American Family provides renters insurance under a tiered system, allowing customers to balance the breadth and cost of their coverage. Offering five discounts and six optional coverage add-ons, American Family gives you plenty of ways to save and customize coverage.
In this American Family renters insurance review, the This Old House Reviews Team looks into plans, coverage details, pricing, customer service, and more to see how the company compares against other top renters insurance providers. Read on to see if American Family is the best renters insurance option for you and your home.
Pros & Cons of American Family Renters Insurance
Compare the benefits and drawbacks of renters insurance from American Family:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔ Provides claims support 24 hours a day, seven days a week | ✘ Only available in 19 states |
| ✔ Supports mobile MyAmFam App that lets customers find an agent, pay bills, and access proof of insurance | ✘ Uses an underwriter for insurance quotes in uncovered states |
| ✔ Identity theft protection provided with every plan | ✘ Doesn’t show all available coverage options through online quote |
American Family Renters Insurance Coverage
American Family renters insurance coverage protects you from the following events:
- Fire and wildfire
- Hail
- Lightning
- Tornado
- Frozen interior plumbing
- Smoke
- Weight of snow and ice
- Medical expenses
- Claim and defense expenses
- Acts of your children and pets
- Power surges
- Theft and vandalism
By choosing a renters insurance policy from American Family, you and your home will receive coverage in the following five areas:
1. Personal Property Coverage
This covers the repair or replacement of your belongings that are damaged due to a covered event. For example, if your roof caves in because of the weight of snow accumulation and ruins your laptop, personal property coverage will cover the cost of replacing the device.
The quote we received from American Family included $15,000 (Economy Tier), $25,000 (Traditional Tier), and $50,000 (Premier Tier) for personal property coverage.
2. Medical Expense Coverage
This covers the medical bills of people who are injured inside or outside of your rental unit.
The quote we received from American Family included $5,000 (Economy Tier/Traditional Tier) and $10,000 (Premier Tier) for medical expense coverage.
3. Personal Liability Coverage
This coverage protects you from liability if you’re sued for injuring someone else or their property.
Our quote from American Family included $300,000 (Economy Tier/Traditional Tier) and $500,000 (Premier Tier) for personal liability coverage.
4. Loss of Use Coverage
Loss of use coverage pays for your hotel or food bills if your home becomes uninhabitable due to an unexpected, covered event.
The quote we received from American Family included $4,500 (Economy Tier), $7,500 (Traditional Tier), and $20,000 (Premier Tier) for loss of use coverage.
5. Identity Fraud Expense Coverage
If you fall victim to identity theft, this coverage helps protect you from the high costs associated with restoring your identity.
Here’s the amount of coverage you can purchase for each protection category:
American Family Range of Coverage
| Type of Coverage | Range of Coverage |
|---|---|
| Personal Property | $15,000–$50,000 |
| Liability | $300,000 or $500,000 per occurrence |
| Medical Payments to Others | $5,000 or $10,000 per person |
| Loss of Use | 30% or 40% of personal property coverage |
Note: The amount of coverage is based on American Family’s coverage comparison chart, and is subject to change based on location, rental type, and coverage selected.
American Family Optional Coverage
To supplement your renters insurance, American Family offers six optional coverages that can be added to your plan at an additional cost:
- Jewelry, Gemstones, Watches, and Fur Coverage: If you need additional coverage on high-price items like watches and other jewelry, this protection increases your covered amount.
- Personal Injury Coverage: This provides additional protection for personal injury claims like libel, slander, false arrest, and wrongful eviction.
- Equipment Breakdown Coverage: This coverage protects electronics, smart home devices, and appliances that are damaged due to mechanical or electrical breakdowns.
- Pet Insurance: This type of insurance protects your pet with up to $1,000 worth of coverage for veterinary and injury costs.
- Travel Protection: Travel protection provides trip cancellation coverage and global medical insurance.
- Home-Based Business Coverage: If you run your business out of your rental unit, you can receive liability coverage and small business property protection.
How Much Does American Family Renters Insurance Cost?
To give you an idea of what a renters insurance policy from American Family costs, we requested an online quote from the company. Here’s a quote for a single-family home in Madison, Wisconsin:
| Type | Economy | Traditional | Premier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Cost | $13.34 | $16.76 | $23.67 |
| Deductible | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 |
Your American Family renters insurance deductible can be $250, $500, or $1,000.
American Family Renters Insurance Discounts
American Family offers five discounts to its renters insurance customers, including:
- Multi-Product Discount: This discount is offered to customers who bundle their renters and car insurance with American Family.
- Smart Home Discount: If your rental is equipped with a Frontpoint home security system, you can receive a discount on your monthly premium.
- Insurance Payment Discount: When you choose to pay your bill in full, register for automatic payments, or choose paperless billing, you qualify for a discount.
- Loyalty Discount: If you’ve been an American Family member for a year, you can qualify for a reduced renters insurance premium.
- Generational Discount: If you’re between the ages of 18 and 30, and your parent(s) are American Family customers, you qualify for the generational discount.
State Availability
Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming
Customer Service and Claims Support
American Family ensures customer satisfaction by placing each policyholder in contact with a local insurance agent who can provide personalized customer support. Additionally, American Family provides 24/7 phone support and allows claims to be submitted online through their customer portal.
American Family also gives customers the ability to pay their bills and access their policy details through the MyAmFam mobile application.
Our Conclusion
American Family offers customers comprehensive renters insurance coverage at an affordable price. Their online quoting process is simple, although it doesn’t explain all coverage options and details, instead giving customers the choice of three tiered options.
To go along with its basic and free identity fraud expense coverage, American Family offers six additional coverage options and five discounts that help customers save money. American Family is straightforward with its coverage, listing the particular events it covers to give you an idea of what is and isn’t protected.
If you’re unsure whether American Family is right for you, consider getting quotes from a few different providers to compare coverage options and pricing:
If you’re not sure whether American Family Renters Insurance is right for you, compare it to other top-rated renters insurance companies below.
Companies |
American Family |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Known for |
Free identity fraud expense coverage |
Flood and earthquake coverage |
Non-smoking discount |
Monthly price |
About $13 |
As low as $10 |
About $30 |
Customer service |
24/7 for claims; limited for sales and service |
24/7 for claims; limited for sales and service |
24/7 for claims; limited for customer service |
BBB rating |
A |
A- |
A+ |
Company Overview
- Company Name: American Family Insurance (AmFam)
- CEO: Jack Salzwedel
- Years in Business: 66 years
- State Availability: 19 states
- Address: 6000 American Parkway
- City/State: Madison, Wisconsin
- Zip Code: 53783-0001
- A.M. Best Financial Strength Rating: A
*A.M. Best ratings accurate as of April 2023
Frequently Asked Questions
Our Methodology
The This Old HouseReviews team is committed to providing comprehensive and unbiased reviews to our readers. This means earning your trust through transparency and having the data to back up our ratings and recommendations.
With that in mind, we created an objective rating system to score each renters insurance company. Here’s what that review process looked like:
- We analyze the information on each company’s website. This allows us to determine what products and services are offered by each renters insurance provider.
- We get a sample quote from the companies by either talking to a sales representative or by using the online quote tool. This tells us what a policy looks like and costs.
- We test customer service by talking to a company representative, finding out their hours of operation, and determining what technological features are available for customers.
- We update all of this information on a continuous basis, storing it in a proprietary database that allows us to compare dozens of home insurance companies against each other.
With this data, we created a rating methodology to score each home insurance company. Our rating system is a weighted, 100-point scale based on the following factors:
- Coverage (30): We rated home insurance companies higher if they offered the six main types of renters protection—dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, liability, and medical payments to others coverage.
- State availability (7.5): Companies scored higher if they covered more states than their competitors.
- Customer service (15): This factor is based on our communications with the company representatives, as well as the companies’ claims and quotes processes, availability throughout the week, and customer service information found on their websites.
- Technology (12.5): Technology can increase the efficiency of filing and tracking home insurance claims. Companies scored higher if they had technology options like mobile apps and online chat functions.
- Reputation (20): We gauged trustworthiness based on years of experience and Better Business Bureau (BBB) ratings.
- Additional benefits (15): Companies that offered optional features, like discounts and endorsements, scored higher than competitors that didn’t.
Our Reviews team has a full-time researcher who collects and regularly updates data points from every company to help us compare them on key factors such as coverage, service, and dependability.
To share feedback or ask a question about this article, send a note to our Reviews Team at reviews@thisoldhousereviews.com.