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Best Homeowners Insurance for Veterans and Military Members (2024)

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855-948-5219

Author Icon By Brenda Woods Updated 02/20/2024

As you begin your search for a homeowners insurance policy, you’ll find that many insurance companies want to acknowledge your military service to the country with a discount on your premium.

To find the best home insurance providers for veterans, we looked at companies that are either exclusive to military members or veterans or offer a military discount. Here are the top three homeowners insurance companies that stood out in terms of perks, coverage options, and pricing.

To get home insurance quotes in your area, you can call 855-948-5219 or get a quote from one of our providers below.


Top 3 Homeowners Insurance Companies for Veterans

The highest rated home insurance companies for veterans and military members include:


USAA: Best Membership Perks

Only current military members, veterans, or their immediate family members are eligible for a USAA membership. As a USAA member, you get to enjoy unique perks, like banking and financial services through USAA and discounts on security systems and car rentals, on top of affordable insurance coverage.

USAA Best Membership Perks
4.7
Pros and Cons
Pros Policy automatically comes with $5,000 worth of identity theft protection in all states except NC, AK, NJ, and NY Home sharing endorsement protects the property you’re renting Offers unique membership perks, like shopping discounts Cons Difficult to find a list of endorsements on the USAA website Lower Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating than the Armed Forces Insurance and Geico
Discounts

Here are the five discounts available through a USAA homeowners insurance policy:

  1. Bundling auto insurance or another type of insurance with your home insurance policy
  2. Being claims-free
  3. Having home security systems
  4. Insuring your home for the full amount of the rebuilding cost
  5. Having a new home

Learn More: USAA Home Insurance Review

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Armed Forces Insurance: Best Endorsements

  • J.D. Power Rating: N/A
  • AM Best Rating: NR

Like USAA, Armed Forces Insurance (AFI) is only available to current or past military members and their families. The defining feature of AFI is its long list of endorsements. While USAA and Geico offer only a few endorsements, AFI offers 15 to customers, including coverage for earthquakes and floods.

Armed Forces
4.7
Pros and Cons
Pros Offers more discounts than USAA and Geico Provides endorsements for natural disasters Has over 130 years of home insurance experience Cons Doesn’t offer 24/7 customer service Has fewer insurance products than big name insurance companies, like Allstate and State Farm
Discounts

Here’s a list of Armed Forces Insurance discounts:

  • Central station burglar and fire alarm
  • New home
  • Gated or guarded community
  • Building code effectiveness grading
  • Windstorm mitigation feature
  • IBHS-fortified for a safer living home
  • New roof
  • Companion policy

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Geico: Best Customer Service

  • J.D. Power Rating: N/A
  • AM Best Rating: A++

Geico isn’t exclusive to service members like USAA and Armed Forces Insurance, but the company does partner with military associations, like the Association of the United States Army, the Navy League of the United States, and the Armed Forces Benefit Association to offer a 15% discount to military members and veterans.

Geico is the only provider in this review that offers 24/7 customer service and provides a customer portal, online chat, and mobile app to round out the customer experience.

Pros and Cons
Pros Has a customer portal, online chat, and mobile app for self-service Available in all 50 states Provides an option to pay your monthly premium through Geico Cons All insurance products go through an underwriter Customers must talk to a company representative to finish getting a quote
Discounts

Aside from the military discount, Geico offers three additional discounts to customers:

  • Multi-policy (bundling car insurance with home insurance)
  • Having smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in the home
  • Having home security systems

Note: Where you live will determine the underwriter for your Geico policy, and that underwriter may offer more discounts than the three provided by Geico.

Learn More: Geico Home Insurance Review

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Our Conclusion

To make owning a home more affordable, some insurance companies offer a military discount and other perks to military families. The three insurance providers that serve veterans best are USAA, Armed Forces Insurance, and Geico.

We recommend getting quotes from these three providers by calling 855-948-5219 or entering your zip code in the tool below:

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

Comparing the Top Homeowners Insurance for Veterans and Military Members

Before choosing a home insurance provider, make sure to gather quotes from multiple companies to make sure you are getting the best policy and rate for your needs and budget.

Compare Homeowners Insurance Options for Veterans

MetricUSAAArmed Forces InsuranceGeico

Discounts Available

5 discounts

8 discounts

3 discounts

Unique Add-Ons

Flood

Golf cart, animal liability, ordinance or law

Valuable collections, rebuilding

Customer Service

24/7 for claims; limited for sales and service

24/7 for claims; limited for sales and service

24/7

BBB Rating

A-

A+

A+


What Home Insurance Companies Offer Military Discounts?

Aside from Geico, other home insurance companies that offer discounts to past or current military members include Farmers, Progressive, and Liberty Mutual.


How Does Deployment Affect Homeowners Insurance?

While this review is geared toward military veterans, insurance companies often lump current and past military members into the same category. Here are a few factors to consider if you’re a current military member getting ready for deployment.

Vacancy or Occupancy Clause

Most insurance companies won’t cover a home if it will be vacant for more than 30 to 60 days. This is because your home is at an increased risk of an event, like theft or vandalism. Here are a few options if you’re deploying:

  • Contact USAA or AFI: If USAA or AFI is your insurance provider, you may be able to work with them to come up with a solution to avoid losing coverage during a short deployment period.
  • Get a Vacant and Unoccupied Insurance Policy: If you work with a different company that isn’t tailored to military members, like Geico, you may have to purchase a separate policy to cover your home when no one is living there.
  • Rent Out Your Home: One way to avoid leaving your home vacant during deployment is to have someone rent it. This allows you to continue your homeowners insurance policy without interruption.

War Exclusion

Under normal circumstances, your personal property is protected no matter where you are. For example, if you bring your belongings with you on vacation or leave your personal belongings in your car, your policy will cover them. However, acts of war are often listed as exclusions on home insurance policies, so if you get deployed to a war zone and your belongings are damaged while there, your policy will not pay to replace them.


Frequently Asked Questions

What is a VA home loan?

The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs works with private lenders to help military members, veterans, and their families get a loan to buy a home. The loan usually doesn’t require a down payment, and the interest rate is low. Similar to other home loans, VA loans require homeowners insurance for the length of the loan’s life.

How does homeowners insurance work?

Whenever a covered peril damages the structure of your home or your personal property, file a claim with your insurance provider immediately. It usually takes about 48 hours for your claim to be approved. Once your claim is approved, you’ll pay your deductible and the agent assigned to your claim will walk you through the rest of the process.

How much is homeowners insurance?

In 2017, the average homeowners insurance policy cost about $101 per month, according to the Insurance Information Institute. However, the total cost of your premium will depend on the following factors:

  • Number of pets
  • Home susceptibility to natural disasters
  • Condition of your home
  • Square footage of your home
  • Cost to rebuild your home
  • Credit score
  • Claims history

Other Homeowners Insurance Resources


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. Our rating system is a weighted, 100-point scale based on the following factors:

  • Coverage (30)
  • State availability (7.5)
  • Customer service (15)
  • Technology (12.5)
  • Reputation (20)
  • Additional benefits (15)

Ratings listed in this article are accurate as of April 2023.

To share feedback or ask a question about this article, send a note to our Reviews Team at reviews@thisoldhousereviews.com.