Homeowners insurance helps protect one of your largest assets, and it's usually required if you have a mortgage.
However, some homes are trickier to insure than others — factors like your home's age, condition, and occupation can make it considered a higher risk. And, some factors about you may also come into play, like your credit score and the number of claims you've filed.
If you've been rejected or dropped by homeowners insurance in the past, it doesn't mean that you can't get coverage going forward. CNBC Select rounded up the best high-risk homeowners insurance companies to consider. (See our methodology for more information on how we made this list.)
Best high-risk homeowners insurance
- Best for discounts: Allstate
- Best for vacant homes: American Family
- Best for low credit scores: Foremost
- Best for high-value or historic homes: AIG Private Client Group
Compare offers to find the best homeowners insurance
Best for discounts
Allstate Homeowners Insurance
Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
App available
Yes
Policy highlights
Allstate's homeowners insurance combines strong track records for customer satisfaction with affordability. While not available in all states, it is widely available across the U.S. It's also willing to work with homeowners who have unique needs like those with homes over 100 years old. Special features including unique homesharing coverage can help make your homeowners insurance policy even more useful.
Pros
- Offers several discounts, including bundling discounts for bundling home and auto insurance
- Coverage is available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Cons
- New policies not available in California
Who's this for? Allstate offers coverage in all 50 states and stands out for having several discounts to help policies fit your budget, including discounts for recent homebuyers and getting a policy at least seven days before your current policy expires. In Florida, installing windstorm mitigation features on your home can also help you qualify for a discount.
Standout benefits: Policyholders can save up to 25% by bundling their homeowners and auto insurance policies and getting a welcome discount at enrollment.And with Claim RateGuard, policyholders can have peace of mind that their premiums won't increase for filing a claim (applies to one claim every five years).
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Best for vacant homes
American Family Homeowners Insurance
Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
App available
Yes
Policy highlights
American Family offers coverage for a variety of situations, including home-based businesses and short-term rentals. The company also offers coverage for vacant homes and vacation homes. A wide variety of policy add-ons can help you get the coverage you need and skip what you don't.
Pros
- Additional coverage available for equipment breakdown coverage, flash flooding and hidden water damage that's not visible in your home
Cons
- Not available nationwide
Who's this for? American Family is one of the few homeowners insurance companies that covers vacant homes, which are considered higher risk since there's no one there to stop or report damage. Vacant home insurance could provide coverage if you're waiting for your home to sell or renovating a property you're not living in.
Standout benefits: American Family's homeowners insurancefeatures 16 add-on features from credit monitoring and identity protection to coverage for appliances and flash flooding.
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Best for low credit scores
Foremost Homeowners Insurance
Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
App available
No
Policy highlights
Foremost covers a variety of homes and situations — it offers traditional homeowners insurance in addition to coverage for seasonal homes, vacant homes, condos and more. A member of the Farmers group of companies, Foremost states that it offers coverage for homes that have been declined or non-renewed by other companies. It also covers high-risk situations like swimming pools and pets, and offers those who have bad credit.
Pros
- Offers coverage for a variety of situations, including coverage for those who have been non-renewed or declined elsewhere
Cons
- Online quotes take 2 to 3 days and aren't available in all states
Who's this for?Foremostworks with all types of homes and homeowners, including those previously rejected coverage or non-renewed. It covers both newer and older homes and will even consider homes with some minor cosmetic conditions. Foremost also offers coverage for vacant homes, condos and mobile homes in addition to flood insurance.
Standout benefits:Foremost considers those with low credit scores, with older homes or homes that are vacant for coverage, among other conditions that may make it harder to find coverage.
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Best for high-value or historic homes
AIG Private Client Group
Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
App available
No
Policy highlights
AIG can cover a variety of high-end homes, including historic homes, homes outside of the United States and co-ops and condos. Its policies cover landscaping, fragile item breakage and pet damage. It also offers assistance with preventative services including background checks for staff, security consultations and water damage protection.
Pros
- Access to a variety of services including background checks for in-home staff and architectural services.
- Offers high policy limits for high-value homes
- Proactive prevention features for water damage
Cons
- Unable to purchase a standalone homeowners insurance policy
- Only available for high-value homes
- Unable to file claims online
Who's this for? Whether you own a secluded retreat in the mountains or a historic home in the city, AIG Private Client Group could be worth considering. AIG offers coverage tailored towards high-value homes' needs, including coverage for architectural services and security consultations.
Standout benefits: AIG's policies offer coverage for homes built before 1945, making it a good fit for expensive properties with historical value. These policies also offer reimbursem*nt for using historic preservation consultants after a covered loss and coverage for fragile items.
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More on our top high-risk homeowners insurance companies
Allstate
Allstate has been in business for more than 100 years and is known for having high marks for customer service, financial strength and affordable rates. In addition to homeowners insurance, the company offers auto insurance, condo insurance and motorcycle insurance among others.
J.D. Power Home Insurance Study rating
809 out of 1,000
A.M. Best score
A+
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American Family
American Family, also known as AmFam, has been in business for over 90 years. In addition to homeowners insurance, it offers auto, life and umbrella insurance.
J.D. Power Home Insurance Study rating
813 out of 1,000
A.M. Best score
A+
[ Return to summary ]
Foremost
Foremost has been offering coverage for 65 years, and is part of the well-respected Farmers Insurance Group. It's available in all 50 states and Washington D.C. and offers traditional auto and homeowners policies in addition to specialty coverages for homes, boats, RVs and more.
J.D. Power Home Insurance Study rating
Not rated
A.M. Best score
A
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AIG Private Client Group
AIG is one of the larger names in the insurance space. Through its Private Client Select service, high net-worth individuals can find coverage for their homes, collections, excess liability, cars, yachts and even horses. However, standalone policies aren't available.
J.D. Power Home Insurance Study rating
831 out of 1,000
A.M. Best score
A
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FAQs
What makes a home insurance policy a higher risk?
Many factors — both personal and those about your home — can lead insurers to consider your home a higher risk. Personal factors like low credit scores, filing multiple claims and owning an aggressive pet breed could play into being considered higher risk. Your home could also have several factors that could lead to an increased risk, including its age, having aswimming pool or an older roof.
Is it hard to get homeowners insurance after being dropped?
It's possible to get coverage for your home after being dropped by your current insurer or facing a rejection. Start by asking your insurer why they decided not to continue your coverage. If it's fixable, you may be able to ask your insurer to reconsider.
What if I can't find homeowners insurance?
If you're having trouble getting homeowners insurance through private companies, you might want to try your state's Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan. Most states have a FAIR plan. However, you'll want to try all your options first as FAIR coverage may be more expensive than other homeowners insurance options.
Bottom line
Getting homeowners insurance is important, but having an older home, a swimming pool or a low credit score can make it harder. However, several companies will insure homes with higher risk factors. Different companies consider risk factors differently, so it's important to compare quotes from several high-risk homeowners insurance companies.
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Why trust CNBC Select?
At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every renters insurancereview is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of insuranceproducts.While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best high-risk homeowners insurance companies.
Our methodology
To determine the best high-risk homeowners insurance companies, CNBC Select analyzed dozens of homeowners insurance companies that work with homes with higher risk factors and compared them.
While narrowing down the best high-risk homeowners insurance companies, we focused on an average premium forhigh-risk situations based on data from Policygenius. We then gathered data from J.D. Power's 2023 Home Insurance Study's Overall Customer Satisfaction Ranking, A.M. Best ratings, the number of discounts available and the number of states the insurance is available in.
Note that the premiums and policy structures advertised for homeowners insurance companies are subject to fluctuate per the company's policies.
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Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
