- Low rates are possible.
- Their site is loaded with information.
- Only available in California.
- No online pricing tool is available.
Wawanesa insurance company was founded in 1896 in Wawanesa, Manitoba, as a farmers’ mutual insurance carrier under Canadian law. Later, on May 23, 1974, The United States branch was established following Californian laws. A year later, the first policy was penned in the US.
Now, Wawanesa offers various insurance products such as auto, homeowners, condo, and renters insurance directly to consumers. Homeowners insurance is only offered in the state of California. They explain their success of low premiums and customer satisfaction by the fact that they spend lower-than-average levels on advertising and expenses.
They rely on word-of-mouth for all their advertising purposes, which seems to be going well for them. Keep reading to find out other areas of success (or failure) for Wawanesa home insurance. We’ll dissect their coverages and find out how much a policy with this insurer will cost you.
Plus, we’ll see what their insured homeowners say, and just how well they’re staying afloat financially.
Wawanesa insurance started in Canada over 100 years ago in the town of Wawanesa. They were founded in 1896 for the purpose of providing insurance for farmers on the Canadian prairies. After its humble beginnings, Wawanesa grew and eventually became one of the largest insurance providers in all of Canada. Wawanesa decided to establish a wing in the United States in 1974 and built offices in San Diego, California.
Wawanesa was the first Canadian based insurance company to successfully transition into the United States. After establishing their presence in California, Wawanesa expanded into Oregon. California and Oregon are the only two states where Wawanesa provides insurance. In California, they offer both auto and homeowners insurance but in Oregon they offer only auto insurance. Their Canadian offices offer a host of different policies which could indicate the plan to expand insurance policies in the United States.
Wawanesa is a young company in the states, but they have been operating for over 100 years in Canada granting them the experience and capabilities of larger insurance companies. Wawanesa does not operate through agents and sells their insurance policies directly through the company to anyone who qualifies. This will cut out the possibility for agents raising the premiums to compensate for their commission.
Wawanesa homeowners insurance coverages
An array of coverages are included in Wawanesa homeowners insurance policies that can safeguard you in different ways. These coverages provide protection to the construction of your abode if it faces any damage or destruction due to covered peril. They also ensure the shielding of your possessions against any damage or robbery.
Additionally, it includes:
- the expenses incurred during the period of your temporary movement,
- your liability coverage if you face any legal action,
- and medical expenses if a guest has been injured in your house.
Wawanesa offers a comprehensive homeowners insurance policy that includes:
- Dwelling protection: This obligatory inclusion of coverage compensates you for the reconstruction or replacement of your home in the event of a covered occurrence.
- Other structures: In the event of a covered incident, this coverage oversees the expenses of repairing or replacing any separate structures on your land, such as a fence, garage, or shed. Standard limits are set at 10% of dwelling coverage.
- Personal property: Protects your belongings – furniture, sporting goods, clothing, and electronics against damages due to a covered loss. You are entitled to personal possessions coverage regardless of where they are damaged, be it at home or in any part of the world. Additionally, you can opt for enhanced coverage on select high-value items. Standard limits are set at 70% of dwelling coverage.
- Loss of use: If a covered incident makes your home uninhabitable, this policy will cover the cost of living expenses, such as lodging, food, and any other essential expenses incurred while you are temporarily displaced. Standard limits are set at 20% of dwelling coverage.
- Personal liability: Compensates others for bodily injury or property damage caused by you or your household members that occurred on your property and is your legal responsibility. Standard limits are set at $100,000.
- Medical coverage: Compensates others for bodily injury costs regardless of whether it was caused by you or your household members. In the state of California, this offer also extends to occasional employees like housekeepers, gardeners, and babysitters, and covers any worker’s compensation claims. Standard limits are set at $1,000 per person.
Other optional coverages
- Special increased limits coverage: you can increase the basic coverage limits on:
- Other structures
- Personal property
- Loss of use
- Personal liability
- Medical payments
- Limited earthquake coverage: this limited coverage is offered on every homeowner’s policy. This protection is subject to a deductible that matches 15% of your dwelling coverage. Extended replacement cost isn’t included, but it does involve:
- Limited dwelling coverage to match the amount of coverage provided.
- Personal Property coverage is limited to $5,000.
- Additional Living Expenses is limited to $1,500
- Scheduled personal property coverage: you can schedule individual items to be insured for their current value:
- Jewelry
- Furs
- Cameras and photographic equipment
- Musical instruments
- Silverware
- Fine arts
- Golfing Equipment
- Sports Equipment
- Fishing Equipment
- Firearms
- Stamps
- Coins
- Hearing aids
- Credit card, fund transfer card, forgery & counterfeit money coverage: You can enhance the standard limit of $500 for losses resulting from situations such as check forgery, theft, unauthorized use of credit or fund transfer cards, or the acceptance of counterfeit money which you must pay legally by opting for an increase up to $10,000.
- Increased limits: Additional coverage is available when you increase the basic coverage limits offered in your policy for things like:
- Money – up to $1,000
- Securities – up to $5,000
- Watercraft – up to $5,000
- Extended jewelry, watches, and furs – up to $6,000
- Silverware, goldware, pewterware, and platinumware – up to $5,000
- Firearms and related equipment – up to $5,000
- Portable electronic equipment in or upon a motor vehicle – up to $2,500
- Business property – up to $5,000
- Lock replacement – up to $750
- Refrigerated products – up to $1,000
- Credit card – up to $2,500
- Extended Dwelling Replacement Cost – up to 150%
- Identity fraud expense and home cyber protection coverage: If you encounter a cyber attack, cyber extortion, online fraud, or identity theft, this plan will compensate you for any damages, losses, or expenses you incurred. The coverage provided has an annual limit of $25,000 and you are required to pay $500 as a deductible.
Wawanesa homeowners insurance premiums and discounts
Wawanesa has a way to begin your quote online, but it doesn’t give you your estimated price. It will prompt you for brief information, like your zip code and whether the home has had a plumbing claim. After this, it will prompt you to give them a call to finish your personalized quote.
In this case, we understand that in California, you can expect an average home insurance rate to be about $1,000 for $300,000 worth of dwelling coverage. This is actually on the lower end of home insurance rates in the country, where residents of Oklahoma can expect to pay over $2,000 more for the same coverage.
Customers are revealing that Wawanesa has lower insurance rates than some competitors. One customer claimed that Wawanesa had the lowest home insurance cost they could find. With so many insureds raving about their substantially lower premiums, it’s safe to say Californians won’t be breaking the bank with this company.
Cutting your home insurance expenses even further can be simpler than expected, though. Wawanesa provides a comprehensive range of discounts that can result in substantial savings on your home insurance. The following discounts are available for you to determine how much more you can save on your home insurance with Wawanesa.
- Discount on multiple policies: Qualifying for this discount is a piece of cake. All you have to do is combine your home insurance and car insurance policies to receive a discount as high as 20%.
- Loyal customer discount: Obtaining the loyalty discount is effortless since no action is required. Simply being a member of Wawanesa for one year will activate this discount. Your savings will increase the longer you continue to be a member.
- Claims-free discount: After the first year of being insured by Wawanesa, if you have not filed any claims, you will be eligible for a discount on your premium. Additionally, the duration of your claim-free stay with the insurer will determine the extent of your savings.
- Discount for non-smokers: Your home insurance policy will receive a discount provided that everyone living in your household refrains from smoking.
- Sprinkler discount: If your place of residence is fitted with a completely automatic sprinkler system, you will be eligible to receive this concession. This includes automatic sprinklers in all the key areas of your home like the bedrooms, kitchen, and living spaces.
- Burglar alarm discount: If your residence has a local burglary system or is linked to a monitoring center, you will be eligible for this discount.
- Water alarm discount: You will receive a price reduction if your property carries an automatically activated water stop valve in combination with a professionally installed water leakage detecting device.
Wawanesa’s claims process
Filing a claim with Wawanesa is pretty straightforward. You can go to their site and file your claim there, or you can call their 24/7 claims line at 888-WAWA-CLAIM.
Unsurprisingly, most complaints registered by the NAIC are due to claims handling. Unsatisfactory settlements, delays, and denials are the most popular topics for these grievances. However, overall complaint index is below average and there are both positive and negative claim reviews from their customers online.
Wawanesa’s customer reviews
According to the NAIC, there are far more complaints about Wawanesa’s auto insurance than home insurance. Where there were 153 coded complaints in 2022 for auto insurance, there were only 12 home insurance complaints.
This may explain why Wawanesa’s home insurance complaints stood below the complaint threshold in 2022. The complaint index level is always set at 1, and Wawanesa only received 0.82.
Most reviews online go on and on about how low the prices are. Complaints about home insurance are far and few between, with most gripes being about your typical premium hike and policy drops. As of April 2023, Wawanesa insurance has received 2.9 stars from 812 reviews on Google with most of the complaints reporting poor communication, hard to reach them by phone and slow response times. Google’s rating is for both home and auto insurance.
Wawanesa’s financial strength
Since 1975, Wawanesa has been an accredited A+ business with the BBB. As of now, they have closed 55 complaints in the last 3 years.
According to Weiss Ratings, Wawanesa is among the lower third of businesses that demonstrate good financial security with the necessary resources to deal with a variety of adverse economic conditions. As a result of this and other factors, they’ve provided Wawanesa with a rating of B-.
Following suit, AM Best provides Wawanesa with a “B u” rating for financial strength. This is their way of saying their ability to meet ongoing insurance obligations is fair. This is a downgrade from 2021 when their rating was an A-.
Final thoughts
If you’re a resident of California seeking lower rates and comprehensive coverage, Wawanesa might be the home insurer you’ve been waiting for. Their customers tend to agree that their prices are affordable, and their service is friendly.
While you might find it difficult to get a quote online, it may be worth giving them a call to see your coverage and pricing options.
