Liberty Mutual Home Insurance Review 2023

Our experts answer readers’ insurance questions and write unbiased product reviews (here’s how we assess insurance products). In some cases, we receive a commission from our partners; however, our opinions are our own.

Liberty Mutual Homeowners Insurance is one of the nation’s largest providers. Known for its slogan, “Only pay for what you need,” the company offers its customers plenty of opportunities to customize its coverage through available riders and discounts. As a result, Liberty Mutual may be a solid choice if you’re looking for affordable coverage that still protects the things and people you love.

Still, Liberty Mutual’s base homeowners insurance policy does not provide some coverages that come standard with other top providers. To that end, it is crucial to research and ensure this company can provide adequate coverage to suit your needs. To help start that process, we’ve reviewed its home insurance offerings below. Read on to learn more.

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Types of Home Insurance Plans from Liberty Mutual

Liberty Mutual divides its home insurance coverage into belongings, damages, and expenses. Its base plan includes the following coverages:

• Personal property coverage: Personal property coverage covers furniture, clothing, toys, and other standard personal belongings. You will need riders for additional coverage if you have high-value items like jewelry, fine art, etc. Companies typically offer actual cash value or replacement. Actual cash value lowers your payout to account for depreciation, prior damages, etc. Replacement cost coverage gives you what you need to replace lost items, which could mean buying new items.
• Personal liability coverage: It will cover medical costs if someone else gets injured while visiting your home. Liability coverage also covers dog bites and other similar events. Data we found online suggests that Liberty Mutual does accept “high risk breeds” like pit bulls. But you will pay more. However, not disclosing could result in the denial of claims later on.
• Dwelling coverage: It will cover damage to the house itself. You may not need much dwelling coverage if you have shared walls or a condo in a larger building. But you should have some to cover walls, flooring, and other upgrades you make to the property.
• Other Structures: This would cover carports, sheds, and similar structures on your property, not inside your home. If the installation requires a permit, make sure to keep proof in the event of a claim.
• Loss of use coverage: It will cover additional living expenses, such as hotel stays and restaurant meals if a qualifying incident makes your home uninhabitable.

Additional Coverage Options (Riders)

In addition to its base policy, Liberty Mutual offers many riders to provide comprehensive coverage. A rider is a supplemental insurance policy that can be added to the base plan for an additional cost. Here’s a selection of the riders that you can add to your policy:

• Replacement cost: Liberty Mutual requires customers to buy a rider for this improved belongings coverage. So it will pay you the market value of lost items rather than a lower price based on depreciation that may not be realistic in the current market.
• Specialty items: Liberty Mutual offers extra coverage for expensive single items. This could be art, jewelry, trading cards and other collectibles, and other high-value items. Depending on the item, a formal appraisal goes a long way to securing the value.
• Water backup: This provides coverage for sewage backups and overflows. So if your washer overflows, pipe breaks, etc., Liberty Mutual would cover the water mitigation and treatment as long as you add this coverage.
• Inflation protection: This adjusts your coverage limits to keep pace with inflation automatically each year.

How Much Does Liberty Mutual Home Insurance Cost?

At Liberty Mutual Homeowners Insurance, the cost of your home insurance premium will depend on the zip code, the type of policy you select, any additional riders, claims history, and other factors. After you choose coverage, something like having a college degree can lower your final premium. An insurance agent can help you work it out to ensure you get the lowest available price without sacrificing coverage.

However, consumer reviews note concerns about Liberty Mutual’s pricing. It seems to offer lower initial premiums, but the company uses a bait-and-switch approach, leading to higher premiums. Of course, just like your base price, subsequent renewals are based on several relevant factors, not all of which are Liberty Mutual just increasing rates.

Hussien Koujan told TrustPilot: “This company is a scam. They can afford to spend millions on Ads but not on real customer service. When I signed up with them they initially quoted me $1,500 then that increased to $1,800 then to $2,200.”

Similarly, a user named “Patti” also told the site, “Quote a reasonable rate at first, but then this quote changes, increases.”

How to File A Claim

Liberty Mutual asserts that the fastest option is to file a claim online via its online portal or the company’s mobile app. However, if you’d rather speak to a customer service representative, you can contact Liberty Mutual via:

• Twitter: @AskLiberty (Hours: M-F, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. ET, Sat 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. ET)

Liberty Mutual Home Insurance FAQs

Methodology: How We Reviewed Liberty Mutual Home Insurance

While reviewing Liberty Mutual home insurance, we compared the company against other top homeowners insurance providers in the industry. Our research looked at the standard coverages, available riders, claim limits, exclusions, and typical policy costs.

Ultimately, selecting the best policy for you and anyone else in your household is about choosing a policy that provides suitable coverage with limits that suit your needs. Ideally, you should also work to find a premium that fits comfortably into your budget and a company that enables you to submit a claim quickly. You can read more about how we rate home insurance products here.

Compare Liberty Mutual vs. Allstate

Although Liberty Mutual and Allstate Homeowners Insurance are two of the nation’s largest home insurance providers, coverage varies slightly. For example, Allstate provides personal liability and medical coverage, which covers any medical and legal expenses if someone is injured on your property. In contrast, Liberty Mutual only advertises coverage for the injured party’s medical expenses.

Both companies offer plenty of opportunities to receive discounts on your coverage, including being claim free, investing in home safety equipment, having a newer home, and bundling multiple policies. But Allstate boasts additional discounts, like a discount for paying the premium in full, that Liberty Mutual does not. Most importantly, for some buyers, Allstate can only be purchased through an Allstate agent. Liberty Mutual can be quoted and purchased online or through licensed insurance agents.

Compare Liberty Mutual vs. Progressive

Both companies offer extensive basic coverage, including dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, personal liability, and medical payments to others on every policy. Of course, the exact coverage amounts vary. But Liberty Mutual offers more riders to customize your policy as you see fit.

Progressive Homeowners Insurance beats Liberty Mutual on the online front. It does work through agents, and some clients prefer having someone to hold their hand through the process. But Progressive has also operated entirely online with minimal exceptions in years past. Liberty Mutual makes online claims easy. But it is slated towards buyers going to an agent to handle their homeowners policies. For buyers in a hurry, this may be less appealing. On the other hand, Progressive’s extensive online resources may seem very attractive.

Compare Liberty Mutual vs. Lemonade

The most significant difference between Liberty Mutual and Lemonade is how you’ll access information and submit claims. Lemonade Homeowners Insurance prides itself as an “insurance company for the 21st century.” As such, you’ll mainly use an app. While Liberty Mutual does have a similar app, the company also offers consumers a variety of other ways to get in touch with representatives, including by text, over the phone, and via social media.

Base policies are similar. But as simple as Lemonade tries to make the process, its system is not built for those who are less tech-savvy. Even for the tech savvy, it expects the customer to look up things like the closest fire station, waterfront, the year it was built, and last year the owner did a roof upgrade. With Liberty Mutual, an agent would do all this work for you. So ironically, automation creates more work.