Whether you live in Omaha or near the Oglala National Grassland, your home is likely your biggest investment, and purchasing home insurance can provide peace of mind and protect your home after an unexpected disaster damages your property or belongings.
The This Old House Reviews team spent hours researching providers, compiling a list of the best home insurance companies in Nebraska and comparing them on key factors such as policy coverage, customer service, and company reputation. We also gathered cost information and included sample quotes for homes in three different cities in the state to give you an idea of what your quoted premiums might look like.
Allstate: Best Coverage Options
With a score of 98.1 out of 100, Allstate is our top recommendation for its overall impressive policy coverage, customer service, reputation, and unique benefits that set the company apart from the competition. From an easy quote process that includes a home value estimation tool and a network of more than 13,000 insurance agents available 24/7 to an extensive list of add-ons and a handful of discount opportunities, this provider checks all the boxes.
Get a free home insurance quote from Allstate by filling out this quick form on the company’s website.
Allstate also provides the following benefits:
- Includes family members in liability coverage
- Offers a comprehensive water backup additional coverage option with customizable limits of $5,000, $10,000, or $25,000
- Features the Claim RateGuard benefit, which prevents your premium from increasing after filing a claim
Allstate Sample Pricing
| City (ZIP code) | Omaha (68147) | Lincoln (68524) | Grand Island (68803) |
|---|---|---|---|
| House square footage | 1,500 | 2,000 | 2,100 |
| Year built | 1986 | 1999 | 1993 |
| Dwelling limit | $200,000 | $275,000 | $325,000 |
| Personal property coverage | 60% of dwelling | 75% of dwelling | 60% of dwelling |
| Liability coverage | $100,000 | $300,000 | $100,000 |
| All-peril deductible | $2,500 | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| Wind/hail deductible | $2,500 | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| Monthly premium | $154.00 | $213.00 | $438.00 |
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
In addition to receiving a high score of 94.4 out of 100 in our review, Farmers adds value to the home insurance market by providing the most customizable policies. Customizing your coverage helps you control your premium amounts and ensures you get the exact coverage you need.
For example, Farmers is one of the only companies that gives you the option to insure the dwelling of your home for under 100% of its value in addition to offering personal property and other structures coverage options up to 200% of your dwelling limit.
Customize your home insurance policy by entering your property details into Farmer’s online quote tool.
Farmers also stands out for the following reasons:
- Includes claim forgiveness with each policy, which prevents your premium from increasing after being claims-free with Farmers for five years
- Has an add-on for coverage matching, which replaces undamaged property with the same materials used to replace damaged property during a claim
- Covers off-premises belongings up to 5%, 10%, or 15% of the policy’s personal property limit
Farmers Sample Pricing
| City (ZIP code) | Omaha (68147) | Lincoln (68524) | Grand Island (68803) |
|---|---|---|---|
| House square footage | 1,500 | 2,000 | 2,100 |
| Year built | 1986 | 1999 | 1993 |
| Dwelling limit | $200,000 | $275,000 | $325,000 |
| Personal property coverage | 75% of dwelling | 75% of dwelling | 75% of dwelling |
| Liability coverage | $100,000 | $300,000 | $100,000 |
| All-peril deductible | $1,500 | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| Wind/hail deductible | $2,500 | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| Monthly premium | $174.53 | $243.42 | $220.14 |
Get Your Free Home Insurance Quote: Farmers Home Insurance Quote
Learn More: Farmers Home Insurance Review
Travelers: Most Experience
Scoring a 93.6 out of 100, Travelers is the most experienced home insurance company compared to the other providers in this review and has more than 160 years of industry experience. Travelers also offers nine deductibles, ranging from $1,000 to $50,000, to help policyholders customize their premiums.
The company also features a Decreasing Deductible benefit, which credits your account with $100 towards your deductible for each year that you don’t file a claim. Since there’s no maximum to this benefit, you could potentially pay $0 out of pocket when you need to file a claim.
Get a free quote from Travelers by filling out this simple form on the company’s website.
We were also impressed with Travelers for the following reasons:
- Offers a unique add-on for equipment breakdown coverage, which pays to replace systems or appliances after an unexpected mechanical or electrical failure
- Doesn’t include a separate deductible for wind or hail damage, which will save you money during a claim from one of those perils
- Provides medical payments to others coverage options up to $10,000, which is $5,000 more than most competitors
Travelers Sample Pricing
| City (ZIP code) | Omaha (68147) | Lincoln (68524) | Grand Island (68803) |
|---|---|---|---|
| House square footage | 1,500 | 2,000 | 2,100 |
| Year built | 1986 | 1999 | 1993 |
| Dwelling limit | $200,000 | $275,000 | $300,000 |
| Personal property coverage | 75% of dwelling | 75% of dwelling | 75% of dwelling |
| Liability coverage | $100,000 | $300,000 | $100,000 |
| All-peril deductible | $2,500 | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| Wind/hail deductible | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Monthly premium | $186.34 | $294.38 | $312.04 |
Get Your Free Home Insurance Quote: Travelers Home Insurance Quote
Learn More: Travelers Home Insurance Review
Our Conclusion
Since home insurance rates are based on a variety of factors, including your credit score, claims history, and age, as well as your property’s ZIP code, size, and construction type, we recommend getting quotes from at least three providers to compare rates before purchasing a policy.
Consider Allstate for the best overall coverage and endorsement options, Farmers for the most customized policy, and Travelers for a trustworthy and experienced provider with flexible deductibles.
Compare Homeowners Insurance Companies in Nebraska
| 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%–200% 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* | $154.00 | $174.53 | $186.34 |
| Discounts available | 6 | 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 1,500-square-foot single-family house in Omaha, Nebraska
**Figures pulled from the companies’ Better Business Bureau (BBB) profiles as of May 24, 2021
Nebraska Homeowners Insurance Coverage
Here are six common coverage types found in a Nebraska homeowners insurance policy:
- Dwelling coverage—This coverage pays to rebuild, repair, or replace your house after a covered peril, such as a fire or thunderstorm. Dwelling coverage is usually equal to 100% or more of your home’s overall estimated value, which can be determined by an appraiser or through a home value estimation tool on a home insurance company’s website.
- Other structures coverage—This coverage protects buildings or structures that aren’t considered part of your house, such as fences, detached garages, or storage sheds. The amount for this coverage type usually falls around 10% of your dwelling limit.
- Personal property coverage—No matter where you live in Nebraska, your personal belongings are always at risk of being damaged, stolen, lost, ruined, or vandalized. Luckily, your home insurance provider will reimburse you for their replacement cost or depreciated value. You can typically customize your limit for this category, but most policies start at around 60%–75% of the dwelling limit.
- Loss of use coverage—After a severe peril impacts your home, you’ll likely need to temporarily relocate from your house while it’s being rebuilt or repaired. Loss of use coverage is also considered temporary living expenses coverage, since it pays for any added costs you accrue during this time, such as hotel fees or extra gas from your new commute.
- Personal liability coverage—If you’re responsible for an accident or injury on your property, home insurance covers this scenario by paying for any related medical bills or legal fees up to your chosen amount, which is usually between $100,000 and $300,000. Consider purchasing more liability coverage if you anticipate having guests over frequently to ensure full coverage.
- Medical payments to others coverage—Similar to liability coverage, this coverage pays for medical bills for a visitor who gets injured on your property when you’re not responsible for the incident. This coverage limit is usually lower than the other categories at around $1,000–$5,000.
Factors To Consider Before Buying Homeowners Insurance
Here are some factors to consider when shopping for your homeowners insurance policy:
- Home value—Understanding your home’s value is one of the most important steps of purchasing a home insurance policy, since it determines how much dwelling coverage you need. If you purchase less dwelling coverage than what your property is worth, you could be undercovered during a claim, resulting in excessive out-of-pocket expenses. Each of the providers in this review has useful estimation tools on their websites to help you determine the value of your home, but we recommend speaking to a professional appraiser to get the most accurate estimate.
- Endorsements—Also known as add-ons, floaters, or riders, endorsements are additional coverage options that allow you to customize your policy. For instance, you could purchase extra coverage with Allstate to help pay for energy-efficient upgrades to your systems, or you can add equipment breakdown coverage to your Travelers policy to pay for repairs or replacements to your systems due to an unexpected mechanical or electrical failure.
- Discounts—If you have a home security system, fire alarm, or another protective device installed in your home, you could qualify for savings from each of these providers. Additionally, since each provider also sells auto insurance, you could receive lower premiums for bundling with a car insurance policy.
FAQs About Homeowners Insurance in Nebraska
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.