In This Review: Our Take | Pros and Cons | Cost and Discounts | Coverage | State Availability | Customer Reviews | Conclusion | Comparison | Company Information | FAQ | Methodology
Home insurance policies go a long way in protecting your most valuable investment. These policies can safeguard your asset from events like fires and hailstorms, as well as theft and vandalism. Instead of paying hundreds or thousands out of pocket for unexpected damage, you can rely on your policy and rest easy at night.
Unfortunately, not all home insurance companies are equal in terms of coverage, availability, and quality of customer service. The This Old House Reviews Team has created this in-depth AARP home insurance review to help you determine if the company is the best homeowners insurance provider for you and your home.
Our Take on AARP
We give AARP home insurance an overall score of 92.10 out of 100.
AARP partners with The Hartford, a Connecticut-based insurance group, to provide comprehensive homeowners insurance. The homeowners insurance is comprehensive, offering all industry-standard coverage in addition to many valuable endorsements.
However, in most states, coverage is only available to members—and no coverage is available in the state of Florida. Also, the fact that the insurance is underwritten by The Hartford adds a layer of complexity to claims filing and tracking as well as contacting customer service representatives.
On AARP’s Better Business Bureau profile, common complaints cite administrative and billing issues. Reviews range from praising good discount opportunities to noting concerns about a lack of professionalism.
Pros & Cons of AARP Home Insurance
Compare the advantages and disadvantages of AARP home insurance through The Hartford.
✔ Many endorsements
✔ Available in 49 states
✘ Mainly just available to AARP members
✘ Doesn’t underwrite own policies
How Much Does AARP Home Insurance Cost?
The exact cost of AARP homeowners insurance depends on a variety of factors, including your property value, size, the materials it was constructed with, where you live, the coverage limits you select, the insurance deductible you choose, and more.
Discounts
AARP offers only a few discounts to help lower the cost of your homeowners insurance coverage.
| Type | Description |
| Multi-policy | Discount for bundling auto and home insurance policies |
| Protective devices | Discount for installed devices like burglar alarms or smoke detectors |
| Retiree | Discount for retired homeowners or homeowners who work less than 24 hours per week |
| Claims-free | Discount for going without filing a claim for a specified period of time |
AARP Home Insurance Coverage
AARP offers all industry-standard coverage in its basic policy.
AARP Coverage
| Type | Description |
| Dwelling + other structures | Covers your home’s interior and exterior structure, as well as detached structures like garages and sheds |
| Personal property | Covers your personal property, including furniture, electronics, appliances, and clothes, in case of a covered loss |
| Loss of use/Additional living expenses | Covers costs associated with living outside of your home, including dining and accommodations, due to covered damage |
| Personal liability | Covers legal fees if you are sued for injury or personal property damage to a guest on your property |
| Medical payments | Covers the medical expenses of a guest who gets injured at your home |
Endorsements
Many endorsements are available to help you customize your AARP homeowners insurance coverage
| Type | Description |
| “New for Old” Protection | Replaces covered personal property with brand new items of the same quality |
| Personal injury liability | Protects against damages from slander or libel |
| Reimbursement for replacing locks | Pays up to $500 for new locks if your keys are lost or stolen ($100 deductible) |
| Identity fraud expense | Covers out-of-pocket expenses up to the policy limit of restoring your identity |
| Disappearing property deductible | Reduces deductible by $50 for every three years you go without having a loss |
| Equipment breakdown | Covers cost of repairs or replacements of home systems, appliances, and electronics that break down (wear and tear damage does not apply) |
| Valuable items blanket coverage | Extends coverage for damaged or lost valuables |
| Green rebuilding | Raises policy limits up to 10% when you repair or rebuild with environmentally friendly materials |
| Replacement plus patented coverage | Covers additional costs to rebuild a bathroom or kitchen with Universal Design features |
| Assisted living care coverage | Extends liability, additional living expenses, and contents coverage to your relative in an assisted living care facility |
| Scheduled personal property | Covers 100% of selected items’ insured value if they are damaged or destroyed |
| Rental property protection plus | Provides liability coverage for up to four family rental units |
| Water backup and sump pump overflow | Covers damage from water backup and sump pump overflow |
Cost of Coverage
AARP offers two tiers of coverage. All other endorsements can be added for an extra cost to either plan.
| Coverage | Advantage | Advantage Plus |
| “New for Old” Protection | ✓ | ✓ |
| Personal injury liability | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reimbursement for replacing locks | ✓ | ✓ |
| Identity fraud expense | ✓ ($25,000 limit) | ✓ ($50,000 limit) |
| Disappearing property deductible | ✓ | ✓ |
| Equipment breakdown | N/A | ✓ |
State Availability
AARP home insurance is available in every state but Florida. Click on your state from the list below to see the top providers in your area and compare them against AARP:
Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming
AARP Customer Reviews
AARP is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, but it holds an A+ rating from the organization. See what real customers had to say about their experience with AARP.
Joan O. said:
“Good service. Good information. Good discounts.”
Val L. said:
“They are dishonest and deceptive. My husband canceled my mother-in-law’s subscription last year and they affirmed it was canceled. Well, this year they charged her account once again. My husband was on the phone forever…And after all this, it still is not resolved. AARP has no problem, whatsoever, taking advantage of the elderly and making a cancellation unbearable and impossible.”
AARP vs. The Competition
See how AARP stacks up against some of its top competitors on key metrics.
Our Conclusion
AARP offers robust home insurance coverage, along with an impressive range of endorsements nationwide. However, in most states, home insurance is only available to AARP members, which means if you are younger than 50 you won’t qualify. In addition, AARP does not underwrite its own policies, and the company offers few discounts. Overall, we give AARP home insurance a score of 92.10.
To ensure you find the right provider for your needs, we recommend getting quotes from multiple home insurance companies that serve your area:
Company Information
- Company name: AARP
- Company type: Public
- CEO: Jo Ann Jenkins
- Year founded: 1958
- Headquarters: AARP, 601 E. St, NW Washington, DC 20049
- State availability: 49
- BBB rating: A+
Frequently Asked Questions about AARP
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.