Best cheap homeowners insurance in San Francisco

The best cheap home insurance companies San Francisco

Californians are having a hard time securing home insurance coverage, and San Francisco is no exception. Some of the largest home insurance providers in the state have either stopped writing or seriously scaled back the number of policies they’re willing to write in California. Although San Francisco’s position along a peninsula helps shield it from some of the worst of California’s blazing wildfires, the city still has a 3 in 4 chance of getting hit with a damaging earthquake in the next 30 years. The limited provider availability, coupled with the added risk, can make finding San Francisco home insurance difficult. But, Bankrate’s insurance editorial team did research into which home insurance companies are still writing new policies in the Bay Area. According to our research, USAA, Chubb and Mercury write some of the best home insurance in San Francisco.

The cheapest home insurance companies in San Francisco

San Francisco is already an expensive city, and homeowners may not want to spend an arm and a leg on their home insurance premiums. Below, we’ve compiled the cheapest home insurance companies in San Francisco for a variety of dwelling limits. Keep in mind that, when it comes to home insurance, a higher dwelling limit will usually result in a higher premium.

How much is home insurance in San Francisco, California?

The average cost of San Francisco is $1,337 per year for $300,000 in dwelling coverage. This is about 8 percent less than the California average of $1,453 per year. Both numbers seem low in comparison to the national average of $2,230, especially considering the high level of wildfire risk.

California’s insurance laws prevent insurers from raising rates in excess of 7 percent, which locks rates in at a lower level. While this may seem like a bonus to homeowners, it is actually a major contributor to the ongoing insurance crisis in California. Without the ability to raise rates to a level that accurately reflects the risk of insuring a California home, many home insurance companies (like State Farm, Allstate, Farmers, Nationwide and Travelers) have been left with no other option but to drastically limit the number of new policies written in California — or stop writing new policies altogether.

Home insurance, like auto and life, is an individual product in more ways than one. Not only can you tailor a policy to suit your insurance needs, but your personal rating factors like how old your home is and the deductible you choose can affect the overall cost of your San Francisco home insurance policy.

San Francisco rates by home age

San Francisco’s beautiful old Victorian homes are part of what gives the city its charm — but they could also be more expensive to insure. In fact, U.S. Census data shows that more than half of San Francisco homes were built before World War II. Older homes typically result in higher home insurance premiums: If a home is built with harder-to-source materials, it could cost an insurer more if the home is deemed a total loss. To account for this potential extra cost, insurers tend to charge higher home insurance rates to older homes.

San Francisco rates by deductible amount

If you’re facing a home insurance premium that’s stretching your budget thin, think about raising your deductible. Your home insurance deductible is the amount of financial responsibility you agree to take on after filing a covered claim. In general, choosing a higher deductible insurance policy will lower your annual premium. However, be careful not to raise it too high — your deductible should always be an amount of money you are financially able to go without after a covered loss.

Frequently asked questions

Methodology

Bankrate utilizes Quadrant Information Services to analyze July 2024 rates for all ZIP codes and carriers in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Quoted rates are based on married male and female homeowners with a clean claim history, good credit and the following coverage limits:

• Coverage A, Dwelling: $150,000, $300,000, $350,000, $450,000, $750,000
• Coverage B, Other Structures: $15,000, $30,000, $35,000, $45,000, $75,000
• Coverage C, Personal Property: $75,000, $150,000, $175,000, $225,000, $375,000
• Coverage D, Loss of Use: $30,000, $60,000, $70,000, $90,000, $150,000
• Coverage E, Liability: $500,000
• Coverage F, Medical Payments: $1,000

The homeowners also have a $1,000 deductible, a $500 hail deductible and a 2 percent hurricane deductible (or the next closest deductible amounts that are available) where separate deductibles apply.

These are sample rates and should be used for comparative purposes only. Your quotes will differ.

Year built: Rates were calculated based on the following years built for homes and assigned to our homeowners: “1959, 1982, 1992, 2010, 2015 (base) and 2020.”

Bankrate Scores

Our 2024 Bankrate Score considers variables our insurance editorial team determined impacts policyholders’ experiences with an insurance company. These rating factors include a robust assessment of each company’s product availability, financial strength ratings, online capabilities and customer and claims support accessibility. Each factor was added to a category, and these categories were weighted in a tiered approach to analyze how companies perform in key customer-impacting categories.

Each category was assigned a metric to determine performance, and the weighted sum adds up to a company’s total Bankrate Score — out of 5 points. Our scoring model provides a comprehensive view, indicating when companies excel across several key areas and highlighting where they fall short.

• Tier 1 (Cost & ratings): To determine how well auto and home insurance companies satisfy these priorities, average quoted premiums from Quadrant Information Services (if available), as well as any of the latest third-party agency ratings from J.D. Power, AM Best, Demotech and the NAIC, were analyzed.
• Tier 2 (Coverage & savings): We assessed companies’ coverage options and availability to help policyholders find a provider that balances cost with coverage. Additionally, we evaluated each company’s discount options listed on its website.
• Tier 3 (Support): To encompass the many ways a home insurance company can support policyholders, we analyzed avenues of customer accessibility along with community support. This analysis incorporated additional financial strength ratings from S&P and Moody’s and factored a company’s corporate sustainability efforts.