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American Reliable Home Insurance Review (2023)

American Reliable offer homeowners insurance in 28 states. They specialize on insuring unique homes that may not qualify for coverage from some other insurers. American Reliable is able to insure older homes, mobile and manufactured homes, as well as seasonal and vacation homes.

Read Time: 8 mins

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2.8
★ HOIC RATING
Premiums 4
Claims 2
Customer Satisfaction 1
Financial Standing 4
PROS
  • Provides coverage to homes that would otherwise not be able to obtain coverage.
  • Great financial strength.
CONS
  • Coverage only available in just over half the states.
  • Frustrating and combative claims process.
  • Higher premiums than the national average.

Founded in 1952, American Reliable Insurance Company is based in Scottsdale, AZ. It is a part of the ECM Insurance Group. American Reliable provides insurance coverage for non-standard properties, specifically in the farm, ranch, and agriculture realms for their home insurance business. They do sell other types of specialized insurance such as ATV insurance, but that is beyond the scope of this review.

American Reliable is an option for many homeowners who may have unique homes that don’t fit under a standard home insurance policy or homeowners of homes that are lower value that may not meet the minimum requirements of a standard home insurance policy.

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Home insurance coverages is offered by American Reliable

American Reliable offers three different types of home insurance policies: standard homeowners insurance, dwelling fire insurance, and mobile or manufactured home insurance.

Homeowners insurance is offered in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

They offer car and motorcycle insurance in all states but Alaska.

The standard home insurance policy covers:

  • Dwelling: coverage from damage that occurs to the structure of the home or any attached structures.
  • Other structures: protection from damage to any structures on the property not attached to the home.
  • Personal property: coverage to repair or replace personal belongings such as furniture or electronics.
  • Loss of use: this coverage provides reimbursement for additional living expenses incurred while the home is being repaired or rebuilt to make it habitable again.
  • Personal liability: coverage for any lawsuits that might arise from injuries or damages to others where the homeowner is found to be at fault.
  • Medical payments to others: protection for any injuries that may occur to a guest on the property no matter who is found to be at fault.

It is important to note that American Reliable typically only accepts homes that are typically not accepted for coverage by other companies.

Dwelling fire policies

Acceptance’s dwelling fire insurance policies are meant for homes that are older or low-value homes that don’t meet the standards required for any standard home insurance policy. Dwelling fire insurance provides the most basic of home insurance coverage for the home. Usually covering simply just the dwelling in the event of fire damage or one of the other few basic named perils that may be covered in the policy.

Mobile and manufactured home insurance

Mobile or manufactured home insurance through American Reliable is similar to that of other companies. The policy provides similar protection to that of the standard home insurance policy above but with language and coverage designed specifically for the uniqueness of a manufactured or mobile home. 

Seasonal and vacation home insurance

They also have policies designed to protect seasonal or vacation homes. This is a unique situation where the home is not occupied for long periods of time, which leads to unique risks and challenges. Policies are designed to fit this situation.

Coverage limits

Unfortunately, we were unable to determine specific coverage limits for American Reliable home insurance policies. The way standard policies usually work is first a dwelling coverage limit is determined and then the other sections of coverage are a percentage of that coverage limit. Typically, other structures coverage is 10% of the dwelling limit, personal property 50%, and loss of use 20%, but that has not been confirmed.

Talk with an American Reliable Insurance agent to learn the specific limits of your policy. Their mobile or manufactured home coverage may be similar while their dwelling fire policy may just have a dwelling coverage limit. Again, this is speculation and has not been confirmed. Talk with an agent to learn specifics.

Cost of American Reliable homeowners insurance

We couldn’t find the premium costs of American Reliable’s home insurance policies, but we can safely assume that the company’s premiums are higher than average due to the specialized nature of what properties American Reliable insures. Since American Reliable insures homes that are non-standard and would not typically be insured by other home insurance companies, those homes inherently have a higher risk of damage and therefore command a higher premium from the insurance company.

We did find a few reviews from customers that mentioned that their rates are affordable and competitive.

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Discounts available

We were unable to determine what discounts American Reliable offers.

Claims experience

According to customer reviews the claims process seems to be a hassle for most customers. Policyholders can easily start a claim by calling the number or emailing the email on the website, but there is no option for starting the claims process online. Many reviews say how frustrating the claims process is and how unhelpful agents are. Reviews say that the company tends to drag its feet on paying claims, which has led to many complaints. The website shows that agents are available 24/7 to assist policyholders. Reviews state that agents tend to be rude and unhelpful in many cases.

Customer service

Not only is the claims process frustrating for customers of American Reliable, but most interactions with the company seem to be frustrating for policyholders. Most reviews we could find are negative, giving the company one-star ratings. There are some positive reviews of the company with a number of customers having a pleasant experience interacting with American Reliable, but the one-star reviews are quite high as well. Customer experience overall trends toward the negative.

According to the NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners), American Reliable has a quite high complaint index of 4.44 in 2022. With the industry average complaint index set to 1.00, their complaint index is over four times what would be expected for a company of their size. 2021 and 2020 data shows that their homeowners insurance complaint index has been over 3.5 for the last 3 years. This is not a good sign as to the practices of agents and executives at American Reliable Insurance Company.

As of May 2023, American Reliable has scored 2.2 stars on Google from 58 customer reviews.

Financial strength

American Reliable has an A rating from AM Best, but no rating from Standard & Poor’s or Moody’s. An A rating from AM Best is the third highest rating obtained by an insurance company, meaning the company is in great financial health although not spectacular financial health. This is a good financial strength rating to see from a company.

Conclusion

American Reliable is a company that can provide quality home insurance to a specific niche of homeowners. Homeowners who have homes that are unique, older, of low value, or all of the above will find American Reliable a good option for them to obtain coverage, where they would not be able to find coverage anywhere else. Of course, only homeowners with unique homes in 28 states have this option. One drawback of the company is that no coverage is offered in almost half the states, limiting the number of people able to have American Reliable as an option.

Premiums are most likely on the higher end of the spectrum due to the specialized nature of the company and their insuring of higher-risk homes that would not be insured otherwise. One of the most troubling aspects of the company is the complaint index provided by the NAIC. Complaints of American Reliable are over four times higher than expected, meaning they have way too many complaints for the size of their company. This shows that either the claims process is quite frustrating, agents aren’t as helpful as they could be, or a combination of both. In American Reliable’s case, it seems as if every aspect of the company seems to be reviewed negatively. Based on customer reviews, the agents are unhelpful and rude towards customers and the company extensively fights claims. This is concerning to see for homeowners looking for coverage.

American Reliable does have a good financial strength rating. It is good to see an A rating or higher from an insurance company as that means they are in great financial health. Although an A rating does mean that the company is not perfect and may have some issues with their financial issues or possibly an overly large amount of financial burden that could potentially occur in an occurrence where many claims are filed at once. Overall, the company seems to be great for a very specific situation, but in most standard cases, is not the right option for homeowners. Those who own mobile or manufactured homes will certainly want to consider purchasing a home insurance policy through American Reliable as they offer coverage for even some of the hardest-to-insure mobile and manufactured homes. All in all, a low-rated insurance company, that I would not recommend unless you fit into one of the unique situations above.

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ABOUT AUTHOR
Kyle has extensive background in financial planning and financial writing. He is an expert in home, auto and life insurance. Kyle holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from San Diego State University and multiple financial planning designations.
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