Oregon Mutual is an independent mutual insurance company providing casualty and property coverages for individuals, businesses, and families. Today, Oregon Mutual provides home insurance, auto insurance, and business insurance policies in Oregon, Idaho, California, and Washington. Basic home, business, and personal auto insurance policies are sold through their over 800 independent insurance agents across the four states.
Company Overview
Founded in 1894, the company was under the name of Oregon Fire Relief Association whose mission was to provide fire insurance. Its name was changed to Oregon Mutual Fire Insurance Company in 1930 and became licensed to write casualty insurance by 1948. The company’s name was changed for the last time to Oregon Mutual Insurance Company in 1955.
Oregon Mutual is one of the oldest independent mutual companies in the west of Mississippi, serving the west coast for more than 120 years. Their subsidiary is the Western Protectors Insurance Company. They are located in McMinnville, Oregon, and continue to operate as a policyholder-owned mutual company.
Home Insurance Products
They offer several types of home insurance policies. However, Oregon Mutual doesn’t provide a lot of information with regards to their standard home insurance products and optional coverage that you can add on the policy you choose. Their home insurance program is available for condos, rental homes, and family homes.
If you try to look at their website and go to their home insurance page, it will direct you to contact an agent for more information which can cause inconvenience.
Discounts
As stated above, they don’t provide that much information about their home insurance policies, which means discounts when purchasing home insurance in Oregon Mutual aren’t listed on their website as well. You can ask these discounts when you contact one of their agents when inquiring for home insurance.
Make sure to ask for Oregon Mutual’s home insurance discounts so you can save on your premiums. Some of the most common home insurance discounts that you can find on most insurance companies in the United States are:
- Security System and Burglar Alarm System Discount
- New Home Discount
- Fire and Smoke Alarm Discount
- Auto and Home Insurance Bundle Discount
- New Roof or Hail-Resistant Roof Discount
Claims Process and Customer Service
You can file a claim at any time of the day with Oregon Mutual. They have a toll free number that can be contacted 24/7 to report a claim. These toll-free numbers service a specific type of claim. For instance, there is a phone number for glass only claims. They don’t have an online claims service, compared to other home insurance companies. They don’t provide much detail about how claims are being processed, they only provide basic instructions for their policyholders as to what they should do following a loss.
On the customer reviews, we’ve gathered about Oregon Mutual, there are some negative feedback about their customer service. Some customers said that when they filed a claim, the company didn’t call them back. They also said that customer representatives are rude and disrespectful. Make sure to check more customer reviews about Oregon Mutual to help you decide.
Home Insurance Rates
They don’t offer online quoting. You will see a “Get a Quote” button on their website, however, this button is misleading because it will only redirect you to a page where you have to enter your contact information and wait for an agent to call and assist you with creating a quote.
Since this is just a small company, operating in only 4 states, it is not expected to compete regarding rates with the big direct companies. What they do to provide extra value is to rely on good customer service. However, there are also complaints from customers about the continuous increase in their home insurance rates each year despite not filing any claims. Some customers also said that the company dropped them after filing a claim.
Customer Reviews and Customer Satisfaction Ratings
Clearsurance only has 18 customer reviews for Oregon Mutual and only 4 of these reviews are about home insurance. All of them are positive, saying the rates are affordable. They got 4.25 out of 5 stars, which is a great rating for customer satisfaction, however, these 4 positive reviews aren’t enough to justify the reliability of Oregon Mutual, that is why you have to research more thoroughly to make sure if this company’s service is really worth your money.
Oregon Mutual is not included in the 2018 U.S. Home Study of J.D. Power. Some of the home insurance companies included in this customer satisfaction study are Nationwide and State Farm who both have an about-average customer satisfaction rating from J.D. Power. The company who earned the highest rating in this Home Study is Amica Mutual, which is rated as “Among the Best”.
Financial Strength
A.M. Best gave a financial strength rating of A- or Excellent to Oregon Mutual Insurance Company, which means they have the financial resources to pay the claims filed by their customers. However, this financial strength rating was from 2015 and A.M. Best doesn’t have any updated rating for Oregon Mutual until now.
The Pros and Cons
Here are the advantages and disadvantages of getting home insurance with Oregon Mutual:
PROS
- Affordable
- 24/7 claims service
CONS
- Information about their home insurance policy isn’t detailed
- Negative reviews about their customer service
- Only operates in 4 states
- Online quoting is not available
