American Family Home Insurance Ratings

Best Home Insurance Companies 2020: How American Family Home Insurance Measures Up

In this year’s Best Home Insurance Company survey American Family came in 14th overall with a score of 82.19. Its highest showing was 9th place for ease of use of website and apps and worst was 15th place for claim servicing but with a decent score of 81.43. For the other individual rating factors, AIG received 10th place for value of price and 12th place for customer service. Most all of the surveyed policyholders, 89%, said they plan to renew with American Family

Gauging an insurance company

Before buying with a company it is wise to check on a company's financial strength and complaint record. The A.M. Best rating listed above gives you an idea of American Family's financial strength to pay claims. A complaint ratio can be found on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) site. The median complaint ratio from the NAIC is always 1.00. This means half of the insurers have a complaint ratio of under 1.00 and half have a ratio above. Basically, numbers lower than 1.00 are better with fewer complaints than the median and a number higher than 1.00 has more complaints than the median. For home insurance, American Family (NAIC# 10386) had a complaint ratio of 0.90 for 2018. 2019 complaint numbers will be available in 2020.

Company Background

American Family homeowner programs

• Smart home -- Does your house have things like the Ring Video Doorbell or a smart smoke/fire alarm system? You'll likely get a discount.
• New home -- Talk to your agent; you may be able to get a discount if your home is new.
• Family member discount -- Are you parents an American Family customer? If they are, and you're between 18 and 30, you may end up saving money.
• Renovations discount -- If you've completely replaced the plumbing, electrical and heating systems in your home, you can get a discount.

Farming roots

Herman Witter, an insurance salesman, started Farmer Mutual Insurance Company in Madison, Wisconsin. His is a familiar tale, if you've been boning up on your insurance company history. Witter focused on selling car insurance to farmers because they were seen as a good risk compared to city drivers.

As the years went on, Witter's company evolved, and like many regional insurance companies around the country. In 1963, the company changed its name to American Family to reflect the expansion. 

Today, American Family Insurance is a Fortune 500 company serving customers nationwide in areas of auto, home, health, life and business in 19 states across the country (Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin).

Consider American Family Insurance if you have a family

Yes, many insurers are very pro-family, but American Family Insurance seems to take its name very seriously. As noted earlier, if you're a young homeowner, and your parents are American Family Insurance customers, you'll get a discount. That said, American Family provides numerous discounts, for virtually every type of family. Is your kid in college, 100 or miles away, and the car is parked in your garage? You get a discount. Are your kids doing volunteer work? If they do 40 hours a year, you can get a discount. If they're getting good grades, you can get a discount. You get the idea.

Contact information

Corporate Headquarters

American Family Insurance
6000 American Parkway
Madison, WI 53783-0001     
Telephone: (800) 692-6326