georgia has the best customer service, we compared figures reported by the NAIC. In addition, we considered the scores given to each company by the consumer intelligence company J.D. Power.
The NAIC uses its Complaint Index to measure customer satisfaction, a metric calculated by dividing an insurer's number of complaints by its market share. An index greater than 1.0 means the company received more complaints than normal for a company its size, while an index under 1.0 means the company received fewer complaints than a company its size.
The best reviewed homeowners insurance companies in Georgia are COUNTRY Financial, Chubb and USAA. Chubb and USAA both have complaint indices of 0.14. Meanwhile, Liberty Mutual has the most poorly rated customer service.
Company | NAIC value | J.D. Power | A.M. Best Financial Strength Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Farm | 0.20 | 4/5 | A++ |
| Allstate | 0.31 | 3/5 | A+ |
| USAA | 0.14 | 5/5 | A++ |
| Travelers | 0.30 | 2/5 | A++ |
| Liberty Mutual | 0.41 | 2/5 | A |
| Auto-Owners Insurance Co. | 0.21 | 4/5 | A++ |
| Farmers | 0.39 | 3/5 | A |
| Georgia Farm Bureau | 0.20 | Not rated | B+ |
| COUNTRY | 0.13 | 3/5 | A+ |
| Chubb | 0.14 | 2/5 | A++ |
| Cincinnati Insurance | 0.18 | Not rated | A+ |
Cheapest options for homeowners insurance in Georgia
On average, we found that the average annual price of homeowners insurance in Georgia is about $1,713 per year. This is more expensive than the typical cost of coverage in the United States, which we calculated at $1,083.
The cheapest homeowners insurance for most Georgians is Cincinnati Insurance, while, Auto-Owners Insurance sells the most expensive homeowners insurance.
Find Cheap Home Insurance Quotes in Georgia
Most common homeowners insurance perils in Georgia: Severe storms and flooding
Georgia's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico puts homeowners in the path of hurricanes. Additionally, tornadoes can come through Dixie Alley and affect the state, along with the rest of the southern United States. In fact, according to the National Weather Service, there were about 54 tornadoes in Georgia in 2019. Parts of Georgia are also susceptible to flooding.
No matter your home's location, it's a good idea to understand how your homeowners insurance would protect against the perils you're most likely to encounter. Before you purchase insurance, you should factor in how each company treats the natural disasters that could impact your household.
Does homeowners insurance cover tornadoes?
Fortunately, most homeowners insurance companies provide coverage against damage inflicted by tornadoes. As wind is often listed on your policy's declarations page as a covered peril, your policy's protection encapsulates damage from both tornadoes and hurricanes.
As most policies come with actual cash value coverage instead of replacement-cost coverage, it's a good idea to determine whether you need to purchase additional protection. To assess the value of your property, make an inventory of your assets. It's much harder to account for what you own after you suffer damage than before.
Does homeowners insurance cover flooding?
Your homeowners insurance doesn't cover flood damage. If you want to purchase coverage, you have to buy a special flood insurance policy from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or from a private seller. An NFIP flood insurance policy costs about $700 per year, but low-risk properties can be insured for $108 per year with the NFIP's Preferred Risk Policy.
There are more than 80,000 policies in effect in Georgia, meaning about 3.7% of the state has coverage. While you aren't required to carry flood insurance unless your lender requires it, it's worth knowing your home's risk level using FEMA's Flood Map tool.
Georgia homeowners insurance rates: City-by-city breakdowns
We created the following table by averaging the cost of homeowners insurance in Georgia's largest cities using the rates data we collected for this survey. The cost of insurance in each of the state's 50 most-populated cities are displayed along with their relationship to the statewide average.
The most affordable cities in Georgia for purchasing homeowners insurance are Sugar Hill, Peachtree Corners and Lawrenceville. Georgia's largest city, Atlanta, has homeowners insurance that nearly corresponds with the state's average cost. The Peach State's most expensive city for homeowners insurance is Savannah, where coverage costs about $1,950 per year on average.
City | Average | % difference from statewide average |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | $1,651 | -4% |
| Augusta | $1,767 | 3% |
| Columbus | $1,846 | 8% |
| Macon | $1,726 | 1% |
| Savannah | $1,949 | 14% |
| Athens | $1,460 | -15% |
| Sandy Springs | $1,531 | -11% |
| Roswell | $1,485 | -13% |
| Johns Creek | $1,445 | -16% |
| Warner Robins | $1,639 | -4% |
| Albany | $1,756 | 2% |
| Alpharetta | $1,462 | -15% |
How did we pick the best homeowners insurance in Georgia?
In order to decide the best homeowners insurance companies in Georgia, we evaluated each provider's rates, policy offerings and customer service reputation. We collected quotes from every ZIP code in the state using a sample profile for a $173,700 home built in 1986. That's the median year homes were built in the state and the median home value in Georgia.
We gathered rates from the following companies:
- State Farm
- Allstate
- USAA
- Travelers
- Liberty Mutual
- Auto-Owners Insurance Co.
- Farmers
- Georgia Farm Bureau
- COUNTRY Financial
- Chubb
- Cincinnati Insurance Co.
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.
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the author’s opinions and recommendations alone. It has not been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.