With an option to upgrade their basic home insurance package, you’ll have plenty of coverage. We look into Country Financial to uncover if they’re the best fit for you.
Compared to other big names in the insurance industry, Country Financial isn’t making that much noise. However, they offer a great range of insurance plans to choose from just like more popular providers. If you are considering getting a home insurance policy from Country Financial, read on below to know more about it — from their history to their pros and cons.
A brief history
Country Financial was only selling insurance policies for lightning and fire when it first started as a mutual insurance company in Illinois in 1925. Within a year, they expanded their insurance coverage and offered farm and crop-hail equipment insurance. In 1929, they included life and auto insurance. They began adding other coverage areas so more people could reach their services.
Today, they are providing a wide range of insurance products to 19 states. Other than that, they are not just offering home, life, and car insurance, they also provide planning services and financial products for education and retirement. They are one of the top home insurance companies in the United States.
Country Financial claim
They claim to have a long history of protecting people and that they’re working together to assist their customers and families to have protection by identifying risks and help you on how to handle each one. They will be on your side as your home and family grows.
Is Country Financial’s claim true?
We’ve found that the claims are sort of true. They have a good list of available home insurance policies for their customers. They offer coverage for ranch or farms, traditional homes, and condominiums but they don’t offer coverage for mobile homes. They also have online tools to provide information and resources, so their customers can have a clearer understanding of the company’s home insurance policies and rates before making a decision.
Great discounts and additional endorsements are available for their home insurance policies as well. They have an online customer support page where you can pay your bills or get information about your claims.
However, their agent finder tool that can help you find an agent representative near your area seems to be a disadvantage rather than a benefit. Since you can’t get a quote or file a claim on their website, you have to find a Country Financial agent that will assist with your needs. Once the tool finds an agent for you, they will give you the phone number of the agent, which is a little inconvenient, especially if you’re a busy person and don’t have a lot of time to sit down and talk with multiple agents.
Other than that, there are a lot of complaints about their customer service along with complaints about the agent finder tool not working properly. There are also complaints about their rates getting doubled every year even if they don’t have any claims. They also rank low on customer satisfaction surveys, because of their poor performance in customer service and claims handling.
Home insurance coverage
The company offers three packages for their home insurance coverage, namely:
- Basic coverage – This includes policies for risks such as theft, vandalism, lightning, fire, plumbing, hail, wind, and freezing.
- Premier coverage – The basic coverage is included in this package with additional policies for paint spillage, power surge damage to appliances, and countertop burns. This is their best coverage.
- Combination coverage – This is a combination of Premier coverage for your home and Basic coverage for your belongings.
The home insurance coverage from Country Financial varies by state. Some coverages that are standard for most insurance providers aren’t included in Country Financial’s basic coverage. Therefore, you will only get baseline coverage and the low premiums that come with it.
The premier package is the best package they are offering since it has more perks. They have additional coverages that you can include in the package you choose. These are the following:
- Personal property – Personal belongings are only covered against certain types of damages in their basic and combo package. However, if you add this in the Premier package, your personal property will be protected more since you get additional policies such as paint spills and countertop burns.
- Dwelling – Dwelling coverage pays the costs that will be incurred when your house needs to be rebuilt or repaired in the event of a covered loss.
- Medical – You can choose an amount of up to $25,000 to cover the medical bills of people who gets injured in your home.
- Liability – This coverage can go up to $1 million and you can add an umbrella policy if you need more than liability coverage. However, you have to get an auto insurance policy to be eligible for the umbrella policy.
Discounts
Country Financial enables clients to save up on policy costs and get discounts if:
- Your home is new.
- The roof is hail-resistant.
- Auto and home insurance are purchased together.
- The wirings inside your home are new.
- There are cooling or heating systems.
- Your home has smoke and fire alarms.
Ratings
4.36 out of 5 stars is the rate given to Country Financial by Clearsurance. Most of the reviews written by customers are positive and gave the company an excellent rating. Fair and Poor ratings are only about 6%, with complaints about their insurance costs increasing without making any claims, no agents to help them with their needs, and unresponsive customer service.
Like State Farm, Country Financial also received an About Average rating from J.D. Power in their 2018 U.S. Home Insurance Study.
When it comes to their financial strength, A.M. Best gave them a Superior or an A+ rating, which is lower compared to Geico and State Farm who both got an A++. These high ratings simply prove that these companies have enough money to pay out all the claims that will be filed by their customers.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- To suit your needs, you can upgrade your basic package to the Premier and include add-ons when needed.
- A variety of discounts to choose from.
- They underwrite their own home insurance policies.
Cons
- They only operate in 19 states.
- You can’t request a quote or file a claim online.
