- Great customer service and claims process.
- Easy to use website and mobile app.
- Large number of additional coverage options.
- Quite expensive cost.
- Not many discounts available.
- Only available in 19 states.
Country Financial is a great home insurance option for many homeowners. Country Financial provides a wide range of products with numerous insurances, investments, and planning services. It is a one-stop shop for all your financial needs. The company, headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois, has been in business for over 95 years, giving it a good track record of success through the ups and downs of the last century.
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. While home insurance is not available in every state, it is an option worth considering in states where they do offer coverage. If you are considering getting a home insurance policy from Country Financial, read on below to know more about it — from its history to its pros and cons.
Unfortunately, Country Financial does not offer home insurance in every state. They actually offer home insurance in only 19 states. These 19 states include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin. For residents of other states, Country Financial may be an options for other types of insurance or for investment products even though homeowners is not. You can check Country Financials’ website for states they offer coverage in for any particular type of insurance.
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 home insurance coverages
Country Financial offers standard HO-3 home insurance policies along with a plethora of additional and other home-related coverages. The standard policy sections include:
- Dwelling: coverage for damage that occurs to the structure of the home or any attached structures
- Other structures: protection for 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: protection 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
Additional coverages offered
There are numerous additional coverages that homeowners can choose to tack on to their standard home insurance policy with Country Financial. These additional coverages include:
- Extended replacement cost: This protection increases the dwelling coverage limit up to 120% of the original amount.
- Guaranteed replacement cost: This protection pays for the entire rebuild cost of the home no matter how much it costs.
- Replacement cost basis for personal belongings: This protection changes the reimbursement for damage to personal property from actual cash value to replacement cost, meaning that depreciation is not taken into account as time goes on.
- Scheduled personal belongings: This protection increases the coverage limit for valuable personal belongings.
- Inflation protection: This coverage annually increases the coverage limits as construction and labor costs increase.
- Water backup: This coverage provides protection for any flooding damage that occurs due to a water backup.
- Flood insurance: This coverage is provided through the National Flood Insurance Program and protects the homeowner from flood damage.
- Watercraft liability: This coverage provides liability protection for an accident that occurs on a watercraft you own where you are found responsible.
- Additional residence liability: This protection increases the liability coverage for other properties that you own.
- Earthquake coverage: This coverage protects the homeowner from damage caused by an earthquake.
- Identity theft: This protection provides up to $25,000 of coverage to help the homeowner regain their identity if it is stolen or if personal identification documents need to be replaced due to a natural disaster.
- Advocacy services: This protection provides expert advice to help you regain your identity.
Other coverages offered
In addition to the coverages listed above, Country Financial offers other home-related insurances. These include:
- Landlord insurance: This policy works in much the same way as a standard home insurance policy with the difference of landlord insurance providing loss of rental income protection rather than loss of use protection as in a standard policy. This policy covers the landlord of a rental property, not a tenant.
- Renters insurance: This policy protects the tenant of a rental property from damage to their belongings along with personal liability protection.
- Umbrella insurance: Umbrella policies provide overarching, high coverage limits that can kick in in the event that a homeowner surpasses the coverage limits stated in their policy.
- Condo insurance: This policy is similar to a standard home insurance policy, but with language and coverage that is specifically meant for condos.
- Personal umbrella insurance: This insurance provides increased personal liability protection to cover any major medical or legal bills that may arise
Coverage limits
Unfortunately, we were unable to find the coverage limits for Country Financials’ home insurance policies. It is safe to assume that the limits work similarly to other major companies in that 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 a Country Financial agent to learn the specific limits for your policy.
Cost of a Country Financial homeowners insurance
The average cost of a home insurance policy with Country Financial for a $300,000 home is about $2,730 per year, according to PolicyGenius. This is quite a bit more expensive than the national average of $1,900 per year. This is one of the major drawbacks of Country Financials’ home insurance. Homeowners should consider the cost when looking at coverage options.
Discounts available
Country Financial offers a few different discounts to help homeowners reduce their premium. These discounts include:
- Bundling: this discount comes about by purchasing multiple policies through Country Financial
- Protective devices: this is a discount for installing devices such as smoke detectors and alarm systems
- New home: owners of newly built homes can receive a discount
- Hail-resistant roof: this is a discount for a strong roof
- New roof: homes with new roofs are eligible for a discount
- Safe heating: Homes with safe heating meaning not a wood-burning stove or something of that nature, are eligible for a discount
- New wiring: Newly completed wiring in the home makes a homeowner eligible for this discount
It is important to note that not all of these discounts are available in all states where Country Financial offers coverage. Talk with a local agent to determine what discounts might be available to you.
Claims process
Overall, the claims process looks to be relatively smooth with Country Financial. Customer reviews of the claims process are overwhelmingly positive, with only a small number of negative reviews and complaints. The claims process is clearly laid out step by step on the company website, making it very easy to understand and start the process. Something unique about Country Financial is that policyholders can also start the claims process via Country Financials’ mobile app.
Customer experience
According to customer reviews, the customer experience with Country Financial has been mostly positive. Most reviews are positive, with the negative reviews mostly stating the price as an issue, but liking everything else about the company.
According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s complaint index, Country Financial is well below the expected number of complaints for a company of their size. They have had almost no complaints and sit around 90% fewer complaints than average in 2022. The positive reviews and lack of complaints is a good sign for homeowners shopping for home insurance companies.
Financial strength
Country Financial has a strong financial rating with an A+ rating from AM Best. Unfortunately, the company is not rated by the two other major ratings agencies, Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s. An A+ rating from AM Best is the second highest rating that can be obtained by a company. It is quite positive to see an A+ rating. This means that Country Financial can easily weather any storms that may blow their way and can survive major downturns in the economy.
Conclusion
Country Financial is one of the best options for home insurance in the states where they offer coverage. They have very few negative reviews. Most customers seem to be happy with having coverage through Country.
The only piece that people seem to really have issues with is the price. Country Financial home insurance policies are quite expensive and there aren’t many discounts available to lower that high premium cost.
The financial strength of the company is exceptional, which is always a plus. The company does offer a large number of additional coverages, which allows customers to customize the policy to exactly what they want. Of course, this does add more cost though.
Overall, Country Financial is a great option with a strong foundation and great customer service that customers will enjoy.
