Because of Kentucky’s unpredictable weather, it can be worth it to invest in a home insurance policy and protect your home and personal belongings from summer tornadoes or sporadic earthquakes. The This Old House Reviews team researched the best home insurance companies in Kentucky, comparing them on factors such as customer service, reputation, and coverage.
To give you an idea of home insurance pricing in the state, we included quotes for three houses in a few different cities in Kentucky.
Allstate: Best for Coverage Options
Scoring a 98.1 out of 100, Allstate is the ‘Best Overall’ home insurance provider in Kentucky. From 24/7 customer service and comprehensive policy coverage to helpful discounts and a variety of add-on options, this insurer is great for any homeowners in Kentucky looking to protect their house with a home insurance policy. Allstate also has online resources and a home value estimation tool to help you figure out how much coverage you need.
Get a quote online and see how Allstate can protect your home.
Allstate also stands out for these benefits:
- Offers a unique discount to non-smoking Kentucky residents
- Has an earthquake coverage add-on for either 10% or 25% of the dwelling limit
- Features the Claim RateGuard benefit, which keeps insurance premiums from increasing after you file a claim
Allstate Sample Pricing
| City (ZIP code) | Louisville (40228) | Lexington (40511) | Owensboro (42303) |
|---|---|---|---|
| House square footage | 1,600 | 1,800 | 1,500 |
| Year built | 1957 | 2004 | 1985 |
| Dwelling limit | $240,000 | $250,000 | $175,000 |
| 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 |
| Monthly premium | $137.00 | $104.00 | $90.00 |
Get Your Free Home Insurance Quote: Allstate Home Insurance Quote
Learn More: Allstate Home Insurance Review
*A.M. Best ratings accurate as of January 2023
Farmers: Most Customizable Coverage
Farmers scored a 94.4 out of 100 in our review and stands out most for its customizable coverage options. With this provider, you can customize each coverage category to the amount that suits your house. For example, you can choose between 5% and 100% of your dwelling limit for your coverage on other structures, which is coverage for external structures on your property like a shed or fence. You can also lower your dwelling coverage below your home’s estimated value to make your insurance premium cheaper.
Use Farmers’ online quote tool to get a free quote and see how you can customize your policy.
We were also impressed with Farmers for the following reasons:
- Includes replacement cost coverage with standard quotes on homes in Kentucky, which pays for the full replacement of your items, rather than their depreciated value
- Offers a unique discount for homes with a FORTIFIED certification from the Institute of Business and Home Safety (IBHS)
- Includes claim forgiveness with each policy, which keeps your premium from increasing after your first claim
Farmers Sample Pricing
| City (ZIP code) | Louisville (40228) | Lexington (40511) | Owensboro (42303) |
|---|---|---|---|
| House square footage | 1,600 | 1,800 | 1,500 |
| Year built | 1957 | 2004 | 1985 |
| Dwelling limit | $240,000 | $250,000 | $175,000 |
| Personal property coverage | 75% of dwelling | 75% of dwelling | 55% of dwelling |
| Liability coverage | $100,000 | $300,000 | $100,000 |
| All-peril deductible | $1,500 | $2,500 | $1,000 |
| Wind/hail deductible | 1% of dwelling | 2% of dwelling | 1% of dwelling |
| Monthly premium | $236.16 | $116.16 | $204.91 |
Get Your Free Home Insurance Quote: Farmers Home Insurance Quote
Learn More: Farmers Home Insurance Review
Travelers: Most Experience
Travelers scored a 93.6 out 100 in our review, earning points for its trustworthiness, reputation, and over 160 years of experience in the industry. We were particularly impressed with the company’s nine deductible options ranging from $1,000 to $50,000, which keep premiums flexible based on your selection. It also offers a decreasing deductible benefit, which credits you with $100 towards your deductible each year that you don’t file a claim.
Get a home insurance quote from Travelers by filling out this online form. Simply answer a few questions about your house and check prices within minutes.
Here are a few other Travelers benefits:
- Doesn’t have a separate deductible for wind and hail perils like many competitors, which saves you money out of pocket during a claim related to wind or hail damage
- Offers a unique coverage add-on that protects your home equipment when it breaks down
- Features an online chat that connects you to an insurance agent
Travelers Sample Pricing
| City (ZIP code) | Louisville (40228) | Lexington (40511) | Owensboro (42303) |
|---|---|---|---|
| House square footage | 1,600 | 1,800 | 1,500 |
| Year built | 1957 | 2004 | 1985 |
| Dwelling limit | $240,000 | $250,000 | $175,000 |
| Personal property coverage | 75% of dwelling | 75% of dwelling | 50% of dwelling |
| Liability coverage | $100,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| All-peril deductible | $1,000 | $2,000 | $1,000 |
| Wind/hail deductible | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Monthly premium | $137.00 | $149.00 | $127.00 |
Get Your Free Home Insurance Quote: Travelers Home Insurance Quote
Learn More: Travelers Home Insurance Review
Our Conclusion
Whether you live in a small Kentucky town or in the heart of Louisville, we recommend purchasing a home insurance policy to protect your house from possible natural disasters, including tornadoes, thunderstorms, and winter storms.
While each insurer listed in this review brings something unique to the table, we recommend getting started with Allstate for the best overall coverage and helpful customer service, Travelers for its years of experience and unique decreasing deductible benefit, or Farmers for its impressive customization options that ensure you get the exact coverage you need.
Compare Homeowners Insurance Companies in Kentucky
| Provider | Allstate | Farmers | Travelers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get a free quote | Allstate.com | Farmers.com | Travelers.com |
| Our score | 98.1 | 94.4 | 93.6 |
| Personal property coverage limits | 60% or 75% of dwelling | 40%–100% of dwelling | 25%–100% 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, $300,000, $500,000 |
| Sample premium* | $137.00 | $236.16 | $137.00 |
| 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 | Equipment breakdown coverage, decreasing deductible benefit |
| Customer service | 24/7 | 24/7 for claims, limited hours for customer service | 24/7 for claims |
| BBB rating** | A+ | A- | A+ |
*Based on sample quotes we received on a 1,600-square-foot single-family house in Louisville, Kentucky
**Figures pulled from the companies’ Better Business Bureau (BBB) profiles as of May 17, 2021
Kentucky Homeowners Insurance Coverage
Homeowners insurance policies in Kentucky cover six primary categories:
- Dwelling coverage—This coverage protects the structure of your home and includes the cost to rebuild or repair your Kentucky home after a covered event. For the most comprehensive coverage, you’ll want to set the limit for this category equal to or greater than your home’s total estimated value. By doing this, your house can be rebuilt exactly the way it was before the covered peril, and you won’t have to pay any extra out-of-pocket expenses.
- Other structures coverage—This coverage helps pay for any necessary repairs or replacement to external structures, such as a shed or fence in your backyard.
- Personal property coverage—This covers your personal belongings if they’re ruined, damaged, stolen, or vandalized on your property. You can typically customize your coverage for this category, but the coverage limit usually falls around 60%–75% of your dwelling amount. You can also pay extra for replacement coverage, which pays for new items instead of their depreciated value.
- Loss of use coverage—This coverage pays for any additional living expenses you may incur while displaced from your home after a covered loss or peril. For instance, your provider may cover the costs of hotel rooms or meals while your home is being rebuilt. This coverage is usually around 10% of your dwelling limit.
- Personal liability coverage—If you’re responsible for an accident that causes injury to someone or damage to their belongings, this coverage will pay for their medical bills or replacement costs. In general, personal liability coverage pays up to $100,000–$300,000 in medical bills or legal fees when a guest is injured in your home.
- Medical payments to others coverage—Although liability coverage pays for medical bills for an injury you’re liable for, it doesn’t cover injuries that aren’t your fault. With this coverage, your policy will cover a certain amount of a guest’s medical bills that aren’t your fault.
Factors To Consider Before Buying Homeowners Insurance
From endorsements to deductibles, here are a few factors to consider before buying a home insurance policy:
- Endorsements—Also known as add-ons, riders, or floaters, endorsements are additional coverage options offered by a home insurance provider and help you maximize your coverage and get you the full protection you need. For example, Allstate offers an earthquake endorsement, which protects your home in the event of an earthquake, and Travelers offers a unique endorsement for equipment breakdown coverage, which protects your home appliances from unexpected electrical or mechanical failures.
- Deductible—Your policy’s deductible is the amount you owe during a claim before the company makes a payment. A higher deductible amount can lower your monthly premium. However, since choosing a higher deductible will increase your out-of-pocket expenses during a claim, we don’t recommend raising it any higher than the amount of money you have on hand in case a peril severely damages your house.
- Discounts—Each of these companies offers discounts for bundling with car insurance and having a home security system. These companies also offer other savings opportunities to help lower your monthly premium. For example, the Allstate Easy Pay Plan decreases your premium when you sign up for auto pay.
FAQs About Homeowners Insurance in Kentucky
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.