Erie’s home insurance reviews from experts consistently rate it among the top home insurance companies. JD Power ranks Erie Insurance as the best for renters coverage, while AM Best awards the company an A+ (Superior) rating. Erie ranks in our review of the best home insurance companies despite some lower-than-expected customer satisfaction review scores.
Pros
Competitive home insurance rates
Bundling packages available
Services through local agents
Cons
Available in just 12 states
Some customer satisfaction complaints
Limited discounts available
Erie Homeowners Insurance Overview
While Erie Insurance is a lesser-known name in the insurance industry, the company features some excellent attributes that make it stand out from even much larger insurers despite its availability in just 12 states and Washington, D.C.
The company offers a massive selection of insurance types and coverages in addition to homeowners protection. Additionally, while Erie doesn’t offer much in the way of discounted rate opportunities, its bundling programs and policy inclusions add significant value.
Some inclusions of particular note are its guaranteed replacement cost protections in most of its policies, consistently low rates based on location, local agent availability, and available unexpected breakdown coverage.
Erie Home Insurance Reviews: Features and Benefits
Despite some low claims-process-related customer service ratings, Erie is well established as an insurer that provides rapid claim responses, aided by its 24/7 service availability. Its list of additional insurance protections is long, as is its list of features and benefits.
- Local insurance agent availability
- Free price quotes
- Customizable policies with various insurance add-ons
- Consistently affordable rates
- Some zero-deductible coverage options
- Minimal wait times for customer support
- Bundling packages available
- Online policy and claims management
- True guaranteed replacement cost coverage with most policies
- Rated as the best renters insurance company by AM Best
- Full suite of business insurance options
- Mobile home coverage available
- Offers flood insurance
- Lost or misplaced items coverage included
About Erie Homeowners Insurance
Erie Insurance started in 1925 in Pennsylvania. It currently does business in 12 states, primarily in the eastern half of the country. Erie focuses on providing customer value over heavy discounts, and its strategy is a winning one that earns high marks from industry experts.
In addition to home insurance, Erie offers many other coverage options, from auto policies to business protections, life insurance, and others. Despite its relatively small size, it competes well against more well-known major competitors.
Erie Home Insurance Coverages
Erie Insurance offers typical homeowners insurance options, with some provisions exceeding industry norms.
- 100% true guaranteed replacement cost comes standard, where many insurers only offer the protection as an add-on.
- Personal property coverage
- Theft, including misplaced or lost items
- Valuables
- Animal, bird, and fish coverage, where most insurers don’t offer it
- Cash and metals
- Document coverage
- Gift card and gift certificate reimbursement
Optional Additional Coverages
Erie Insurance also offers a sizable list of additional coverage options to customize your policy.
- Extended water damage coverage
- Unexpected breakdown coverage
- Personal liability
- Identity theft
- Additional living expenses
- Earthquake
Erie Mobile Home Insurance
Mobile homes can be particularly prone to weather damage and other perils. Erie Insurance offers its response to the threat in the form of its mobile home coverage, which ranks among top competitors by offering solid protection at reasonable prices. The benefits listed below are copied and pasted directly from Erie’s web page. They apply to residential mobile homes only and aren’t valid if the mobile home is used for business.
- The cost of temporary repairs that you make to your home to help protect it from additional damage. For example, you might need to board up damaged windows or tarp a hole in your roof after a bad storm.
- The costs to replace keys and locks after a theft.**
- Reasonable emergency first aid expenses for people or pets.
- Additional living expenses, which may include the cost of living somewhere else while your home is repaired.
- Debris removal costs.
- An insured’s liability for the injury or harm to other people or property—anywhere in the world.
- Medical payments for someone hurt in an accident while visiting your home or because of your actions.***
**The key and lock replacement coverage is limited up to $250.
***Medical payments for someone other than the insured, resident of the household or tenant.
Unexpected Breakdown Coverage Details
An unusual offering from Erie Home Insurance is its coverage option for unexpected equipment breakdowns. Offering similar protections as some found in home warranty service contracts, the coverage is available through the ErieSecure Home bundle selections and operates quite differently than a service contract. Instead of working with technicians, the coverages simply offer a way to protect yourself from loss due to breakdowns. Some featured protections include provisions for the following items:
- Water heaters
- Appliances
- HVAC
- Electrical panels
- Security systems
- Sump pumps
- Computers
- Home theater equipment
- Smart home tech
- Well pumps
ErieSecure Home Bundles
Another intriguing aspect of Erie Insurance’s business and policy model is its bundling options. In addition to the typical policy-bundle price reductions that most insurers offer, Erie has developed three ways to customize your home insurance experience and add value to your insurance investment.
- Advantage Bundle: The basic bundle increases the protection limits for theft and lost valuables and includes ID theft protection.
- Plus Bundle: Includes the features of the Advantage bundle and adds higher protection limits for trailers and watercraft. Siding and roof protection is also included, as is underground service line protection. Optionally, you can add Erie’s sewer and drain backup coverage to this package.
- Select Bundle: Adds the sewer and drain backup coverage, additional higher coverage limits, criminal defense cost protection, and the equipment breakdown package to the features already included in the previous two packages.
Other Erie Insurance Types
Many other types of insurance policies are available through Erie Insurance. While pricing discount options are limited, customers can take advantage of multiple-policy discounts of up to 20%.
- Auto insurance
- Motorcycle
- ATV and off-road vehicles
- RV
- Boat
- Trailer
- Condominium
- Renters
- Mobile home
- Flood
- Multiple life policies
- Full suite of business insurance options
Related Article: Best Pet Insurance Companies in California
How Much Does Erie Cost?
On average, and depending on your location and coverage selections, Erie homeowners insurance costs between 20% and 30% less than typical national prices. The lowest average price we could identify for Erie Insurance on a $300,000 property is $1,250 for basic protections. Unfortunately, there are few ways to receive pricing discounts if you don’t choose to bundle your home and auto protections. However, Erie’s package bundles can add significant value.
Available Pricing Discounts
Erie offers just a few pricing discount opportunities. While there are few to choose from, taking advantage of all of them can reduce your policy premiums by up to 25%. The following discounts are available:
- Multi-policy
- Advanced quote
- Fire alarm
- Burglary alarm
- Sprinkler system
Erie Home Insurance Reviews: Editorial Rating
Trusted Company Reviews Rating Score for Erie Home Insurance: 8.2
Erie home insurance reviews from experts are generally positive. Our rating criteria award the company 8.2 out of 10 points, which is enough to place it in our overview of the best and cheapest home insurance companies.
Erie Insurance’s unique approach to adding customer value and multiple insurance protections benefit the company in our research. On the other hand, its limited available discounts and some low customer review ratings cost it several points.
| Average Annual Cost for $300-$400k dwelling coverage with $1,000 deductible and applied discounts | BBB Rating | Other Insurance and Financial Products Available | Available Discounts |
| $1,250 | A+ | Auto, motorcycle, RV, life, business, renters, mobile home, business, more | Bundling, on-time payments, advanced quotes |
What We Like
In our research, we found Erie homeowners insurance prices and value to be among the best available. We particularly like the company’s bundling options that allow policyholders to customize their coverage protections in a way that adds value rather than just reduces costs, which is a feature unique to Erie.
What We Don’t Like
We’d like to see a few more options for premium price reductions. However, Erie is already competitively priced without them. We were a little concerned by a release from AM Best that adjusted the company’s financial credit standing to a lower position in 2023. Further investigation revealed that Erie continues to work to fix the related issues, though, calming our concerns.
Erie Home Insurance Reviews
Home insurers often suffer from low customer review scores. It’s just the nature of the business. While Erie home insurance reviews aren’t immune to complaints similar to those received by other insurance companies, it rates particularly well on Consumer Affairs, where its latest average is 3.4 out of five stars. However, Trustpilot reviewers only give the company a 2.3-star average. That said, because the company operates using local independent agents, checking your local reviews is recommended.
Who Erie Homeowners Insurance is Best For
Home insurance customers seeking a high degree of value for reasonable rates can do well by choosing Erie Home Insurance. Those who can jump on the limited price discount options can fare even better. While you must live in one of the 12 states where Erie Insurance does business, choosing one of the company’s value-added bundling packages can offer convenience and extra protections that might cost significantly more with another insurer.
Is Erie Home Insurance Good?
Despite some mixed customer review scores, Erie Home Insurance is a solid choice for consumers. The company rates well with JD Power, especially for renters coverage, and is improving its standing with AM Best, which is an independent credit rating authority specializing in insurance ratings and analytics, known for its accuracy. While Erie isn’t accredited with the Better Business Bureau, it does carry an A+ rating with the organization.
Erie Home Insurance Alternatives
Erie Home Insurance offers a lot of options to a large demographic and does so for reasonable costs. However, those looking for a wider selection of insurers to choose from can benefit from a platform such as Credible Home Insurance, which offers a unique home insurance shopping experience with no additional fees to worry about. Customers looking for a more extensive list of discount options can check out Auto-Owners Home Insurance to see how much they can save before committing to a policy purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Erie Home Insurance cover roof replacement?
What states is Erie Insurance available in?
Source
Logo image source: erieinsurance.com
Deane Biermeier
