Homeowners Insurance in Dothan, Alabama (2024)

Dothan, Alabama, is a major city in the Wiregrass region of the southeastern United States. Just a short distance from Georgia and Florida, it’s a family-friendly, progressive city with plenty to do and see around it.

Dothan is the fastest-growing city in the Wiregrass. As the city grows, owning a home will be that much more valuable. Every responsible homeowner in Dothan should invest in the right homeowners insurance policy to protect their investment and their livelihood.

We gathered and broke down everything you need to know about home insurance in Dothan, including average rates from many top insurance companies. Keep reading to find out how much you can expect to pay, common coverages, and more.

A homeowners insurance policy in Dothan, Alabama, costs about $1,739, although you may be able to get coverage for less. On our list of popular providers, premiums range from $1,179 to $2,491, as many factors affect the cost of home insurance.

Dothan has lower average rates than the coastal cities of Mobile and Gulf Shores because it’s more inland and thus less prone to hurricane damage. Yet, Dothan is only about an hour and a half from Florida beaches, so you could consider this a nice advantage.

Here are some insurance companies in Dothan and their rates:

The rates in this article are sourced from the Alabama Department of Insurance, which provides real premiums from several companies in the state. These are average annual premiums for an HO-3 policy, which is the most common type of homeowners insurance plan.

Even though Dothan’s average home insurance premium is $1,739, four providers on our list come in with premiums over $2,000. Insurance is hard to quantify with just one number since premiums vary so much from person to person. Many factors about a policyholder and their home can influence rates.

For example, insurance companies take home age into consideration. Generally, older homes have more problems that can lead to claims. Things like dated wiring systems, dilapidated roofs, and old siding can all be red flags to providers. Older homes that have these will likely pay higher premiums than someone in a newer house. If you were to look at averages of older homes only, they’d likely be higher across the board.

Additionally, home value is another crucial variable. The amount of coverage you need depends on the value of your house. The bigger and more expensive your home is, the higher its replacement cost, and the more insurance you’ll need. You need coverage that’s close to the value of your home. Look at rates in Dothan below for $150,000 homes:

 Looking only at $150,000 homes, you’ll see some providers’ rates dropped dramatically. Alfa, for instance, decreased by $972, although it remained the most costly provider on our list. Travelers and Allstate had the lowest premiums listed.

Below, we’ll list rates for $300,000 homes in Dothan, and you’ll see that numbers go up across the board. Allstate and Travelers are still the lowest two premiums, followed by Safeco. After that, all listed carriers rise above the city average at that price point. Take a look.

We listed the rates of seven popular insurance providers in Dothan, but 21 companies in total filed rates with the state. The average premium is representative of all companies that filed. Allstate, Farmers, Nationwide and State Farm are the largest insurers nationally in Dothan. Additionally, Universal Property & Casualty is a prevalent insurance company throughout the southeast that writes in Alabama.

Finding the right insurance company in Dothan can be tricky with so many different options available. This is where insurance agents come in. In Dothan, agencies like Aarons Insurance and Flowers Insurance are popular. Essentially, the agency’s role is to act as a middle man between the policyholder and the insurance provider. 

Agents help with claims and finding and amending your coverage. They look out for you. Also, independent agents can get you quotes from multiple providers to help you find the best option.

We’re Clovered, an independent insurance agency that partners with several of the nation’s top insurance carriers. We understand that finding coverage can be challenging.

We were founded with the goal of simplifying insurance. Clovered is based in Florida, but our business extends throughout the southeast, including Alabama, and our team of licensed agents has helped many in the state find coverage.

Homeowners insurance policies contain the following coverages:

Dwelling coverage is designed for the main structure of your house and its permanent, connected features. Dwelling coverage includes your roof, walls, floors, ceilings, wiring, water heater, and HVAC.

Other structures coverage is for the features on your property not connected to your home. These could include fences, gazebos, detached garages, sheds, carports, and more. 

The amount of dwelling coverage you need is based on the value of your home, and the amount of other structures coverage you need is a percentage (typically about 10%) of your dwelling coverage. For example, if you have $300,000 of dwelling coverage, you may have $30,000 of other structures coverage.

Personal property coverage is for the belongings in and around your house. These could include computers, televisions, furniture, art, small appliances, tools, clothes, and more. Personal property coverage covers your items if they’re damaged or stolen.

Loss of use coverage is applicable when you need to move out of your house after it’s damaged from a covered peril. When your insurance company is fixing your home, they can cover your expenses for a hotel stay, food, gas, and more.

Liability and medical payments coverage come into play if someone sustains an injury that you’re liable for. Liability coverage can cover your legal fees and the injured person’s medical bills. Medical payments are strictly for minor injuries someone can suffer.

We’ve mentioned the many different perils that home insurance protects your property from, but there is one threat that it won’t help: floods. Flooding is one of the most costly natural disasters in the United States, and it can happen anywhere.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) creates and maintains flood zone maps for the country. They determine the flooding risk of every area. If your house lies in a high-risk flood zone, you must get flood insurance to satisfy your mortgage lender.

Some properties along the Poplar Spring Branch and its offshoots are in flood zones in Dothan. Also, some areas along Cypress Creek are flood zones. But, the National Flood Insurance Program NFIP) reports that over 1 in 4 of their flood insurance claims comes from outside high-risk flood zones from properties that aren’t required to get a policy.

The NFIP dominated the flood insurance market for a long time, but the number of private flood insurance companies continues to grow as technology improves and the desire for better flood insurance grows. 

Clovered partners with several flood insurers, including the NFIP, and we can help you get flood insurance quotes from flood insurance companies in your area. Our agents would be happy to help, or you can fill out our simple flood insurance quote form.

We’ve mentioned several, but insurance companies consider several variables when determining premiums. Home age and home value are important. Home construction style also plays a prominent role. Houses are built with either masonry or frame construction. Masonry homes are made of bricks or concrete, while frame homes are built with wood. 

Frame homes tend to have higher replacement costs, but they can withstand the elements better than frame homes. They’re more resistant to wind damage because of their sturdier materials. They’re less prone to fire damage, too, since there’s much less wood in the house’s skeleton. They also can’t suffer as much damage from termites or wood rot.

Location is a notable factor, too. Although Dothan is mostly shielded from hurricanes, the city did feel some effects of Hurricane Michael in 2018. Tornadoes are also a possibility in Dothan, with Houston and Henry counties seeing them every so often. While the risk of tornado damage in Dothan is lower than the average risk in the state of Alabama, it’s higher than the national average risk. Even relatively weak tornadoes can cause tens of thousands of dollars of property damage, so insurers consider them when determining rates. 

Living in an area with high crime rates can affect premiums, too, since the odds of a claim from burglary are higher. In Dothan, the rate of crime is about 47 per 1,000 residents, which is slightly higher than the average U.S. city.

Aspects of your policy directly influence how much you pay. Adjusting your deductible can raise or lower your premiums. Also, purchasing optional endorsements to expand your coverage will increase your premiums.

Additionally, the conditions that your insurance company is facing can affect rates. For instance, if your provider paid out a lot of claims in the past year or two, they may raise their rates for all policyholders in the future to recoup some losses.

We’d love to help you find the right insurance policy for your needs in Dothan. You can chat with a licensed agent at Clovered on the phone by calling 833-255-4117 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can also email us anytime at [email protected]. We also have an online quoting platform that can allow you to compare quotes from our partners entirely online.