Margaret Huntley Last Updated On: February 13, 2024

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Find the Best Homeowners Insurance in Connecticut Fast

Connecticut is renowned for its beautiful fall foliage, but there’s more to the state than just brightly-colored trees. Living in Connecticut gives you access to the cost, sleepy rural towns, and is close enough to drive to the Big Apple. You get a bit of everything in Connecticut, and included in that is great home insurance.

If you’re looking to call Connecticut home or you’re ready to start saving on your current home insurance policy, we’ve got everything you need to find the best homeowners insurance in Connecticut. 

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Table of Contents

Severe Weather Events in Connecticut & Their Impact on Home Insurance

Connecticut can be a great place to live, thanks to its coastal position, proximity to major cities, and incredible culture. But life in Connecticut isn’t always sunshine and roses; in fact, the state experiences its fair share of severe weather that homeowners should be aware of.

Because Connecticut is a coastal state, flooding can be an issue. And with global warming, the risk of flooding is getting even higher. Some of the areas most at risk for flooding include:

  • Old Greenwich
  • Cos Cob
  • Branford Center
  • East Haven
  • Westport
  • Darien
  • Norwalk
  • Bridgeport
  • Greenwich
  • Hartford

But you should consider flooding insurance anywhere in the state. To exacerbate this, Connecticut also sees the effects of hurricanes. While not as bad as in southern coastal states, hurricanes can still cause damage to homes and property in Connecticut. 

While Connecticut is at lower risk for tornadoes, winter storms do pose a larger threat in the state. These storms are particularly damaging to homes, with ice, hail, snow, and sleet wreaking havoc on your structures. They can also lead to regular power outages in the winter. 

But this is why you have home insurance in place. Keep reading to find out your options for home insurance coverage and how your policy can help protect you.

Options for Home Insurance in Connecticut

Your home is often the biggest investment you’ll ever make, which is why you should want to protect it. Home insurance doesn’t just cover the physical structure of your home. Here are the typical coverage buckets for home insurance:

  • Dwelling: This covers the structure of your house, including walls, roof, and foundation. It also covers other structures on your property, like a shed. 
  • Liability: If someone is injured on your property or if you cause damage to someone else’s property, this helps cover the resulting costs. It also provides you with a legal defense if you’re sued, and potentially funds for the damages. 
  • Medical Payments to Others: If someone gets injured on your property, this coverage helps pay for their medical costs. 
  • Personal Property: This covers your belongings, like your clothing, jewelry, electronics, furniture, etc. There’s a limit to how much you’re covered for in each category, so if you have a valuable item or collectibles, you might want to look into more coverage.
  • Additional Living Expenses: If your home is damaged and you need to move out during repairs, this covers lodging, food, transportation, and more. 

Now that you have a rough idea on what home insurance covers, let’s quickly review the main types of home insurance policies available to you:

  • HO-1 policy: Basic coverage for your home, pays out for only ten named perils:
    • Fire or lightning
    • Windstorm or hail
    • Explosion
    • Riot 
    • Damage caused by aircraft
    • Damage caused by vehicles 
    • Smoke
    • Vandalism
    • Theft
    • Volcanic eruptions
  • HO-2 policy: Broad form coverage that covers the ten named perils in HO-1 plus six more:
    • Dwelling coverage for your house and other structures
    • Personal property
    • Personal liability
    • Loss of use or additional living expenses coverage
    • Medical payments to others
  • HO-3 policy: This is the most common type of homeowners insurance. It operates on an open peril basis, meaning that all perils are included except for those specifically excluded on your policy. Common exclusions include:
    • Power failure
    • Earthquake
    • Flooding
    • Intentional damage
    • War or nuclear events
    • Pets and insects
    • Wear and tear
    • Negligence
  • HO-4 policy: This is renter’s insurance and it covers your belongings, liability, and additional living expenses (should you need to leave the apartment during repairs). 
  • HO-5 policy: This is the highest level of coverage for homes. It includes all the same coverage as HO-3, but gives you replacement cost rather than actual cash value. This means the actual current cost to replace your home or belongings, rather than the depreciated value.
  • HO-6 policy: This is condo insurance that covers you for renovations you make, the walls, floor, and ceiling of your condo, your belongings, liability, medical payments to others, and additional living costs.
  • HO-7 policy: This is mobile home insurance.
  • HO-8 policy: Home insurance for older or historic homes that covers the ten named perils of HO-1 for your house and belongings, plus liability, medical payments to others, and additional living expenses.

This is a lot of information, but here’s the gist: if you have a home in Connecticut, aim for HO-3 or HO-5 insurance if possible. It’ll give you the most amount of coverage to help protect your home from Connecticut’s weather. 

But that’s not all. You can also customize your policy by adding endorsements, or riders, to help increase your coverage and bring you more peace of mind. More on those next.

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Home Insurance Endorsements in Connecticut

Endorsements are optional add-ons that you can round out your home insurance policy with. They do cost extra, but they can help fill in any gaps you’re seeing in standard home insurance policies.  Some common endorsements include:
  • Flooding: Because flooding is typically excluded from all home insurance policies, you need to get extra coverage for it. In Connecticut, it’s particularly recommended that you get flooding coverage given the state’s proximity to the ocean. 
  • Home Business: If you run a business out of your home, you’ll need extra coverage to help protect your business equipment. 
  • Identity Theft: Having your identity stolen can be a nightmare to sort out, which is why this rider helps with the financial side of it. You’ll get coverage for things like legal and administrative fees, costs for new identity documents, and more. 
  • Water Backup: Your typical home insurance policy doesn’t cover water backing up from a sewer or sump pump, which can cause thousands of dollars in damage. This coverage helps protect you from those unpleasant costs. 
  • Guaranteed Replacement Coverage: If your home is badly damaged from a covered peril, this means your home is guaranteed to be put back to how it was before, regardless of cost. This is important because your dwelling coverage has certain limits, but the actual replacement cost of your home can increase over time, especially if material and labor costs increase in your area. 
  • Scheduled Personal Property: If you have a valuable item or collectibles, you might need scheduled personal property coverage as the standard personal property in your home insurance policy likely isn’t enough. This sets out coverage for the value of the item or increases your overall blanket coverage, and protects the item from theft, damage, and even becoming lost. 
These are just some common examples of endorsements you’ll see, but many providers will offer more to help you customize your policy. You don’t need to add endorsements, but if the coverage fits your budget and gives you peace of mind, then it might be worth it.

The Average Cost of Home Insurance in Connecticut

Cost is always going to be an important factor when it comes to home insurance. Your actual quotes are going to be based off of a number of factors, including:
    • Your location
    • Your home’s age
    • Your home’s building materials
    • Your credit score
    • Your claims history
    • And more
This is why there are no standard rates for home insurance; each quote is tailored to the person and their home. But we can give you average costs, which can help you budget accordingly.  So here are the facts:
  • The average cost of home insurance in Connecticut is $1,184 annually for $250,000 in dwelling coverage
  • This is less than the national average
  • You’ll pay an average of $1,541 in New Haven, $1,115 in Stamford, and $1,297 in Hartford
Your quotes could be more or less than these averages, depending on your home and zip code. But regardless of cost, there are ways to find savings on home insurance. Keep reading for that and more.

How to Find the Cheapest Homeowners Insurance in Connecticut

Home insurance should be affordable. After all, every homeowner deserves protection and peace of mind when it comes to their biggest investment. So whether you’re looking for the cheapest home insurance possible or whether you’re looking to ensure you’re getting a good deal, here are some of our top tips to save on home insurance:

  • Shop Around: Make sure to get multiple quotes from different insurance providers. Because every provider uses a different formula for calculating quotes, you could luck out with one provider over another. Compare costs and coverage to choose the best option for you. 
  • Ask for Discounts: Almost all insurance providers offer discounts, and some more than others. Make sure to request any and all discounts that apply to you, especially since you can often stack multiple discounts together for increased savings. Common discounts include:
    • New client
    • Loyal client
    • New home
    • New roof
    • Multi-policy bundle
    • Claims free
  • Increase Your Deductible: By increasing your deductible, the amount you’d need to pay before a claim was approved, your annual premiums will drop. 
  • Review Your Coverage: Don’t set it up and then forget about it. Every time your policy is set to renew, make sure you check that you’re still getting the best deal. Annually, you should also be checking to ensure that your coverage still reflects your needs; for example, you might still be paying more for a swimming pool that you filled in years ago. Or you might be paying for scheduled personal property that you sold last year. Staying on top of your coverage can help ensure you’re getting the best rate for coverage you actually need.
  • Reduce Your Risk: Insurance providers don’t like risk, so you’ll pay more for things like swimming pools, trampolines, old wood stoves, and even certain breeds of dogs. While you might not be able to get rid of Fido, it might be worth taking a look at the high risk items that are costing you more. While you’re at it,adding more safety features to your home like a burglar alarm or sprinkler system can help you save on your premiums. 

Saving on home insurance is completely doable. Use a combination of these tips to save anywhere from 5-30% on your home insurance premiums and get more money back to do what you love, whether that’s grabbing lunch by the waterfront in Mystic or visiting your favorite art gallery. 

Get your home insurance shopping started by accessing free quotes here.

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Is Homeowners Insurance in Connecticut Required?

Technically, you don’t need to have home insurance to own a home in Connecticut. However, if you have a mortgage, it might be a condition of the bank that you have home insurance. This helps protect their investment.

But even if you don’t need to have home insurance, it’s strongly recommended for all homeowners. A storm can easily cause thousands of dollars in damage, and it’s just not worth the risk in order to save money on premiums each year. By shopping around and comparing quotes, you can find home insurance that fits your budget so that you don’t have to gamble on your biggest asset.

Find Home Insurance Quotes in Connecticut

In the Constitution State, there’s no shortage of home insurance quotes available to you. Popular insurance providers in Connecticut include:

  • USAA
  • State Farm
  • Travelers
  • Amica
  • Farmers 

Be sure to request at least three quotes from different providers, or speak to an insurance agent about your options. How much you save on home insurance can depend on how much time you’re willing to invest in finding the best rate; budget for 2-3 hours to ensure you’re getting a good deal. 

You can speed that up by getting access to free quotes fast here. You deserve affordable home insurance with great coverage, and with the help of ConsumerCoverage, that’s exactly what you’ll get.

We’ve got you covered.

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Margaret Huntley Margaret Huntley is a creative writing and philosophy student at Western University. She has been working as a freelance writer for over two years and has written about everything from insurance, to poker, to health and wellness for international businesses.

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