Shelter home insurance review: Top coverage for Midwesterners
Shelter Insurance specializes in home insurance coverage for homeowners in states at high risk of earthquake, wildfire, winter storm, and tornado damage.
By
Jessica OlivoJessica OlivoFreelance contributorJessica Olivo is a writer living in Connecticut. She specializes in web and blog content in a variety of topics such as parenting, business, and culture, as well as serialized and short fiction.After working in publishing and book publicity for many years, she transitioned to freelance writing full time.
Edited by
Jennifer GimbelJennifer GimbelSenior Managing Editor & Home Insurance ExpertJennifer Gimbel is a senior managing editor at Policygenius, where she oversees all of our insurance coverage. Previously, she was the managing editor at Finder.com and a content strategist at Babble.com.
Our proprietary ratings methodology takes multiple factors into account, including customer satisfaction, cost, financial strength, and policy offerings. See the “Ratings methodology” section for more details.
4.3
AM Best rating
AM Best is a global credit rating agency that scores the financial strength of insurance companies on a scale from A++ (Superior) to D (Poor).
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Cost
Using a mix of internal and external rate data, we grade the cost of each insurance company's premiums on a scale from least expensive ($) to most expensive ($$$$$).
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The bottom line
Shelter Insurance is best for homeowners in the Midwest — it specializes in coverage for homes at high risk of earthquake, wildfire, winter storm, and tornado damage. Shelter offers more coverage add-ons than other regional insurers, making it an excellent choice for homeowners wanting to pick and choose what goes into their policy.
With options like increased debris removal and landscaping coverage, as well as flood and earthquake protection, Shelter Insurance is likely prepared for your area’s most common perils. Just keep in mind its rates are nearly 50% more expensive than the national average.
Earns a 5-star rating for its customer service and coverage options
Offers both private flood insurance and government-backed coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program
Mobile app makes it easy to manage your policy, make payments, and file claims from the palm of your hand
Cons
Rates are around $900 more expensive than the national average
Only available in 15 states throughout the Midwest and South
Basic coverages offered
Shelter Insurance home insurance policies include these six standard coverages to protect your home, belongings, and personal liability:
Dwelling coverage: Pays to repair or rebuild the structure of your home after a covered loss.
Other structures coverage: Pays to repair or rebuild other structures on your property not connected to your home, including detached garages, storage sheds, and fencing.
Personal property coverage: Pays to repair or replace your personal belongings after a covered loss, including furniture, clothing, tech gadgets, and other stuff you own.
Loss of use coverage: Pays for hotel stays, restaurant bills, pet boarding fees, and other temporary living expenses after a covered loss if you need to live elsewhere while your home is being rebuilt.
Personal liability coverage: Pays for legal and medical expenses if someone is injured or their belongings are damaged while at your home and you’re found legally responsible.
Medical payments coverage: Pays for small-dollar medical bills if someone is injured while at your home — regardless of who is at fault.
Additional coverages offered
You can add these additional coverages to your Shelter Insurance homeowners insurance policy for even more protection:
Flood insurance: Offers private flood insurance through Wright Flood, as well as government-backed coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
Earthquake insurance: Protects your home and personal property from earthquake damage.
Inflation guard: Automatically adjusts your coverage each year to compensate for increases in construction and labor costs in your area due to inflation.
Increased debris removal: Increases coverage limits to remove debris after a disaster.
Increased landscaping: Increases coverage limits to replace plants, shrubs, and trees after a covered loss.
Identity theft: Offers everything from assistance with your credit reports to attorney fees resulting from identity fraud to help replacing personal identification documents destroyed in a natural disaster.
Personal injury liability: Expands liability coverage to include personal injury to others, such as slander, libel, wrongful eviction, or false arrest.
Credit card fraud and check forgery: Pays up to $1,000 for unauthorized charges or forged checks.
Reimbursement for fire department charges: Reimburses you for out-of-pocket fees if the fire department is called to your home.
Farming: Offers personal property and liability protection for your farm
Docks and piers: Covers docks and piers on your property against damage and liability claims.
Watercraft: Provides liability and medical coverage for certain watercraft activities.
Condo insurance: Purchased as a supplement to your condo association’s master policy, condo insurance covers your personal belongings, the interior structure of your condo unit, and personal liability.
Mobile home insurance: Insures your manufactured or mobile home with the standard coverages listed in the above section.
Our price rating scale looks at home insurance rates for a policy with $300,000 in dwelling coverage, as well as the total number of discounts offered. Shelter Insurance's average annual rate of $2,770 is 46% higher than the national average.
Customer experience
5.0/5
Our customer experience scale uses data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index. Shelter Insurance has a score of 0.15, which means it receives 85% fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size. (The expected number would be 1.0.)
Coverage options
5.0/5
Our coverage options rating is based on both the number and quality of additional coverage and policy options offered by the company. Shelter Insurance earns a perfect score thanks to its slew of valuable policy add-ons, including both NFIP and private flood insurance, water backup protection, and inflation guard coverage.
Financial strength
4.5/5
Our financial strength rating is a weighted combination of three industry-leading metrics to measure a company’s financial health: AM Best, Standard & Poor’s, and Moody’s. Shelter Insurance earns an A rating from AM Best, but is not rated by S&P or Moody’s.
How much does Shelter Insurance home insurance cost?
The average cost of home insurance with Shelter Insurance is $2,770 per year for a policy with $300,000 in dwelling coverage. This is around $900 more expensive than the national average.
Here’s the average yearly cost of Shelter home insurance for five different levels of dwelling coverage:
Dwelling coverage limit
Average annual cost
$100,000
$1,096
$200,000
$1,952
$300,000
$2,770
$400,000
$3,660
$500,000
$4,583
Rates are based on our analysis of 2022 sample home insurance quotes from across the country provided by Quadrant Information Services. Actual rates will vary based on location, policy limits, coverages, claims history, and other factors.
Compare home insurance quotes with top insurers in minutes
What discounts does Shelter Insurance offer?
You can save on the cost of Shelter Insurance home insurance if you qualify for any of these discounts:
What to expect with Shelter Insurance home insurance
How to get a quote: You can get a Shelter home insurance quote online, by contacting a local agent, or by calling 800-743-5837.
Customer service options: You can get in touch with a Shelter Insurance customer service rep by calling 800-743-5837 or logging in to your online account.
How to file a claim: You can file a Shelter home insurance claim through its mobile app, by logging in to your online account, or by calling 800-743-5837.
How to cancel your policy: You can cancel your Shelter Insurance policy by contacting your local agent (their contact info should be on your policy declarations page) or by calling 800-743-5837 to obtain the proper cancellation form.
Shelter Insurance vs. other home insurance companies
Compare Shelter Insurance to other home insurance companies in the industry:
Jessica Olivo is a writer living in Connecticut. She specializes in web and blog content in a variety of topics such as parenting, business, and culture, as well as serialized and short fiction.
After working in publishing and book publicity for many years, she transitioned to freelance writing full time.
Jennifer Gimbel is a senior managing editor at Policygenius, where she oversees all of our insurance coverage. Previously, she was the managing editor at Finder.com and a content strategist at Babble.com.
