LendingTree’s Home Insurance Ratings Methodology: How We Evaluate and Score Insurance Companies
Our goal at LendingTree is to help you make informed decisions in each step of your financial journey. This includes providing you with the information you need to shop for homeowners insurance with clarity and confidence.
Our editorial team independently analyzes data from industry databases and public sources to identify home insurance companies with the best rates, coverage options and customer service. Designed for consistency and fairness, our ratings are based on the factors that home insurance shoppers care about the most.
Here’s a closer look at how our ratings work.
Our methodology categories
We analyze data from third-party sources and insurance company websites to rate them on six primary factors.
Basic cost (40%)
Home insurance rates are obtained from Quadrant Information Services. We analyze quotes from every state to show how each company’s rates for a typical home compare to national and regional averages. Companies with the lowest rates get the highest scores. Quotes are for homes insured with $400,000 in dwelling coverage.
Customer service (30%)
Each company’s customer service rating is based on complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The NAIC tracks confirmed complaints over things like claim payments. A complaint is confirmed if it leads to a finding of fault. Companies with fewer confirmed complaints than average score higher in this category.
Coverage options (10%)
The optional coverages that most insurance companies offer can provide valuable financial protection in certain circumstances. We analyze insurance companies’ websites and online quoting tools to see their coverage options. Companies that give you more choices get higher scores.
Discounts (10%)
Home insurance discounts can help reduce your insurance rate by a significant amount. We review each company’s websites and online quoting tools to add up the number of discounts they have. Companies get higher scores in this category by offering more savings opportunities.
Online experience (5%)
We analyze each company’s website and smartphone app to see how easy it is to get quotes and manage your policy on your own. Companies get high scores for providing consumer-friendly information on their websites and user-friendly digital tools. User ratings of each company’s smartphone app also factor into its usability score.
Financial strength (5%)
We check each company’s A.M. Best rating to check its financial strength. Companies with higher ratings get better scores because they have the long-term stability to pay claims. Some lenders require your insurance company to have a rating of B or better from A.M. Best, unless it has a comparable rating from a different firm, like Demotech or S&P Global.
Our methodology process
Companies are rated in each category on a five-point scale. These scores are used to create a weighted average that reflects each company’s overall star rating, rated to the nearest half-point, with 5 stars being the highest score.
Our editorial team applies the same scoring model and standards to each insurance company. Although LendingTree receives compensation from some companies when users request their home insurance quotes, compensation does not affect the independence or objectivity of our editorial rankings or recommendations.
Please see our editorial standards for more information.
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