Stillwater Homeowners Insurance Review

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The Details

The Good

Will insure homeowners with subpar credit and prior policy lapses. One of this company's most notable traits is that they write policies for most home types and circumstances — even homes that didn’t have insurance prior to applying with Stillwater. So if you’ve been given the thumbs down by carrier after carrier because your home wasn’t insured, Stillwater may be your best bet.

Multiple discount opportunities. Stillwater offers policyholders ample discounts: from bundling discounts to protective devices discounts to discounts if your home is built with an accredited builder, there's no shortage of ways to keep your premiums low with Stillwater.

Easily customizeable policies. Whether you're interested in the bare-mininum coverage amounts or a full-on replacement cost policy with maximum coverage limits for each component and multiple policy endorsements, Stillwater has you covered.

The Bad

Minimal online resources and tools. When it comes to information and educational resources about their insurance products, Stillwater lags a tad behind the competition. Other than a simple insurance brochure, there isn't much information about what differentiates Stillwater from the competition or why you should go with them over a more established carrier.

Limited coverage options. Stillwater excels at the basics, offering a standard "HO-3" policy and a more comprehensive "HO-5", but they lack the more valuable coverage endorsements offered by the top carriers — like equipment breakdown coverage, service line coverage, and personal computers coverage. In fact, Stillwater's scheduled personal property endorsement specifically excludes personal computers from coverage — which could prove to be a turn-off for a lot of people.

While the price of homeowners insurance with Stillwater will depend on factors lke where you live, your home's construction type, and the age of your home, you can expect to pay around $1,400 annually for coverage with Stillwater, according to Policygenius data. That makes Stillwater home insurance rates far lower than the average quoted policy with Policygenius.

Rates are particularly impacted by your home's replacement cost, or the insured value of your home. Below is the average cost of homeowners insurance at different levels of coverage with Stillwater.

Average annual homeowners insurance premiums for each coverage level were calculated using Policygenius quoting data.

Discounts

A great way to keep your homeowners insurance costs down is to take advantage of discount opportunities.

Stillwater offers all of the common homeowners insurance discounts — like protective devices discounts, claims-free discounts, and new home-buyer discounts.

• Protective devices discount - If your home has security and safety features like burglar alarms, fire alarms, fire sprinklers, and storm shutters

• Claims-free discount - If you go an extended period of time without filing a claim

• Gated community discount - If your home is within a gated community

• Multi-policy discount - If you have more than one insurance policy with Stillwater

• Roof-type discount - If your roof was constructed within a certain number of years or built with a storm-resistant material

• New home-buyer discount - If you purchased the home within a specified number of years

Homeowners insurance protects your most important financial assets, so you'll want to be sure you're insuring your home, your personal possessions, and other assets with a company that will be able to pay out your claim in the event of a disaster. Stillwater hasn't been around long so it doesn't yet have ratings with such credit ratings agencies as S&P and Moody's. But they do have an A- rating with leading insurance rating agency A.M. Best.

• Year founded: 2000

• Standard & Poor's rating: N/A

• Moody's rating: N/A

• A.M. Best rating: A-

Standard & Poor's measures companies' creditworthiness and is used primarily by financial investors and other market stakeholders. S&P is also valuable in measuring the long-term financial stability of insurance companies. A AAA rating is the highest issuer credit rating assigned by S&P.

Moody's is very similar to Standard & Poors, except rather than measuring a companies ability to remain financial stable and creditworthy, Moody's measures what the expected losses would be if a company were to go into default. It's particularly valuable in analyzing the value of stocks and bonds with certain companies. A AAA rating is the highest possible score you can receive from Moody's.

A.M. Best is the most reliable credit-rating tool insureds can use to gauge the financial health of a particular company. Unlike S&P and Moody's, A.M. Best is focused exclusively on the insurance marketplace. A good score with A.M. Best means a company is more likely to fulfill their financial obligation to you when it comes time to file a claim. With a score of A-, Stillwater has the fourth highest rating a company can receive with A.M. Best.

It's important to know what experts think about homeowners insurance companies - but it's also good to know what actual customers and consumer sentiment sites are saying, too.

Stillwater has excellent ratings with the Better Business Bureau. Being a relatively new company, it doesn't yet have ratings with J.D. Power, TrustPilot, Consumer Advocate, or Consumer Affairs like some of the more well-established carriers.

• J.D. Power: N/A

• BBB: A+

• Consumer Affairs: N/A

• Consumers Advocate: N/A

• Trustpilot: N/A

• NAIC complaint index: 1.44

J.D. Power provides studies that rate insurance companies across policy offerings, price, clarity of billing and policy information, interaction, and claims. An overall satisfaction score, "based on how customers view every experience of their experience with homeowners insurance providers," is reflected here and used for our ranking.

The Better Business Bureau ranks companies across a large swath of criteria. While consumers can submit ratings to the BBB, these scores are not taken into account in their rating, although tangential metrics that take into account customer experience are.

Consumer Affairs is a platform that lets consumers directly rate customers, while Consumers Advocate rates companies based on stability, reputation, and policy coverage.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners tracks the number of complaints submitted to state insurance departments with their national complain index. A score of 1 is the baseline average, and a score of 0 means there weren't enough complaints to count.

Stillwater keeps it pretty simple, offering two policies: a standard policy (HO-3) and a more robust policy with superior personal property protections (HO-5).

HO-3

• Standard coverage (dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss-of-use, liability, and medical payments coverage)

HO-5

• All of the standard coverage included in the HO-3

• Open peril coverage for dwelling, other structures, and personal property

• Replacement cost contents coverage

Note: The information above represents potential policy options and may not be available for every applicant. Speak to a licensed expert for a personalized look at your coverage options.

Stillwater provides wide availability and the ability to apply for insurance and file claims online, in addition to a mobile app where you can manage your policy.

State availability

Stillwater homeowners insurance is available in 49 states — Michigan and Georgia are the only states where they don't currently offer coverage.

Digital tools

• Online application

• Instant quote

• Online bill pay and policy management

• Online claims portal

• Mobile app

The application

There are two ways you can apply for homeowners insurance with Stillwater: through the company website or over the phone.

Applying online is fairly easy, if not a little clunky. (The process could use a few design and functionality updates and overall informational improvements in the user flow.) You simply input your ZIP code in the “start quick quote” box, and you’re off and running. The entire quoting process takes about five to 10 minutes. You’re then provided with two quotes (one HO-3 and one HO-5 quote), and if you’re interested in proceeding with a Stillwater plan, they give you a number to call to finish the application.

Ease of claims

Stillwater gives you a couple options for filing claims: you can call them on their 24/7 hotline, you can email their claims department at lossnotices@stillwater.com, or you can contact your agent directly. Once your claim is filed, Stillwater reviews your claim, assigns you an appraiser to inspect and photograph the damages, and makes a decision once everything is reviewed and processed.

Additional claims service

• 24/7 claims service

• Assigned field appraiser to inspect and photograph damages

Payment methods

• Credit card and debit card

• Option to pay directly from your bank account

• Option to pay through your escrow account

• Option to pay annually or monthly

Policygenius offers insurance policies from many of the nation's top insurers, who pay us a commission for our services. However, all editorial choices are made independently.