Home Insurance Calculator: Estimate Your Costs (2024 Rates) (2024)

Forbes Advisor’s home insurance calculator is a fast and simple way to get an estimate of home insurance costs. Get started by answering a few quick questions. Get started by answering a few quick questions to find the cheapest homeowners insurance that matches your needs.

Home Insurance Calculator

How to Estimate Home Insurance Costs

Home insurance costs are easy to estimate if you know how much homeowners insurance you need. Here’s how to determine the best home insurance amount for your situation.

1. Dwelling Coverage (the Cost to Rebuild Your House)

Dwelling coverage is the foundation of home insurance. Dwelling insurance pays to rebuild or repair your house if it’s damaged due to a problem covered by your homeowners insurance policy, such as a fire or tornado.

Your home insurance company will be able to provide an estimate of the cost of rebuilding your house.

Other home insurance coverage related to your dwelling coverage include:

• Other structures coverage pays to repair or replace structures not attached to your house (such as a shed or fence) if they’re damaged by a problem covered by your policy (like a tornado). The amount of “other structures coverage” typically defaults to 10% of your dwelling insurance limit.
• Additional living expenses coverage reimburses you for extra expenses (such as hotel bills and takeout meals) if you cannot live at home due to an incident covered by your policy (such as a fire). Additional living expenses coverage is usually set to 20% of your dwelling coverage limit.

2. Personal Property Coverage (the Value of Your Belongings)

Personal property coverage pays to repair or replace your belongings, such as furniture, appliances, clothing and other household items, if they’re damaged or destroyed by a problem covered by your policy, such as a fire.

Personal property coverage is generally set at 50% to 70% of your dwelling limit. That means that if your dwelling coverage is $500,000 and your personal property coverage is set at 50%, your personal property limit would be $250,000. You can pay to increase your personal property coverage. Completing a home inventory will help you determine your coverage needs.

3. Homeowners Liability Insurance

The liability insurance within a homeowners policy pays for injuries and property damage you accidentally cause others. For example, if your dog bites someone, your liability insurance can cover the medical expenses. Liability insurance also covers your legal expenses if you’re sued over the incident.

You should buy enough liability insurance to cover what could be taken from you in a lawsuit.

4. Choose a Home Insurance Deductible

An insurance deductible is the amount subtracted from a claim check. For example, if you select a $1,000 deductible and have a kitchen fire repair that’s $5,000, your home insurance claim payout would be $4,000. Typical deductible amounts range from $500 up to $2,000.

Home insurance deductibles apply to your structure and personal property coverages, not liability insurance coverage. Deductibles usually are flat dollar amounts, but there are exceptions, including hurricane deductibles and hail and windstorm deductibles.

Factors Used to Calculate Home Insurance Rates

Location, the cost to rebuild your house, past claims history, how much coverage you choose and your credit are the main factors in home insurance costs.

Location

Your ZIP code is a major factor in a home insurance estimate because it reveals risks such as weather and crime where you live.

Insurance companies also look at your proximity to emergency services, such as the fire station.

The Cost to Rebuild Your House

The cost to rebuild your house dictates how much dwelling coverage you should buy. The higher the costs to rebuild, the higher dwelling limits you need. Also considered are the materials your house is built with, such as brick, stucco, wood or stone. Certain materials can make your home more or less risky to insure.

Past Claims History

Your past claims history reveals that you tend to make a lot of claims, making you riskier to insure. Also, the claims history of your property is often reviewed. That shows the issues of previous homeowners that could also affect you.

How Much Coverage You Choose

The higher the limits you choose for your house, the higher the potential payout by the home insurance company. But don’t skimp on the coverage. You don’t want to be underinsured and unable to rebuild your home and replace your belongings after a disaster.

Your Credit

Homeowners insurance companies generally use credit-based insurance scores when calculating rates— except in California, Maryland and Massachusetts.

Using a person’s credit to calculate insurance rates is controversial, but homeowners insurance companies point to a Federal Trade Commission study that associates credit score with the likelihood you’ll make an insurance claim. The report indicated people with lower credit scores are likely to file more claims and/or make claims with higher payouts. Due to this higher risk, people with poor credit pay higher home insurance rates.

How to Estimate How Much Home Insurance You Need

How much home insurance you need depends on the cost to rebuild your house, how much personal property coverage you need, how much liability insurance you require and other factors.

Your home insurance company can figure out the estimated cost to rebuild your house. This amount should be your dwelling coverage limit. And there are other coverage needs to consider.

Do You Need Expanded Dwelling Coverage?

Dwelling coverage pays to repair or completely rebuild your house, but it doesn’t take into account an unexpected rise in construction costs. For example, after a widespread disaster like a tornado, construction costs can spike due to demand. To prevent customers from being underinsured, some companies sell enhanced dwelling coverage called extended and guaranteed replacement cost coverage:

• Extended replacement cost coverage offers a specific amount over your dwelling coverage, such as 25% more, if rebuilding costs are higher than expected.
• Guaranteed replacement cost coverage will pay any necessary rebuilding cost, no matter how much it is.

Ask your home insurance company if it offers one or both, if you’re interested in this safeguard. Not all companies offer these upgrades.

Do You Want to Save by Choosing a Higher Deductible?

An insurance deductible is the amount subtracted from a claims check if you file a home insurance claim. It influences how much you pay for coverage. The higher the deductible, the cheaper the costs you pay for coverage. If you’re looking to save, a higher deductible can save you money without sacrificing coverage.

Do You Want a Higher Amount of Personal Property Coverage?

Personal property covers your belongings, like furniture, clothing, electronics and appliances. Insurance companies usually set personal property coverage at between 50% and 70% of dwelling coverage.

Let’s say you have $300,000 dwelling coverage with 50% personal property coverage. That would mean you have $150,000 coverage for your belongings. If the cost to replace your possessions exceeds that amount, talk to the insurance company about increasing the personal property coverage.

Do You Want Actual Cash Value vs. Replacement Cost Coverage?

Replacement cost coverage reimburses you for the cost of buying new, similar items, rather than the depreciated value of what was destroyed. Replacement cost coverage will cost you more but you’ll get a higher payout if you have a personal property claim.

Do You Need More Liability Coverage?

Personal liability insurance pays legal costs if someone sues you for an issue covered by your liability insurance. This can include medical bills and lost wages if a person is injured at your home, and other problems for which you’re responsible, such as a lawsuit against you over a dog bite.

Home insurance policies typically provide liability coverage starting at $100,000 but that might not be enough. You want enough liability insurance to protect your assets.

Additional Liability Insurance with an Umbrella Policy

You may find that the maximum liability limits available from your home insurance company aren’t enough to properly cover you, based on your net worth. In that case, consider an umbrella insurance policy of $1 million or more.

An umbrella insurance policy kicks in when you exhaust your home insurance liability coverage limits. An umbrella policy will also extend over your auto insurance policy, providing extra liability insurance in case you cause a large car accident.

What Is the Average Cost of Homeowners Insurance?

The national average cost of homeowners insurance is $1,582 per year, according to our analysis. That home insurance estimate is for a policy with $350,000 in dwelling coverage, $175,000 for personal property coverage and $100,000 in liability coverage.

Rates vary significantly from one home insurance company to the next, so be sure to shop around with multiple companies when looking for an affordable home insurance estimate.

Average Cost of Homeowners Insurance by State

Where you live plays a factor in how much you pay for home insurance. Here are the average home insurance costs by state.

Average Homeowners Insurance Cost by Company

The cheapest home insurance cost estimate is $746 a year from Progressive, based on Forbes Advisor’s analysis of nationwide costs among large insurers.

What Information Do I Need to Get a Quote?

If you have the following information on hand when comparing home insurance quotes, it should be a smooth process:

• Home’s address.
• Type of property (single family, duplex, multi-family).
• Property use (primary residence, seasonal/vacation home or rental).
• Year the house was built.
• Number of stories.
• Style of the home.
• Living area’s square footage.
• Number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
• If you have a garage (attached or detached).
• Detached structures such as a fence.
• The type and age of the roof.
• Exterior materials (stucco, brick, stone, etc.).
• Type of foundation, such as slab or basem*nt.
• Improvements or upgrades recently made to the home.
• Information on electrical, plumbing and heating systems.
• If any business is conducted on the property, such as a home day care business.
• Number of people living in the home.
• If you have dogs, a pool and/or a trampoline.
• Safety devices (deadbolt, security system, fire alarms).
• Accessibility to fire services.
• Distance to closest fire hydrant.
• Name of current home insurance company.
• Personal information, like your date of birth and marital status.
• Whether you have a mortgage.

Best Ways to Lower Homeowners Insurance Costs

Shop around. The rates for the same homeowners policy can vary substantially from one insurance company to the next, so comparing home insurance quotes with several companies will help you find the policy you need at the most affordable price.

Raise your home insurance deductible. You can save on home insurance costs by raising your deductible.

Bundle your home and auto insurance. Bundling insurance means you buy both your home and auto insurance policies from the same company. A bundling discount is typically one of the better discounts you can obtain.

Methodology

We used data from Quadrant Information Services, a provider of insurance data and analytics. Rates are based on ZIP codes across the nation for varying coverage limits, deductibles and credit.

Home Insurance Calculator FAQs