American Family vs. Travelers: Which should you choose for home insurance in 2024?

Both American Family and Travelers are well-known, reputable home insurance companies. To help you decide, American Family and Travelers customers were surveyed as part of the Insure.com Best Insurance Companies of 2024 ranking; we also gathered rates and third-party ratings to compare the two companies.

American Family landed at No.5 out of all the carriers we ranked. It received 4.2 (4.24) out of a possible 5 overall stars and comes highly recommended by its customers: 91% say they’d recommend it to others. American Family has an excellent AM Best score of A which indicates financial stability. American Family’s rates aren’t the cheapest of all the carriers surveyed, with annual rates of $2,504, but are still below average.

Travelers scored 3.7 (3.73) out of 5 stars and ranked No. 9 out of all the carriers. Travelers has higher rates, with annual premiums of $3,701 – the highest of all the carriers surveyed. Of the customers surveyed, 87% of Travelers customers would recommend it to others. Travelers has a superior AM Best score of A++, which is the highest possible score.

Each company has some drawbacks: American Family is not available in more than half the states, and Travelers has a somewhat high complaint ratio with the NAIC.

Insure.com compares American Family vs. Travelers: Which is better for you?

To help you choose the right insurance company, we’ve analyzed a wealth of data on American Family and Travelers. We used the results of our survey of insurance customers as well as third-party rating agencies such as AM Best and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to compare these two home insurance companies.

American Family is your best bet if a low rate is the most important factor. It’s average rates are much lower than Travelers and there’s no loss of great customer service for a cheap rate. However, look to Travelers for a company that’s highly trusted by its customers and has the top rating for financial stability.

Insure.com comparison of American Family vs. Travelers

The table below summarizes American Family and Travelers so you can compare them at a glance. Take note that the Insure.com overall rating and customer satisfaction rating points are awarded on a scale of 1 – 5. 

American Family received a higher overall Insure.com rating, while Travelers has a higher, superior AM Best score. Travelers has a higher NAIC rating, which means more complaints have been reported to this agency. 

American Family has cheaper annual rates of $2,504, below the national average. Travelers came in much higher, with annual rates of $3,701 for a home insurance policy. 

Travelers is available all states, while American Family is more limited.

American Family vs. Travelers: Home insurance overview

The table below shows how each carrier scored in all major categories. Percentages are the number of customers from each company who said they are satisfied in that category.

American Family scored higher in all categories except for recommendation to others, where Travelers was one percentage point higher.

American Family vs. Travelers: Pros and cons

Below you’ll find an overview of the pros and cons of each company based on our analysis of all of the data and the customer survey results. 

American Family vs. Travelers: Which has the cheapest home insurance rates?

One of the biggest factors when determining your rates is how much coverage you need. The table below shows the rates for different coverage levels for American Family and Travelers. American Family is significantly cheaper at all coverage levels, especially as you get up to the higher dwelling amounts.

American Family vs. Travelers: Rates by coverage level

American Family vs. Travelers: Rates by credit history

Insure.com compiled rates for different credit scores in the table below. Most insurance carriers factor in your credit score when determining your rates; it’s illegal in a few states.

American Family is significantly cheaper for all credit scores. Note the huge increase in Travelers’ premiums for fair and poor credit scores.

When determining who you choose based on premiums, you’ll need to factor in your coverage level and credit score.

American Family vs. Travelers: Customer satisfaction

American Family has an edge in this category, with 84% of customers reporting being satisfied with their overall experience.

American Family vs. Travelers: Discounts

The table below shows that American Family offers more overall discounts to its customers. 

However, not all discounts apply to everyone, so it’s important to review the table to see which company has discounts that will save you money.

Which has a bigger auto and home discount?

Bundling auto and home insurance with the same carrier can mean significant savings. You’ll see from the table below that American Family gives a higher discount for bundling.

American Family vs. Travelers: Claims processing

Of the American Family customers surveyed, 71% said they were satisfied with how their claims were handled. That’s just a little higher than Travelers’ score.

The bottom line: American Family vs. Travelers

American Family received higher overall scores for customer satisfaction and has cheaper annual average rates. Its prices are a little below the national average of $2,601.

Travelers’ customers highly recommend it to others and a high percentage plan to renew, which shows customer loyalty. However, its premiums are the highest of all the ranked companies.

Both companies have solid AM Best ratings, which indicate financial strength and solvency, but Travelers has the highest possible score.

An important thing to note is that American Family isn’t as widely available and only currently offers policies in nineteen states.

If you’re renewing your policy, making any changes to your coverage, moving or simply looking for better rates, it’s a great idea to compare carriers and shop around to compare quotes.

Methodology

Insure.com in the fall of 2023 surveyed more than 1,750 insurance consumers (1,151 people with home insurance). The survey was conducted by online market research company Slice MR.

Respondents were asked to name their home insurer and then grade it in the following categories: customer satisfaction, ease of service, claims satisfaction and policy offerings. The percentage of respondents who said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their insurer is presented in the results.

Respondents were then asked to pick their insurer’s top three attributes out of more than a dozen presented – including digital experience, discounts best for auto/home bundling and best for discounts. The number of responses for each attribute were totaled before dividing by the number of each company’s customers who responded to that survey question to create a percentage.

Respondents were then asked if they would recommend their home insurer to someone else and if they planned to renew their policies. The percentage who said yes is presented in the results.

Finally, respondents were given the statement “I trust my insurance company” and asked if they strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement. The percentage of those who said they agreed or strongly agreed is presented in the results.

The editors compiled the survey results and then selected – based on the number of survey responses – the top companies for further evaluation.

They then collected AM Best data, which measure financial strength, and National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ complaint data, which ranks a company by the number of customer complaints it receives. The Insure.com team identified the NAIC company code or codes that were the primary underwriting companies for each carrier and line of business using total annual premiums. The associated NAIC complaint index score was used in the calculations. If more than one underwriting company was identified for a line, the editors used a weighted average of the NAIC complaint index scores.

They also collected insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services.

With the help of Prof. David Marlett, Ph.D., Managing Director of the Brantley Risk and Insurance Center at Appalachian State University, the editors created a rating system to determine which insurance companies were best in each sector. For home insurers, we took the following and gave each a weight.

Survey: 40% of the total score (10% customer satisfaction, 10% recommended, 10% renewal rate and 10% claims handling)

• AM Best: 25% of total score
• Annual premium: 20% of total score
• NAIC: 15% of total score

Each insurer was awarded between half a star and 5 stars. No company in the ranking received less than half a star in any category, and 5 stars was the most any insurer could receive.

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