Home insurance costs in Arizona 2021

For each city, we have taken into consideration a home with the average size for that city with its most frequent value; dwelling coverage is close (but not equal to) homes worth, deductible applied is $1,000 and liability coverage is $300,000. We got quotes from major insurance companies as Allstate, American Family, Amica, Chubb, Farmers, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Progressive, Statefarm, Travelers, and USAA. These have been assessed with good to excellent ratings from institutions specialized in the insurance industry: JD Power, NAIC, Better Business Bureau, and AM Best.

Across the State, the weather is a determining factor for insurance companies to set their annual premiums: climate change makes itself feel a lot in Arizona since inhabitants can witness very hot and dry summers. What has this to do with your policy?

• Wildfires: these are an issue in hotter months. In the last years, periods of extreme drought have caused big fires that devastated many acres of territory in Arizona (as well as in other States). Climate change has worsened the situation and although a standard home policy can protect against this fearful peril, not every national insurance company can grant coverage for houses located in a high-risk area (or even cancel a current policy after a new wildfire in a previously not affected area); being that the case, local insurers can provide a fire-specific policy for a high rate, yet less comprehensive than a normal H03.
• Floods: despite being mainly in a desertic ecosystem, Arizona faces severe floods, that typically can occur in June-July, where a huge load of humidity reaches the nation from the Ocean, thus especially in the Southern regions. Floodings are also common through the State, and sometimes can be promoted from wildfires, because a soil previously altered by fire diminishes its capacity to absorb water, so that if heavy rains happen there will be an overflow in every direction, including toward the inside of houses.
• Hail: it damages windows and might cause floods.
• Tornadoes: as reported from the National Weather Service, multiple tornadoes have occurred recently on 29^th November of 2019: they are sporadic events in Arizona, even unusual that three of them generated in the Maricopa county involving cities like Phoenix and Scottsdale, where numerous trees fell and roofs were damaged, with a consequent possible revision of home insurance rates.

A note about crime: from several statistics, Arizona ranks high on the national scale as for crime, including the one property-related; the least safe result being Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Maricopa, Tempe, Prescott. The point is: expect high premiums in these cities, more in some districts.

Next, you have to consider the aspects related to the characteristics of your house: besides its location, the size, age, and materials used for the building. From data analysis of realtor.com, in Arizona nearly 34% of houses are more than 40-years old, e.g. built before 1979: if that’s your case, your home insurance costs will be relatively high, because you can more easily suffer damage, therefore filing a claim.

You can and should improve your house at the best security standards, whether it’s old or new, especially as regards roof. The material of the roof is an important subject: some will deform from excessive heat, expanding and collapsing through many cycles until it drops; pottery or clay made roof would be ideal to face this issue. They have also to be resistant against thunders, hail, and weight of snow. In doubt, you may regularly check its condition by an appraisal: you can then substitute it, updating or upgrading it.

Materials of the house lead you to consider its replacement cost: your dwelling coverage will be estimated on that cost, not on the home market value (that instead is a useful parameter to determine the liability coverage). That means you will be covered as much as it will cost to repair or rebuild the house according to the newest standards of safety. An average house in Tucson in the 85714 ZIP area has a market value of $80,000 versus a replacement cost of nearly $175,000. For your home, the fastest method to determine this cost is to hire an appraisal or even asking a real estate agent with some extra knowledge.

The claims history of your city district is another potential factor affecting the annual cost for your home policy.

Your credit history is not certainly last in importance: according to Experian, in 2019 the average credit score for the State of Arizona is 696, which is considered as good credit (above 670), and will give you access to optimal home insurance rates and discounts.

If you want to get the lowest premium for your home policy you still have options: shopping around to compare the companies rates, choosing a high deductible, improving your financial situation, bundling home with car insurance, staying with the same company on the long term (if convenient).

Use our free tool to estimate the right coverages and to get an idea of what your annual premium could be, then proceed with getting quotes from the best insurance companies on market.

*Methodology: we aggregated and averaged multiple quotes for every city of the State, assuming a 35 years old individual, married, with a good credit score. Our effort is to keep data always updated and the most accurate possible, so as to satisfy at best the consumer’s expectations.