Two such dissatisfied customers in Georgia recently took their complaints to the ABC news affiliate in Atlanta. One of the homeowners with a Travelers Insurance policy said he received an unexpected cancellation notice due to untrimmed trees around his home in suburban Sandy Springs.

The homeowner took it upon himself to trim back the trees, then sent Travelers proof of the work. He also told the carrier about his press interview. “About two hours later, they sent me an email saying they had reinstated my policy.”

Another insured in Southwest Atlanta was not as fortunate. Nationwide reportedly canceled her policy because the carrier said her roof, chimney and driveway needed to be replaced.

“They are talking about $30,000, and they wanted it done within a three- to four-week time frame,” she told WBS-TV2. “I wanted to cry, but I knew if I cried, it wasn’t going to help.”

When contacted by PropertyCasualty360.com, Nationwide said home-insurance cancellations generally happen after an in-person inspection.

“As a protection company, we help our customers identify and remediate risks that may lead to future losses, which avoids disruption for the customer and helps to keep rates lower for everyone.  We share this information well in advance of renewal to give customers ample time to address any hazards.  When our customers have questions or concerns, we encourage them to contact our customer relations team at 1-888-999-2018,” a Nationwide spokesperson said.

PropertyCasualty360 also reached out to Travelers for comment but the carrier did not respond by press time.

Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King said that the state has seen an uptick in home-insurance policy cancellations.

“Insurance companies feel that they’re overextended, and they’re trying to pull back,” he said.

Dissatisfied customers

As a result, an increased number of homeowners find themselves shopping for new insurance.

Here are some additional takeaways from the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Home Insurance Study:

• Rising prices drive increased shopping, decreased satisfaction. Among home insurance customers who receive an insurer-initiated rate increase, 37% are likely to shop for a new policy. The top reason given among those actively shopping new home insurance carriers is high rates. Overall satisfaction among customers who receive an insurer-initiated rate increase is 594 (on a 1,000-point scale), which is 92 points lower than among those who did not receive an insurer-initiate rate increase.
• Shopping does not always result in switching. While a record 6.8% of all home insurance customers are actively shopping for new polices, just 2.2% of homeowners switched policies as a result, down from 2.5% two years ago.
• Bundling declines as intent to unbundle increases. Bundling home and auto policies has declined significantly in 2024 compared with 2023, but there is growing intent to switch auto insurance without switching home insurance. Specifically, 21% of customers say they “definitely will” also switch their home insurance if they switch their auto insurance, which is down from 24% a year ago.
• Effective communication can mitigate negative effects. The likelihood that home insurance customers will shop for a new policy following an insurer-initiated rate increase is severely mitigated by clear communication from their insurer. Among customers who receive an insurer-initiated rate increase, those who completely understand the reason for the increase are 14 percentage points less likely to shop for a new policy than those who do not understand the reason for the rate increase. Customers who completely understand the reason for the rate increase are also 21 percentage points more likely to strongly agree that their insurer puts the interests of its customers first.

The slideshow above illustrates the top home insurance companies for overall customer satisfaction in 2024, as compiled by J.D. Power.

Of note is the fact that USAA got the highest overall score with 737 out of 1,000. However, the brand is not rank-eligible in this particular J.D. Power study.