American Family home insurance review: Industry-best coverage & customer service
American Family home insurance has excellent coverage options, high customer service ratings, and several discounts to compliment its already affordable rates.
By
Pat HowardPat HowardManaging Editor & Licensed Home Insurance ExpertPat Howard is a managing editor and licensed home insurance expert at Policygenius, where he specializes in homeowners insurance. His work and expertise has been featured in MarketWatch, Real Simple, Fox Business, VentureBeat, This Old House, Investopedia, Fatherly, Lifehacker, Better Homes & Garden, Property Casualty 360, and elsewhere.
Edited by
Jennifer GimbelJennifer GimbelSenior Managing Editor & Home Insurance ExpertJennifer Gimbel is a senior managing editor and home insurance expert at Policygenius, where she oversees our homeowners 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.
4.5
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).
A
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
American Family is best for homeowners looking for affordable rates, exceptional customer service, and several additional coverages and policy perks — including a diminishing deductible feature that takes $100 off your policy deductible each year you go without filing a claim.
While it only writes homeowners insurance in 19 states, American Family is the seventh largest home insurer in the United States — a good indication that it’s an extremely popular option in areas where it’s available.
Ranked #2 in J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Home Insurance Study
Diminishing deductible feature to lower out-of-pocket claim costs
Cons
Only available in 19 states
Offers online quotes, but requires talking to an agent to complete the process
Basic coverages offered
American Family home insurance policies include these six basic coverages to protect your home, belongings, and liability:
Dwelling: Pays to rebuild or repair the structure of your home, such as the roof, floors, walls, built-in appliances, and any structures attached to the home.
Other structures: Pays to rebuild or repair additional structures on your property that aren’t attached to your home, like a detached garage or gardening shed.
Personal property: Covers the costs of repairing or replacing your personal belongings, such as furniture, clothes, electronics, and other possessions you own.
Loss of use: Helps cover the cost of hotel stays, restaurant meals, pet boarding costs, and other temporary living expenses while your house is being rebuilt or repaired after a covered loss.
Personal liability: Covers medical and legal expenses in the event you’re legally responsible for an accidental injury or property damage.
Medical payments: Pays for guests’ medical expenses if they’re injured in your home, regardless of who is at fault.
Additional coverages offered
You also have the option to add a slew of additional coverages to your American Family homeowners insurance policy — but keep in mind you’ll pay for the added protection:
Personal property replacement cost: Covers the cost to repair or replace your personal belongings without deducting depreciation from your claim reimbursement.
Equipment breakdown: Similar to a home warranty, this coverage covers the cost of replacement or repairs if an appliance, home system, or smart home device is damaged due to a mechanical, electrical, or pressure systems breakdown.
Water backup: Covers the cost of repairs if your house is damaged due to water backing up and overflowing from your drain or a sewer line.
Service line: Pays for excavation and repair or replacement costs in the event of damage to your water pipes, electrical wiring, gas lines, or any other underground service lines.
Diminishing deductible: Takes $100 off your policy deductible each year you go without filing a claim.
Home business: Increases coverage limits on business property in your home, such as a laptop, furniture in your home office, or inventory.
Inland flood: Covers the cost of damage due to inland flood events, such as overflow of streams or rivers, rain accumulation or snowmelt, and mudflow.
Scheduled personal property: Increases coverage limits on expensive valuables that are often subject to per-item limits on a standard policy, such as jewelry, watches, electronics, or antiques.
Hidden water: Covers the cost of gradual, hidden water damage that often isn’t covered by home insurance policies.
Matching siding: If the siding on your home is damaged by a covered peril and replaced with new siding, this covers the additional cost of replacing the undamaged siding so everything matches.
Temporary rental: If you rent out your property through a short-term rental service like Airbnb and a guest destroys or steals your property, American Family’s HostAdvantage will cover the cost of replacing or repairing your property.
Home daycare: Extends your policy’s liability coverage to small home daycares (six children or less).
Senior living: Extends your policy’s personal property and liability coverages to loved ones who are in a nursing home or assisted living facility.
Home renovation: Can be added to your home insurance policy to cover the unique risks associated with home remodeling projects.
Identity protection & credit monitoring: If your identity is stolen, this covers the cost of legal fees, lost wages, and other costs you incur during the recovery process. American Family also provides additional credit monitoring via CyberScout, where you can choose between its Silver Plan ($40/yr) that provides an annual credit report and score through Experian, and a Gold Plan ($70/yr) that expands credit monitoring to three credit bureaus — TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax.
Personal injury: Covers legal expenses related to libel and slander, false arrest, malicious prosecution, wrongful eviction, and more.
Manufactured home insurance: If you live in a mobile or modular home, you’ll need to insure it with a special manufactured home insurance policy.
Vacant home insurance: American Family offers customized policies for vacant or unoccupied homes which generally aren’t covered under a standard home insurance policy.
Umbrella insurance: If you have a liability claim that exceeds your liability coverage limit, umbrella insurance will kick in to cover the rest of the costs. If the total value of your assets are greater than $500,000 (the maximum liability coverage limit on most home insurance policies) you’ll want to consider a personal umbrella policy.
Flood insurance: American Family offers separate flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the main provider of flood insurance in the U.S.
Ratings methodology
Price
4.4/5
American Family earns a respectable score on our price rating scale due to home insurance rates that are lower than the national average and a sizable list of discounts to further your insurance savings.
Customer experience
4.2/5
American Family scores well on our customer experience rating scale. It ranked #2 in J.D. Power’s 2022 Home Insurance Study which looks at interaction, policy offerings, price, and other factors related to customer satisfaction. While it ranked slightly below the industry average in J.D. Power’s 2022 claims satisfaction and digital experience studies, it received fewer customer complaints from 2019 to 2021 than other companies of its size, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) National Complaint Index Report.
Coverage options
4.6/5
When it comes to our coverage options rating scale, there are few companies that do better than American Family. Choose from three policy tiers with various levels of protection, or customize a policy to your liking with up to 15 additional coverage options, including inland flood, equipment breakdown, and service line coverage.
Financial strength
3.5/5
American Family scores a little higher than average on our financial strength rating scale, as it has a respectable A rating with AM Best, but average ratings of A and A1 with Standard & Poor's and Moody’s, respectively. However, due to its size and almost 100 years of insuring homes, you can rest assured that American Family will be able to pay out your claim in the event of the unexpected.
How much does American Family home insurance cost?
The national average cost of home insurance with American Family is $1,692 per year for a policy with $300,000 in dwelling coverage. This makes American Family about 13% cheaper than the national average.
Here’s the average yearly cost of American Family for five different levels of dwelling coverage:
Dwelling coverage level
Average annual cost
$100,000
$727
$200,000
$1,115
$300,000
$1,692
$400,000
$1,855
$500,000
$2,220
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.
What discounts does American Family offer?
American Family home insurance comes with a slew of potential discounts to lower your rates even more:
Multi-policy: If you have an auto and home insurance policy with American Family, you can save an average of 18% on premiums.
Smart home: If your home is equipped with an ADT home security system, Google Nest, or other qualifying smart home devices that can detect burglars, smoke, water and gas leaks, and more.
Renovated home: If you replaced your home’s plumbing, electrical, or heating systems within the last 15 years.
Age of home: If your house was built within the last 15 years.
New homeowner: If you’re insuring a recently purchased home.
Protective devices: If you have burglar alarms, fire alarms, fire sprinklers, or other safety or security devices installed in your home.
Generational: If you’re between the ages of 18 and 30 and your parents have an active home or auto insurance policy with American Family.
Loyalty: If you’ve been an American Family customer for more than a year.
Paid in full: If you pay your premium for the year in full.
Autopay: If you set up automatic payments.
Paperless: If you opt for eco-friendly billing.
Compare home insurance quotes from American Family and other top insurers
What to expect with American Family home insurance
How to get a quote: American Family homeowners insurance quotes are available online. Once you complete your quote, an American Family agent will reach out to you to ask additional questions and complete the process.
Customer service options: American Family’s website features a comprehensive contact page that can assist you with everything from general policy inquiries to finding a local agent to suspected claim fraud. American Family can be reached at 1-800-692-6326.
How to file a claim: You can file home insurance claims with American Family entirely online either through its website or the MyAmFam mobile app, where it has specialized departments for storm claims and water damage cleanup and repair claims.
How to cancel your policy: To cancel your American Family policy, call your insurance agent, whose number should be listed on your policy declarations page.
American Family vs. other home insurance companies
Compare American Family to similar homeowners insurance companies using the table below.
A basic American Family home insurance policy won't cover mold removal or remediation costs. However, in every state if offers home insurance except Minnesota, you can add hidden water coverage to your policy to cover everything from water damage cleanup to mold removal to repairs if your house is damaged by a hidden water leak.
What is American Family’s home insurance phone number?
If you need to contact someone at American Family about its homeowners insurance product, call 1-800-692-6326.
Is American Family good at paying claims?
American Family received a customer satisfaction score right around the industry average, according to J.D. Power's 2022 Property Insurance Claims Satisfaction Study. This means American Family is likely middle of the pack when it comes satisfaction with claim reimbursement amounts, claim servicing, first notice of loss, and other factors the study was based on.
What kind of insurance is American Family?
American Family offers a variety of insurance products in states all across the country, including auto insurance, boat insurance, home insurance, manufactured home insurance, farm and ranch insurance, life insurance, travels insurance, and pet insurance.
What is American Family’s home insurance AM Best rating?
As of December 2022, American Family's AM Best rating is a respectable A. This means American Family has an "excellent ability to meet their ongoing insurance obligations," according to the credit rating agency.
Pat Howard is a managing editor and licensed home insurance expert at Policygenius, where he specializes in homeowners insurance. His work and expertise has been featured in MarketWatch, Real Simple, Fox Business, VentureBeat, This Old House, Investopedia, Fatherly, Lifehacker, Better Homes & Garden, Property Casualty 360, and elsewhere.
Jennifer Gimbel is a senior managing editor and home insurance expert at Policygenius, where she oversees our homeowners insurance coverage. Previously, she was the managing editor at Finder.com and a content strategist at Babble.com.
