- Unique coverages for American heroes.
- Discounts and payment options can be applied for ultimate savings.
- No online quote tool.
California Casualty was founded in 1914. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Calcas now offers auto, homeowners, renters, motorcycle, and other insurance products for:
- Firefighters
- EMS
- Nurse practitioners
- Registered nurses
- Teachers
- Higher ed employees
- Peace officers
- and other select professions.
As you can see, this insurance company heavily endorses American heroes. They cater dearly to these individuals by providing extra attention to policy details tailored to their unique needs. Calcas servers all states except for Alaska, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Wisconsin.
California Casualty follows the lead of its rivals by offering reasonable rates to those who qualify. However, what sets this insurer apart is its exclusive coverage options and special discounts aimed at particular industries. On the downside, California Casualty has limited accessibility and appears to have indifferent customer service.
That said, is Calcas homeowners insurance worth it? Keep reading and find out with us. We’ll go through their coverages and premiums, plus any discounts they offer to these important citizens. Moreover, we’ll zoom in on customer reviews and see just how well they’re treated by their insurer.
California Casualty homeowners insurance coverages
California Casualty offers the expected coverage for homeowners. Their property insurance extends to renters, condos, and mobile homes. They even offer umbrella protection, plus pet, flood, and earthquake insurance.
As far as homeowners insurance goes, you’ll get basic coverage with California Casualty. This includes dwelling coverage, coupled with other structures and personal property coverage. You can also expect your typical liability, loss of use, and medical payments coverages.
Though California Casualty home insurance provides the same typical coverage choices as other leading insurance providers, it sets itself apart from the competition with several key aspects. Besides its usual anticipated coverages, California Casualty homeowners insurance policies are equipped with exclusive advantages and coverage options.
Additional coverages
This insurer offers unique additional coverage types that are specifically designed for its policyholders. These include exclusive packages for teachers:
- $3,000 in personal property coverage specifically for items used for educational purposes. In New Hampshire, homeowners have the luxury of not having any deductions applied.
- $500 worth of protection without a deduction for money lost or stolen from fundraisers.
- Extra liability coverage.
- Death benefits for survivors of school violence: this coverage option is not yet available in Georgia, Montana, New Hampshire, Texas, or Virginia.
First responders and law enforcement officers also benefit from extra perks in their coverage. These include:
- Extra coverage for bunker gear.
- Up to $5,000 worth of special personal property coverage that takes care of the costs associated with damage or theft to off-duty weapons.
- Extra coverage for uniforms
- Fallen Hero death benefits for those killed in the line of duty
Earthquake insurance can be purchased from the company itself or via GeoVera Insurance Company in certain instances. If you live in California, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Oregon, or Rhode Island, you can opt to add this coverage as an endorsement. Alternatively, GeoVera coverage is accessible in California, Oregon, and Washington.
Identity theft coverage is a standard feature of each policy. It provides several advantages, including:
- Help with tax fraud
- Safeguard against child identity theft
- Protection against hacked social media accounts
- Security against assisted living fraud
- Home invasion protection
- Protection from employment ID theft
- Defense against travel ID theft
Another service offered by California Casualty is flood insurance. This endorsement is fulfilled through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
California Casualty home insurance premiums and discounts
Calcas doesn’t have an online quote tool available. They allow you to enter your state and occupation, but regardless of our entries, they refer us to a phone number to retrieve a personalized quote.
Understanding their coverage options and what their customers have to say about their prices gives us a clue about what a typical policy will look like with this insurer. Let’s take a look.
California Casualty offers home insurance for every state except:
- Alaska
- Hawaii
- Montana
- Michigan
- New York
- Wisconsin
Customers online rarely gripe about their rates from Calcas. Several customers say they have been with this insurer for years due to their competitive rates. Others weren’t provided with better options compared to their adversaries.
Nevertheless, many Calcas homeowners can enjoy a couple of discounts and options to save. With a belief that “homeowners deserve the best value”, California Casualty offers solid coverage and a few ways to save money for customers who qualify. For a 12-month rate, homeowners could have the following discounts applied:
- Multi-policy discount: you can receive a discount for bundling your home and auto insurance with Calcas.
- Non-smoker discount: get a discount on your premium for not smoking on the property.
- Age 55+/retired discount: you can get a discount for being 55 or older, or for being a retired individual.
- Home alert protection discount: Calcas provides you with a discount for having burglar alarms installed on the property.
- Automatic sprinkler discount: receive a discount for having automatic sprinklers installed on the property.
- Fire resistive discount: receive a discount for having fire-resistant features on your property, like fire alarms, smoke detectors, and other items.
Along with these savings options, Calcas allows you to choose your payment options. If your premium happens to be on the pricier side, these could help lessen the blow. They include your standard automated, and annual payments, plus the option to pay in installments. Calcas also allows you to have your premiums deducted from your payroll.
California Casualty’s claims process
To file a claim with California Casualty, you can visit their website. With or without an account, you can enter their catastrophe center and file your claim online. Conversely, you can give them a call at 1.800.800.9410 and use option 4. They have an after-hours support line that you will be transferred to when you call outside typical business hours.
According to their customers, their process isn’t as cut and dry as you would hope. Some customers have revealed waiting years to get paid for their incidents.
Overall though, California Casualty doesn’t have an overwhelmingly large number of negative reviews online about its claims process. Actually, quite the opposite. Some customers revel in how fairly and quickly claims have been handled in the past.
To back this up, we mentioned earlier that the NAIC noted an above-average number of complaints in 2022. None of these were about claims, which is rare.
California Casualty’s customer satisfaction
For a company to be so focused on advertising to American heroes, we expect them to treat these individuals kindly as well. Aside from general customer appreciation, these professionals deserve to be treated courteously and fairly. Contrarily, Calcas may not meet our expectations here.
The NAIC has registered a higher than average rate of complaints against California Casualty home insurance in 2022. With a typical rating set at 1, this insurer scored 1.52. According to them, half of these issues were geared more toward underwriting as they pertained to nonrenewals. The other half were related simply to poor, unresponsive service.
Unfortunately, many customers are upset because of their frequent inability to provide quality customer service. Many say they’re met with a rude and unhelpful team that is anything but supportive. Others note how their service is unenthusiastic and unprofessional.
On the other hand, positive reviews can be found periodically praising their insurer. Many of these are from loyal, long-time customers who have never encountered an issue.
California Casualty’s financial strength
Calcas has received pretty average ratings from financial insurance reviewers.
For example, Weiss Ratings has provided Calcas with a financial safety rating of a solid C. This means they believe Calcas offers fair financial security and is currently stable. This comes with the thought that Calcas may encounter difficulties in maintaining its financial stability during an economic downturn.
AM Best has given Calcas a financial strength rating of B++. This is their way of saying they believe Calcas demonstrates a “good” understanding of meeting insurance requirements. They also provided them with a long-term issuer credit score of bbb, which essentially means the same thing, but as a senior insurer.
The Better Business Bureau has labeled California Casualty as an accredited business since 2011. Due to their ability to be responsive to complaints here, they’ve received an A+ rating.
Demotech has yet to provide judgment for Calcas.
Final thoughts
If you’re a qualified professional and need essential home insurance in the greater part of the US, California Casualty may be the home insurer for you. This is especially the case if you prefer competitive rates with a company that can offer you a long relationship.
Calcas may offer decent coverages and competitive premiums to back them up. Their discounts are quite nice as well, as long as you qualify based on your location.
If you value high-quality customer support, you may need to proceed with caution. Calcas has a great divide between very satisfied, and very unsatisfied homeowners. Half say they’ve never had an issue in decades of service, while others say they can’t even get them to respond effectively.
