Homeowners can save thousands of dollars by purchasing Universal Property and Casualty Home Insurance. Homeowners insurance can protect your investment from lightning strikes, windstorms, theft, and vandalism.

Home insurance companies vary. Coverage, availability, cost, and more can vary. This Old House Reviews Team created this universal property and casualty home insurance review to help you decide if it’s the best for you.

Our Take on Universal Property & Casualty Insurance

Universal offers decent home insurance, with a basic policy that includes ordinance coverage.

The company is only in 17 states, has no 24/7 phone support, and no online quote tool. You must call a local third-party agent and wait for an email quote. Universal home insurance scores 64.50 overall.

On some BBB pages, complaints mention late payments. Reviews praise fast and efficient claim services and complain of delayed claims and poor customer service.

Pros and Cons

Compare the advantages and disadvantages of universal home insurance.

✔Basic policy covers ordinances

✘ No quote tool online

✘ Few endorsements, discounts

How Much Does Universal Home Insurance Cost?

The cost of universal home insurance depends on property value, square footage, location, coverage limits, and more.

A representative provided a quote for a 2,200-square-foot California single-family home. $306.16 is more than many other home insurance companies charge monthly.

Cost

Discounts

Universal offers a few discounts to help you lower the cost of your premium.

Universal Discounts

Coverage

Universal includes coverage for ordinances in its basic policy, which is something that most home insurance companies only offer as an add-on.

Universal Coverage

Universal offers two types of endorsements: replacement cost coverage and water backup or sump pump failure. Replacement cost coverage pays for the cost of your damaged personal property at the original price, without taking depreciation into account.

Customer Reviews of Universal Home Insurance

Universal’s BBB page lists multiple locations. Some pages are A-rated, while others aren’t. Customers share their Universal experiences.

One This Old House reader complained about Universal’s slow claim payouts.

Our Conclusion

Universal’s basic policy covers ordinances, but the company has few add-ons and discounts, is only available in 17 states, and doesn’t have 24/7 phone support. Universal Home Insurance gets 64.50/100.

Finding the best home insurance for you and your home is important. We recommend getting multiple local quotes:

Universal Vs. The Competition

See how Universal stacks up against some of its top competitors on key metrics.

Our Methodology

The This Old House Reviews team provides thorough, unbiased reviews. This means being transparent and supporting our ratings and recommendations with data.

We created an objective system to rate home insurance companies. The review went like this:

• We analyze company websites. This lets us know what each home insurance provider offers.
• We get sample quotes from companies by talking to a sales rep or using an online tool. This shows a policy’s cost and appearance.

• We test customer service by talking to a company rep, finding out their hours, and evaluating technological features.
• Continuously updating this information in a proprietary database allows us to compare dozens of home insurance companies.

With this data, we rated each home insurer. Our 100-point scale is weighted based on these factors:

• Coverage (30): We rated home insurance companies higher if they offered dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, liability, and medical payments to others coverage.
• State availability (7.5): Companies with more state coverage scored higher.
• Customer service (15): This factor is based on our communications with company representatives, claims and quote processes, weekday availability, and website customer service information.
• Technology (12.5): Technology improves home insurance claim filing and tracking. Mobile apps and online chat helped companies score higher.
• Reputation (20): Years of experience and BBB ratings determine trustworthiness.
• Additional benefits (15): Companies that offered discounts and endorsements did better than others.

Our Reviews team has a full-time researcher who compares coverage, service, and reliability by collecting and updating company data.

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