Berkshire Hathaway Guard home insurance review

Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance offers home insurance policies in 23 states — including Cali and Texas — to protect high-risk homes other carriers won’t.

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Jessica 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 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.

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Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance Companies

Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance Companies logo

Policygenius rating

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.
Full orange starFull orange starFull orange starFull orange starEmpty gray star

4.0

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

With rates more than double the national average, Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance Companies home insurance is best saved as a last resort for homeowners in high-risk states like Texas and California who have struggled to find coverage elsewhere. 

While it doesn’t advertise guaranteed or extended replacement cost coverage for your home on its website, you can choose from a slew of other valuable policy add-ons, including inflation guard, water backup, service line, and equipment breakdown protection. 

Homeowners will also enjoy the security of Berkshire Hathaway Guard’s high financial stability ratings and the convenience of its mobile app that makes managing your policy and filing claims a breeze.

Pros

  • Available in high-risk states like Texas and California where it’s more difficult to find coverage

  • Offers lots of coverage add-ons, including inflation guard, water backup, service line, earthquake, sinkhole, and equipment breakdown protection

  • Mobile app available to easily file claims, manage your policy, and pay your premiums from the palm of your hand

Cons

  • Annual rates are $2,400 more expensive than the national average

  • Doesn’t advertise guaranteed or extended replacement cost coverage for your home on its website

  • Can’t get a quote online — must fill out an online form to get connected with an agent

Basic coverages offered

Berkshire Hathaway Guard 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 Berkshire Hathaway Guard home insurance policy for even more protection. 

  • Scheduled personal property: Offers higher coverage limits for specific scheduled items like silverware, jewelry, fine art, collectibles, and other priceless possessions.

  • Blanket personal property: Increases coverage limits for everything in a category of items, like jewelry, firearms, or computers.

  • Inflation guard: Automatically adjusts your coverage each year to compensate for increases in construction and labor costs in your area due to inflation.

  • Water backup: Coverage if water backs up through your sewer or drains, or if your sump pump stops working.

  • Service line: Pays to repair or replace underground pipes or wires on your property that are damaged due to a leak, break, tear, rupture, or collapse. 

  • Equipment breakdown: Pays to repair or replace AC units, water heaters, and other home systems that are damaged due to mechanical breakdown

  • Ordinance or law: Pays the extra cost of getting your home up to code after a covered loss.

  • Business property: Offers coverage if your work laptop or other business property is damaged in 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.

  • Home-sharing: Protects your home from damage by covered perils as well as liability incidents if it’s rented out.

  • Loss assessment: If you live in a condo or gated community with an HOA, this covers you for the portion of damage to common areas you’re responsible for.

  • Earthquake insurance: Protects your home and personal property from earthquake damage.

  • Personal umbrella insurance: Offers additional personal liability protection for expensive medical or legal bills you’re found legally responsible for.

  • 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.

  • Landlord insurance: Includes coverage for the structure of your rental property, liability situations, loss of rental income, and landlord furnishings and appliances.

  • Renters insurance: Purchased by tenants, renters insurance covers the personal belongings in your rental home or apartment against fire, vandalism, theft, windstorms, and water damage, as well as personal liability and loss of use coverage.

  • Reimbursement for fire department charges: Reimburses you for out-of-pocket fees if the fire department is called to your home.

  • Refrigerated contents: Covers spoiled food if your refrigerator or freezer stops working due to a power outage or breakdown.

  • Mold, fungus, or rot damage: Pays for damage to your home and belongings caused by mold, fungus, or rotting.

  • Sinkhole: Covers your home against damage caused by a sinkhole.

  • Student away from home: Covers your child’s personal belongings while they’re away at college against covered perils as long as they lived with you before moving out.

  • Assisted living care: Provides personal property and personal liability coverage to specific relatives living in an assisted living facility.

Ratings methodology

Price

1.5/5

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. Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance's average annual rate of $4,327 is 128% above the national average. 

Customer experience

4.7/5

Our customer experience scale uses data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index. Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance Companies has a score of 1.07, which means it received slightly more complaints than expected for a company of its size in 2021. (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. Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance earns a perfect score compared to other regional home insurance companies thanks to a slew of valuable coverage add-ons, including inflation guard, water backup, service line, earthquake, sinkhole, and equipment breakdown protection.

Financial strength

5.0/5

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 (S&P), and Moody’s. Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance has an A+ rating from AM Best, but is not rated by S&P or Moody’s.

How much does Berkshire Hathaway Guard home insurance cost?

The average cost of home insurance with Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance is $4,327 per year for a policy with $300,000 in dwelling coverage. This is over $2,400 more expensive than the national average of $1,754 per year. 

Here’s the average yearly cost of Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance home insurance for five different levels of dwelling coverage:

Dwelling coverage limit

Average annual cost

$100,000

$1,764

$200,000

$3,145

$300,000

$4,327

$400,000

$5,783

$500,000

$6,935

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.

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What discounts does Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance offer?

You can save on the cost of Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance if you qualify for any of these discounts:

  • Multi-policy: If you bundle your home insurance with a Berkshire Hathaway Guard auto, personal umbrella, workers compensation, business owners, or commercial auto insurance policy.

  • Newly purchased home: If you recently purchased your home.

  • New construction or renovation: If your home is a newer build or was recently renovated.

  • Protective devices: If you have burglar alarms, fire alarms, fire sprinklers, or other safety or security devices installed in your home

  • Personal property plus endorsement package: If you add Berkshire Hathaway Guard’s special personal property plus endorsement package to your home insurance policy.

Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance home insurance state availability

Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance offers home insurance policies in 23 states: 

Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.

What to expect with Berkshire Hathaway Guard home insurance

  • How to get a quote: You can get a Berkshire Hathaway Guard home insurance quote by filling out a form on its website to have an agent contact you.

  • Customer service options: You can get in touch with a Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance customer service rep by calling 800-673-2465, emailing csr@guard.com, filling out a customer service request form on its website, or logging in to your online account.

  • How to file a claim: You can file a Berkshire Hathaway Guard home insurance claim by logging in to your online account, using its mobile app, emailing claims@guard.com, completing an online claim form, or calling 888-639-2567.

  • How to cancel your policy: You can cancel your Berkshire Hathaway Guard home insurance policy by calling your Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance agent (their contact info should be on your policy declarations page), by mail, or by visiting your local agent in person.

Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance vs. other home insurance companies

Compare Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance to other home insurance companies in the industry:

Company

Policygenius rating

AM Best rating

Cost

Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance Companies

4.0/5

A+

$$$$$

American Modern

4.9/5

A+

$$$

Orchid Insurance

4.6/5

NA

NA

Foremost

4.2/5

A

$$$$

Assurant

4.1/5

A+

NA

SageSure

3.9/5

NA

NA

Armed Forces Insurance

3.7/5

NA

$$$

California FAIR Plan

3.6/5

NA

$$$$$

Velocity Risk

3.5/5

A

$$$

Bamboo Insurance

3.4/5

NA

NA

Security First Insurance

3.3/5

NA

$

Texas FAIR Plan

2.3/5

NA

$$$$$

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Frequently asked questions

Is home insurance with Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance expensive?

Yes, Berkshire Hathaway Guard home insurance is expensive. With an average rate of $4,327 per year for a policy with $300,000 in dwelling coverage, Berkshire Hathaway Guard home insurance is 128% higher than the national average.

Is AmGuard a Berkshire Hathaway Company?

Yes — AmGuard, AZGuard, EastGuard, and NorGuard make up the Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance Companies.

What is the A.M. Best rating for Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance Companies?

Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance Companies earns an A+ rating from A.M. Best, meaning it has strong financial stability and can likely pay out claims in the wake of a disaster.

Author

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.

Editor

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.

Questions about this page? Email us at .

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