Best Cheap Homeowners Insurance in New Jersey

New Jersey residents can also experience nor’easters, hurricanes, and tropical storms that can cause significant damage due to the state’s prominent Atlantic coastline.

Homeowners insurance is the best way to protect yourself and your property financially. Use the guide below to learn about coverage options, costs, and rating factors of the top New Jersey homeowners insurance companies.

Homeowners insurance in New Jersey costs about $1,235 annually, or about $103 per month, for $300,000 worth of dwelling coverage. However, this cost will vary based on many factors.

You can see more examples of average New Jersey home insurance cost below. Generally, the more coverage you need, the higher the premiums will be. The average homeowners insurance in New Jersey increases as dwelling coverage rises.

Unfortunately, many Garden State residents are opening home insurance renewal letters lately and are very unhappy. New Jersey home insurance rates have been rising in recent years. Licensed carriers must request rate increases with the state, and since 2023, over 120 rate hikes have been approved by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, with increases ranging from less than a percent to hikes as high as 20%, depending on the carrier. 

These pierce increases are occurring because inflation and building costs that began rising during the pandemic have remained elevated. Also, natural disasters costing billions nationwide have put pressure on insurance companies and caused them to recoup funds from their policyholders, including those in states that weren’t affected by any disasters.

Home insurance policies come in different forms and offer different coverages. The most common type of homeowners insurance in New Jersey is the HO-3 form, which contains the following coverages:

The best home insurance in New Jersey is the policy that covers your property and liability sufficiently at a price that works for you. Everyone’s individual insurance needs will vary based on their home and personal situation. 

Here is an example of what the best homeowners insurance in New Jersey may initially look like if you have a house with a replacement cost of $300,000.

Your dwelling coverage limit is based on the replacement cost of your home, which is what it would take to rebuild it from scratch. Carriers consider construction, labor, and material costs to determine this number. 

Insurers typically set your other structures limit as 10% of your dwelling coverage. So, in our example above, the other structures limit is $30,000. After that, your coverage amounts are often more flexible.

You choose your personal property limits when you get a policy based on the value of your belongings. Insurers and agents recommend that you make a home inventory list to determine how much personal property coverage you need.

 By default, a provider might recommend a limit of anywhere between 30-70% of your dwelling coverage limit. In our example, we went with a personal property coverage limit right in the middle at 50%, thus $150,000.

Loss of use coverage is often about 20% of your dwelling coverage. So, a $300,000 home might have $60,00 in loss of use coverage, illustrated in our example. You may be able to adjust your loss of use coverage depending on your carrier of property insurance in New Jersey. 

Personal liability limits are also very flexible. Insurers typically require that you carry at least $100,000 worth of liability coverage, but many plans default to $300,000 and go up to $1 million.

Raising your liability limits hardly affects your monthly or yearly premiums, so most insurance companies recommend carrying more than the minimum.

Medical payments coverage usually has limits that range between a few thousand dollars, and adjusting them doesn’t usually affect your premium much, if at all. 

The above numbers may be what your policy coverages read at first, but you may want to further fine-tune your plan by increasing limits or adding endorsements. 

For instance, some high-value belongings, such as jewelry and art, won’t be fully covered under your personal property coverage limits. This is because one piece of jewelry alone could cost several thousands of dollars. You may want to schedule certain items in your plan, which would fully cover them.

Remember that these coverage areas are for an HO-3 policy, and you may need a different type of plan depending on your property. For instance, especially old homes require an HO-8 policy, and an HO-7 policy provides mobile home insurance in New Jersey. These plans have slightly different coverages and may not include all of the ones listed above.

It’s hard to recommend one best homeowners insurance company in New Jersey since the best provider for you may not be the best for someone else due to differences in coverage needs, budget, and personal preference. State Farm, New Jersey Manufacturers (NJM), Allstate, Travelers, and Liberty Mutual are the largest home insurance companies in New Jersey, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Market Shares Report.

There are over 60 insurance companies that write policies in New Jersey. Some carriers may be able to meet your needs at a better rate than another company, which is why you must shop for policies and compare coverage options.

Unfortunately, home insurance in many coastal states, including New Jersey, has been on the rise for a few years due to increasing catastrophes, inflation, and higher construction costs.

While price is paramount when looking for the best home insurance companies in New Jersey, you’ll want to compare customer service experiences, available coverages, and more to ensure you’re getting the best bang for your buck.

Based on our table below, Cumberland Mutual and New Jersey Manufacturers (NJM) top the list of insurance companies in New Jersey offering affordable coverage. We compared rates for five popular carriers in the state.

Keep in mind that these are averages, and the cheapest homeowners insurance in New Jersey could vary based on several factors about you and your home that we’ll break down below. ‘

Cumberland Insurance in New Jersey came in as the most affordable provider on our list, while Chubb and Allstate home insurance in New Jersey were on the expensive end. Cumberland Mutual and NJM, which is New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance, are regional providers headquartered in the Garden State. NJM home insurance is a popular choice among residents and holds the second-largest market share in New Jersey.

The average homeowners insurance in New Jersey ranges from $847 to $1,464 for most people. Many factors outside your control can influence the average home insurance cost in New Jersey. These range from environmental variables to personal considerations like credit scores and claims history. Some important variables that affect the average homeowners insurance in New Jersey are:

Insurance companies will examine many aspects of your property to determine its risk. Newer homes tend to have lower premiums since they’re up to the latest building and safety codes, and all of their essential parts are newer (think roof, septic tank, air conditioner, and more). 

Your home’s location, such as its susceptibility to flooding, hurricane, or tornado damage, is also a factor. For instance, homes on New Jersey’s Atlantic coast may be much more vulnerable to hurricane-force winds during storm season, which could cause these houses to have higher premiums.

The amount of coverage you choose in your policy is also crucial to your New Jersey home insurance rates. As we discussed earlier, the higher limits and the more endorsements you get, the more you’ll pay. Also, raising or lowering your deductible will affect your premiums.

Personal factors about you can also influence your average home insurance cost in New Jersey. Your claims history plays a role. Someone who has filed several claims in the recent past may pay more than someone who has never filed a claim. You may also pay less for coverage if you bundle your home and auto insurance in New Jersey or if you have a good credit score.

Many companies offer convenient ways to quote online these days. However, just because it’s easier to quotes doesn’t necessarily mean getting quotes is easy. If you need house insurance in New Jersey, an agent can help you in multiple ways.

An independent agent works with multiple insurance companies to find the right policy for your needs. In addition to answering questions about coverage, insurance agencies in New Jersey will shop your information around with your partners. 

Our team at Clovered prides itself on being one of the best New Jersey insurance agencies. Our licensed agents are on standby, ready to help you with your coverage needs.

By law, you aren’t required to have homeowners insurance in New Jersey. But, mortgage lenders can mandate that their lendees have home insurance policies for the life of the loan. If you don’t maintain your homeowners insurance, your lender can force place coverage onto you.

A mortgage lender often puts most of the money down on your house. They require homeowners to carry home insurance to protect their (and your) investment in your property. Thus, if a natural disaster destroyed your house, you and your lender can recoup the value of your house through your home insurance policy.

Forgoing or losing your insurance while you have a mortgage breaks the lenders’ terms, and your mortgage company will force-place insurance on your home. Force-placed insurance is more expensive and less comprehensive than the coverage you can get on your own, so stay on top of your policy. The cost of force-placed coverage is likely higher than any normal homeowners insurance in New Jersey estimate you receive.

Floods are the nation’s most common and costly natural disaster. Due to their frequency and severity, insurers never include flood coverage in their home insurance plans. You should recognize your flood risk and look into New Jersey flood insurance to be fully protected.

Anywhere it rains, it can flood. Flooding can happen after a typical summer storm, caused en masse by hurricanes or tropical storms, or occur unexpectedly during a high tide or erosion event. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides most flood insurance policies in the country. It is subsidized by the government and backed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which also handles the nation’s flood risk maps.

Our team at Clovered can help you understand your flood insurance needs and find you the right policy, whether it’s from the NFIP or a private flood insurance carrier.

There are some New Jersey homeowners insurance laws, rules, and regulations that companies and policyholders should be aware of during their coverage. It’s especially useful to know all the rules of your contract if you file a claim.

Although there’s no timetable for how long a home insurance claim can take, New Jersey law states that a company must acknowledge a claim within 10 working days after receiving it. They must communicate with you throughout the process. And, you must do your best to act promptly and not worsen the damage you filed for.

When renewal time arrives, an insurer isn’t allowed to change your coverage terms, such as raising your rates, without written notice ahead of time along with the renewal offer. An insurer must notify you of changes at least 30 days before the renewal date, typically through the mail.

A company also can’t non-renew your New Jersey house insurance without at least 30 days of written notice beforehand.

Shopping around is essential when getting New Jersey home insurance quotes. At Clovered, we understand this, so we make it easy to compare policies and get New Jersey homeowners insurance quotes.

Our proprietary quoting engine can help you shop around online. You can compare plans from one of our many well-known insurance partners with just a few clicks.

 If you’d like the help of a licensed agent during your search, you can also contact one of our team members directly at 833-255-4117 during business hours, or you can email us at agent@clovered.com. 

We’d be happy to help you with your New Jersey homeowners insurance quote.