In This Review: Our Take | Pros and Cons | Cost and Discounts | Coverage | State Availability | Customer Reviews | Conclusion | Comparison | Company Information | FAQ | Methodology
Homeowners can potentially save themselves thousands out of pocket by purchasing a home insurance policy. You don’t want to be unprepared when the unexpected occurs; from lighting strikes and wind storms to theft and vandalism, homeowners insurance can protect your investment and give you peace of mind.
However, not all home insurance companies are the same. They can differ in terms of coverage options, availability, cost, and much more. The This Old House Reviews Team has created this in-depth Universal Property & Casualty home insurance review to help you determine if it’s the best homeowners insurance company for your needs.
Our Take on Universal Property & Casualty Insurance
Universal offers decent home insurance, with a basic coverage policy that even includes ordinance coverage—a feature most homeowners insurance companies only offer as an optional endorsement.
However, the company is only available in 17 states, has no 24/7 customer service by phone, and has no online quote tool. That means you have to discuss your property over the phone with a local third-party agent and wait for them to send you your quote via email. Overall, we give Universal home insurance a score of 64.50
On some of its Better Business Bureau (BBB) profile pages, complaints cite delayed payments. Reviews range from praising speedy and efficient claims service to complaints of delayed claims and difficulty contacting customer service.
Pros and Cons
Compare the advantages and disadvantages of Universal home insurance.
✔ Ordinance coverage included in basic policy
✘ No online quote tool
✘ Few endorsements and discounts
How Much Does Universal Home Insurance Cost?
The exact cost of Universal home insurance depends on a variety of factors, including your property value, square footage, location, the coverage limits you select, and more.
A representative gave us a sample quote for a roughly 2,200-square-foot, single-family home in California. The monthly cost of $306.16 is much higher than what many other home insurance companies offer.
Cost
| Type of Coverage | Amount of Coverage |
| Dwelling | $293,810 |
| Other structures | $29,381 |
| Personal property | $73,453 |
| Loss of use/Additional living expenses | $58,762 |
| Personal liability | $300,000 |
| Medical payments to others | $2,000 |
| Monthly Cost | $306.16 |
Discounts
Universal offers a few discounts to help you lower the cost of your premium.
Universal Discounts
| Type | Description |
| Protective devices | Discount for a centrally monitored fire or burglar alarm |
| Gated community | Discount for gated community, either manned or with a passkey |
| Wind mitigation |
Coverage
Universal offers all industry-standard coverage in its basic policy, plus ordinance coverage, which most home insurance companies only offer as an add-on endorsement.
Universal Coverage
| Type | Description |
| Dwelling + other structures | Covers your home’s interior and exterior structure, plus detached structures like sheds and garages |
| Personal property | Covers your personal property, including furniture, clothing, appliances, and electronics, in the case of covered loss |
| Loss of use/Additional living expenses | Covers the cost of temporarily living outside of your home due to covered damage or destruction |
| Personal liability | Covers legal fees in the event you are sued for personal property damage or injury to a guest |
| Medical payments to others | Covers medical expenses of a guest who gets injured at your home |
| Ordinance or law coverage | Covers up to an additional 25% of the home’s value in the event it needs to be rebuilt |
In terms of endorsements, Universal offers replacement cost coverage—which covers the cost of your damaged personal property as it originally cost, without factoring in depreciation—and water backup or sump pump failure.
State Availability
Universal home insurance is available in 17 states:
Alabama | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Illinois | Indiana | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New York | North Carolina | Pennsylvania | South Carolina | Virginia
Customer Reviews of Universal Home Insurance
Universal has multiple pages with the Better Business Bureau, each devoted to different locations. Some pages are accredited with an A+ rating, while others are not accredited and not rated. Here is what some customers had to say about their experience with Universal.
Thomas A. said:
“I think this insurance company far exceeds expectations of any other insurance company. They have great customer service and they will take care of any problem given to them with lighting speed. I don’t know where these other people had insurance before but I have an idea they just like to complain. Keep up the good work.”
Randall P. said:
“This company does not deserve any stars. Me and my mother have been trying to resolve a claim for almost a year with them. All we have gotten is pushed off to the next person with no results. This just seems like a total scam. When you pay your insurance company you expect them to hold up their part when it comes to repairs. I never leave any reviews but I had to with this company. I would not recommend them to anyone.”
In addition to these reviews, one This Old House reader reached out with a complaint about delays in Universal paying out claims.
Our Conclusion
While Universal offers ordinance coverage in its basic policy, the company offers very few endorsements and discounts, is only available in 17 states, has no online quote tool, and does not have 24/7 customer service by phone. We give Universal home insurance a score of 64.50 out of 100.
When evaluating home insurance companies, it’s important to find the best option for you and your home. We recommend getting quotes from multiple companies in your area:
Universal vs. The Competition
See how Universal stacks up against some of its top competitors on key metrics.
Company Information
- Company name: Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company
- Company type: Private
- CEO: Sean Downes
- Year founded: 1997
- Headquarters: 1110 W Commercial Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309
- State availability: 17
- BBB rating: A+/NR
Other Homeowners Insurance Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Our Methodology
The This Old HouseReviews 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 (BBB) ratings.
- Additional benefits (15): Companies that offered optional features, like discounts and endorsements, scored higher than competitors that didn’t.
Our 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.