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There are many homeowners insurance companies that service San Francisco, but it can be difficult to find the best one for your needs.
The This Old House Reviews Team has created this in-depth round-up of the best home insurance companies in San Francisco based on metrics like coverage, cost, and customer service quality to help you make the right choice.
San Francisco’s Top 4 Homeowners Insurance Companies
The highest-rated homeowners insurance companies in San Francisco include:
- Lemonade: Easiest Sign-Up
- Allstate: Best Overall
- Travelers: Most Experience
- Amica®: Best Customer Service
Lemonade
- Our Take: Easiest Sign-Up
- J.D. Power Rating: N/A
- A.M. Best Rating: N/A
Lemonade is fresh on the home insurance industry scene, and it’s already having an impact with a technology-driven approach and very low monthly rates. Nearly a third of customers’ claims are handled in under a minute via a convenient mobile app. Lemonade pools all of the money paid by customers for premiums, and at the end of the year, it donates whatever is left over to charity.
Pros and Cons of Lemonade Homeowners Insurance
✔ Easy-to-use mobile app
✔ Charitable Giveback program
✔ Almost a third of claims handled instantly
✘ Not available nationwide
Plans and Pricing
We received an instant quote for a new construction, single-family, roughly 2,200-square-foot home in Eureka, California. The monthly premium came out to the affordable rate of $60.75. You can request a quote online to find out how much it would cost to cover your San Francisco home.
Discounts
Lemonade offers four discount opportunities:
- Fire protection
- Protective devices
- Gated community
- Multi-policy
Learn More: Lemonade Homeowners Insurance Review
Allstate
- Our Take: Best for Coverage Options
- J.D. Power Rating: 829/1000
- A.M. Best Rating: A+
Allstate is one of the largest home insurance companies in the country. The insurer stands out with a 24/7 customer service center and a wide variety of customization opportunities. Allstate’s 24/7 center goes above and beyond, covering all home insurance questions instead of limiting communication to claims or business hours.
Pros and Cons of Allstate Homeowners Insurance
✔ Wide variety of endorsement options
✔ Second-largest homeowners insurance provider in the U.S.
✔ 24/7 customer service for all insurance questions
✘ Average customer satisfaction ratings
Plans and Pricing
We received an instant quote for a single-family, new construction, approximately 2,200-square-foot home in Austin, Texas, valued at roughly $240,000. The monthly premium came out to $122. You can reach out to an agent to find out how much it would cost to insure your San Francisco home.
Discounts
Allstate offers a variety of discounts to help reduce your premium:
- Multi-policy
- Early signing
- Claim-free
- Welcome and loyalty
- Home alarm
- Roof
- Smoke-free
- Storm shutter
- Homebuyer
- Easy Pay Plan
- Age 55 and retired
Learn More: Allstate Homeowners Insurance Review
Travelers
- Our Take: Most Experience
- J.D. Power Rating: 800/1000
- A.M. Best Rating: A++
Travelers has a proven track record with more than a century and a half of experience in the home insurance industry. Travelers offers a wide range of add-on coverage options, with an eco-friendly endorsement called Green Home. This add-on coverage allows you to reconstruct your home with environmentally friendly materials in the event of a covered disaster.
Pros and Cons of Travelers Homeowners Insurance
✔ Available nationwide
✔ More than 160 years of experience
✔ Some less common endorsements, like Green home
✘ Few discounts available comparatively
✘ Poor reviews for mobile app
Plans and Pricing
We received an automatic quote for a single-family, roughly 1,050-square-foot home in San Francisco valued at approximately $260,000. The premium came out to $58 per month.
Discounts
Travelers offers several discounts to help you reduce the cost of your home insurance:
- Loss-free
- Protective device
- Homebuyer
- Multi-policy
- Green home
Learn More: Travelers Homeowners Insurance Review
Amica
- Our Take: Best Liability Coverage
- J.D. Power Rating: 854/1000
- A.M. Best Rating: A+
Amica provides comprehensive coverage alongside valuable bonus features like its Contractor Connection. This program puts vetted, experienced contractors in contact with homeowners in as little as one day to schedule repairs. All the workmanship comes with a convenient five-year warranty for peace of mind, and homeowners can track the repair progress online.
Pros and Cons of Amica Homeowners Insurance
✔ Affordable rates
✔ Contractor Connection
✔ Comprehensive coverage
✘ Does not use local agents
✘ Not available in Alaska and Hawaii
Plans and Pricing
We received an instant quote for a single-family, roughly 1,050-square-foot home in San Francisco valued at approximately $800,000. The monthly premium came out to $254.
Discounts
Amica offers a variety of different discounts to help you lower the cost of your homeowners insurance:
- Loyalty
- Multi-policy
- Autopay
- Claim-free
- E-discount
- Alarm system
- Automatic detection devices
- New and remodeled homes
Learn More: Amica Homeowners Insurance Review
Industry-Standard Coverage
Most home insurance companies provide six essential coverage types: dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use/additional living expenses, personal liability, and medical payments to others. Each of our top recommendations offers these standard protections. You can find a breakdown below.
Standard Coverage
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Dwelling + other structures | Covers the cost of repairing or rebuilding your home’s interior and exterior structures, in addition to any other structures on the property |
| Personal property | Covers the replacement of personal possessions, including clothing, electronics, and furniture |
| Personal liability | Covers attorney fees, court fees, and any damages resulting from someone being injured on your property |
| Loss of use/additional living expenses | Covers living expenses like dining and accommodations if your home is temporarily uninhabitable due to covered damage or destruction |
| Medical payments to guests | Covers the medical expenses if someone is injured in your home |
| Type | Description |
Our Conclusion
Each of the home insurance companies we’ve selected stands out with key features that set them apart.
Allstate offers a 24/7 customer service center for all insurance questions and has many different endorsements to help homeowners customize their coverage. Amica provides the Contractor Connection program, putting vetted contractors in contact with homeowners quickly and efficiently. Travelers has a proven track record with more than 160 years of experience, and Lemonade offers low monthly rates and forward-thinking technology, making it ideal for budget-conscious homeowners or those seeking a company that backs a good cause.
FAQs about Homeowners Insurance in San Francisco
How much does homeowners insurance cost in San Francisco?
The average cost of homeowners insurance in 2019 in California is $1,177 annually, or about $98 per month according to the Insurance Information Institute (III).
Who has the best homeowners insurance rates in San Francisco, California?
Of the companies The This Old House Reviews Team has evaluated, Lemonade has some of the best homeowners insurance rates in California.
Is Allstate or State Farm better?
The This Old House Reviews Team has given Allstate the “best overall” title, but State Farm is one of our top recommendations due to the wide variety of options it offers.
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.