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Best Homeowners Insurance in Maryland (2024)

Author Icon By Brenda Woods Updated 03/05/2024

With Maryland’s proximity to the ocean, it can be susceptible to natural disasters throughout the year. If you’re worried about storms rushing up from the Chesapeake Bay or your Hagerstown home’s old roof is vulnerable to the weight of snow during the winter, a home insurance policy is a worthwhile purchase to ensure you can repair or rebuild your home after an unexpected event.

After reviewing dozens of providers, the This Old House Reviews team compiled a list of the best home insurance companies in Maryland that offer comprehensive policies to homeowners across the state. We also included sample quotes for homes in various cities across the state to give you a sense of what rates to expect. We ultimately suggest getting free quotes from a few different providers to compare pricing and coverage in your area.

Call 855-948-5219 or enter your ZIP code into the quote tool below to get started:

Compare Homeowners Insurance Policies
Answer a few simple questions and we’ll take care of the rest.

Maryland’s Top 3 Home Insurance Companies

  1. Lemonade: Easiest Sign-Up
  2. Allstate: Best Coverage Options
  3. Farmers: Most Customizable Coverage

Lemonade: Easiest Sign-Up

  • JD Power Rating: N/A
  • AM Best Rating: NR

In our review, Lemonade received a score of 83.5 out of 100. It has a quick quote and sign-up tool that features AI technology and can advise you on what coverage you need. This tool can also help you file claims, making your home insurance experience as hassle-free and smooth as possible. We recommend this provider to anyone who prioritizes an easy claims-filing experience and doesn’t want to go back and forth with an insurance agent.

Sign up for a free quote using Lemonade’s impressive quote tool, where you can get a policy in as little as 90 seconds.

Lemonade also stands out for the following reasons:

  • Offers unique discounts for homes that have water detection devices or for people who live in gated communities
  • Provides a 10% discount on Lemonade pet insurance for its home insurance policyholders
  • Has a charitable giveback program that donates your unused insurance premiums to a charity of your choice

Lemonade Sample Pricing

City (ZIP code)Baltimore (21215)Frederick (21703)Bethesda (20817)

House square footage

2,400

1,600

1,900

Year built

1952

1986

1951

Dwelling limit

$326,000

$275,000

$350,000

Personal property coverage

$193,000

$207,500

$225,000

Liability coverage

$100,000

$200,000

$100,000

All-peril deductible*

$10,000

$10,000

$10,000

Monthly premium

$79.25

$63.83

$69.50

*$10,000 was the only available deductible option on the sample quotes we received

Get Your Free Home Insurance Quote: Lemonade Quote

Learn More: Lemonade Homeowners Insurance Review

*AM Best ratings accurate as of August 2023


Allstate: Best Coverage Options

We recommend Allstate to all homeowners for its exceptional performance in our in-depth review. It scored a 98.1 out of 100 and stood out for its overall coverage, customer service, and positive reputation in the insurance industry. It also offers some helpful add-ons to ensure homeowners get the precise coverage they need, and it features benefits like Claim RateGuard, which keeps your premium from increasing after filing claims on your policy.

To learn more about what Allstate can offer you on your Maryland property, get a free quote on the website.

In addition to its comprehensive coverage, Allstate features these benefits:

  • Includes family members under personal liability coverage
  • Offers a unique add-on for coverage up to 10% of the dwelling limit for extra building code or permit costs when repairing or rebuilding your home
  • Provides 24/7 customer service and an online chat during the quote process

Allstate Sample Pricing

City (ZIP code)Baltimore (21215)Frederick (21703)Bethesda (20817)

House square footage

2,400

1,600

1,900

Year built

1952

1986

1951

Dwelling limit

$300,000

$275,000

$350,000

Personal property coverage

60% of dwelling

75% of dwelling

60% of dwelling

Liability coverage

$100,000

$200,000

$100,000

All-peril deductible

$2,500

$2,500

$2,500

Wind/hail deductible

$2,500

$2,500

$2,500

Tropical cyclone deductible

5% of dwelling

5% of dwelling

5% of dwelling

Monthly premium

$122.00

$104.00

$111.00

Get Your Free Home Insurance Quote: Allstate Quote

Learn More: Allstate Homeowners Insurance Review


Farmers: Most Customizable Coverage

  • JD Power Rating: 792/1000
  • AM Best Rating: A

Many top-rated home insurance companies offer a few different options for coverage limits and deductibles to help homeowners customize their policy. Farmers offers the most customization for all coverage categories. For instance, you can choose between 5% and 100% for other structures coverage or increase your personal property coverage to 200% of your dwelling limit. Because of its impressive customizable coverage, we gave Farmers a score of 94.4 out of 100.

Get an easy online quote from Farmers by filling out this form and answering a few questions about your personal information and property details.

Farmers also offers these benefits:

  • Offers discounts in Maryland for firefighters, librarians, teachers, nurses, and military service members
  • Features a unique add-on that covers the cost of marring during repair or replacement of metal roofing materials, gutters, downspouts, or piping
  • Has a claims forgiveness benefit, which keeps your premiums from increasing after you file a claim for the first time on your policy

Farmers Sample Pricing

City (ZIP code)Baltimore (21215)Frederick (21703)Bethesda (20817)

House square footage

2,400

1,600

1,900

Year built

1952

1986

1951

Dwelling limit

$365,000

$275,000

$350,000

Personal property coverage

55% of dwelling

75% of dwelling

75% of dwelling

Liability coverage

$100,000

$300,000

$300,000

All-peril deductible

$2,500

$1,500

$1,500

Wind/hail deductible

$2,500

$1,500

$1,500

Hurricane deductible

N/A

N/A

N/A

Monthly premium

$180.58

$65.26

$67.77

Get Your Free Home Insurance Quote: Farmers Quote

Learn More: Farmers Homeowners Insurance Review


Our Conclusion

Purchasing a homeowners insurance policy from these providers can give you the best coverage on your Maryland home. Whether you’re looking for impressive coverage and add-on options from Allstate, customizability and flexible premiums from Farmers, or unique technological features and affordable rates from Lemonade, we recommend getting quotes from each provider to compare prices and offers based on your information.

To get started with a free homeowners insurance quote from one of these providers, call 855-948-5219 or use the easy tool below to get quotes from other home insurance companies in your ZIP code.


Useful Resources for Residents in Maryland


Compare Homeowners Insurance Companies in Maryland

ProviderAllstateFarmersLemonade

Get a free quote

Allstate.com

Farmers.com

Lemonade.com

Our score

98.1

94.4

83.5

Personal property coverage limits

60% or 75% of dwelling

40%–200% of dwelling

40%–86% of dwelling

Liability coverage limits

$100,000, $200,000, $300,000, $500,000

$100,000, $300,000, $500,000, $1 million, $2 million

$100,000, $200,000, $300,000, $400,000, $500,000, $1 million

Sample premium*

$122.00

$180.58

$79.25

Discounts available

7

4

5

Unique add-ons

Roof surfaces extended coverage, water backup protection, green improvements

Building ordinance coverage, marring to metal materials coverage, replacement cost coverage

Coverage for musical instruments, significant other coverage, swimming pool liability protection

Customer service

24/7

24/7 for claims, limited hours for customer service

Online chat on website and mobile app

BBB rating**

A+

A-

C

*Based on sample quotes we received on a 2,400-square-foot single-family house in Baltimore, Maryland

**Figures pulled from the companies’ Better Business Bureau (BBB) profiles as of May 18, 2021


Maryland Homeowners Insurance Coverage

Homeowners insurance policies in Maryland include the following six coverage types:

  1. Dwelling coverage—This coverage type completely rebuilds, repairs, or replaces your home after a covered peril. It’s often the base of your policy, and other coverage amounts are determined by its limit. The dwelling limit is usually set equal to or greater than your home’s overall estimated value, so it’s important to know how much your home would cost to rebuild to get the coverage you need by using these providers’ home value estimation tools during the quote process or contacting a professional appraiser to take a look at your house.
  2. Other structures coverage—This coverage usually includes 5%–10% of your dwelling limit, and it pays for rebuilding, repairing, or replacing structures on your property that aren’t considered part of your home, such as a fence or detached garage.
  3. Personal property coverage—This coverage type replaces or reimburses you for damaged, destroyed, lost, stolen, or vandalized personal belongings on your property. It usually includes a limit of 60%–75% of your dwelling amount. You can pay more for replacement cost coverage, which replaces your missing items, regardless of their depreciated value.
  4. Loss of use coverage—When a covered peril damages your house, you may have to temporarily relocate while it’s being repaired or rebuilt. This is where loss of use coverage comes in, paying for any additional living expenses that may arise during that time, such as hotel fees or extra gas for a longer commute.
  5. Personal liability coverage—If you’re responsible for an accident on your property where someone else gets injured, you could be liable for thousands of dollars in medical payments and legal fees. Your home insurance provider pays these costs under this coverage type up to your chosen amount, which is usually around $100,000–$300,000.
  6. Medical payments to others coverage—While personal liability coverage only covers at-fault accidents to visitors on your property, medical payments to others coverage helps pay for your guests’ medical bills if they get injured and it’s not your fault. The most common limits on this category are usually between $1,000 and $5,000.

Factors To Consider Before Buying Homeowners Insurance

Here are some factors to consider before buying a home insurance policy in Maryland:

  • Additional coverage—If you’re looking for the most comprehensive coverage, consider adding endorsements, also called add-ons, riders, or floaters, to your policy. In exchange for a slight increase to your premium, you can add coverage for identity theft protection or damage from a water backup. Each of the companies listed in this review offers a few unique add-ons. For example, Allstate can cover the extras costs to add green improvements to your home systems when they need to be replaced during a claim, and Lemonade offers an option for swimming pool liability coverage to help pay for any accidents related to a pool on your property.
  • Discounts—Each company listed in this review offers savings opportunities for homes with safety features, such as monitored fire alarms or home security systems, but they also offer unique discounts. For example, Farmers offers a discount for certain careers and Allstate offers a discount for having a backup generator. Those providers also offer discounts for bundling with auto insurance.
  • Deductibles—Even though home insurance pays for expenses after a covered peril, you’ll always have to pay a deductible when you file a claim before your coverage kicks in. For example, if it costs $20,000 to make a repair on your home after a storm, and your policy’s deductible is $5,000, your insurer will only pay $15,000 during a claim. Raising your deductible when getting a quote can significantly lower your premium rate, but it could end up costing you more money in the long run when a covered peril occurs.

FAQs About Homeowners Insurance in Maryland

How much does home insurance in Maryland cost?

Home insurance rates depend on a variety of factors, such as your credit score, claims history, and property’s size, material, and age. To get the most accurate pricing, we always recommend getting quotes from at least three providers and comparing prices.

Based on the sample quotes we received for homes in a few different cities in Maryland, the average cost of homeowners insurance in the state falls around $75–$175 per month.

What are the most common perils homeowners face in Maryland?

Since Maryland is a state on the Eastern Seaboard, it can be susceptible to hurricanes, tropical storms, and flooding. Although your home insurance policy will cover damage from wind storms, it won’t cover water damage from floods.

Luckily, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers separate flood insurance policies through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which are sold directly or through third-party businesses. If you want to protect your home from floods, check with an agent during the quote process to see if the company offers underwritten flood insurance policies in your ZIP code.

Do I need homeowners insurance in Maryland?

Although no state legally mandates homeowners to purchase a home insurance policy, you may need coverage if you currently have a mortgage. Typically, lenders set a certain minimum coverage requirement for each home loan to protect the house if anything happens. Even if you’re not required to purchase a policy, homeowners insurance can save you thousands of dollars in the long run if your house is impacted by a damaging catastrophe, such as a fire or storm.


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.

AM Best Disclaimer