Kansas homeowners can face an alarming variety of potential natural disasters, from tornadoes to flooding to earthquakes.
A standard homeowners insurance policy in Kansas covers fires and tornadoes, along with other problems. But it generally won’t cover flooding or earthquakes. Here’s how to find the right Kansas coverage.
What does Kansas homeowners insurance cover?
Standard homeowners policies in Kansas provide these main coverage types:
- Dwelling coverage: If a house is damaged or destroyed.
- Other structures coverage: For garages, storage sheds, fences and other buildings and structures not attached to the house.
- Personal property coverage: For personal possessions that are damaged, stolen or destroyed, including furniture, clothes, TVs and kitchen items.
- Loss of use coverage: If a home is uninhabitable due to a problem covered by the insurance policy, this pays extra expenses such as hotel bills.
- Personal liability coverage: For cases where you’re legally responsible for someone else’s injury or property damage.
- Medical payments to others coverage: In case people are hurt on your property.
How do I get Kansas flood insurance?
Flood insurance plans are available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) if your community participates in the NFIP. This federal program has standardized coverage limits, which may not fully insure your property. Here’s a list of Kansas communities that participate in the NFIP.
Companies such as Wright Flood sell private “excess” flood insurance, which gives you additional coverage above an NFIP policy.
Do I need Kansas earthquake insurance?
Kansas is no stranger to earthquakes, but they have been increasing in the state since 2013, according to the Kansas Geological Survey at the University of Kansas. Quakes are especially frequent in the south-central part of the state, which can get seismic activity that starts in either Kansas or Oklahoma.
Many people blame fracking for the increase in Kansas earthquakes. Fracking involves the injection of saltwater deep into rocks during oil and gas drilling. This causes pressure to build up within the rocks, and the pressure can travel through fault lines, causing earthquakes.
Kansas homeowners worried about potential damage should ask their home insurance agents about earthquake insurance options.
Who has the cheapest Kansas home insurance?
The Kansas department of insurance conducted a study of average premiums among the largest home insurers in the state. We averaged the premiums in 10 counties chosen at random to show the cheapest Kansas insurers. Premiums shown are for $200,000 in coverage in areas with good fire protection.
Here are the 10 cheapest companies out of the 21 in the survey.
| Rank | Company | Average annual Kansas premium |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MutualAid Exchange* | $1,449 |
| 2 | Bremen Farmers Mutual Insurance Co.* | $1,745 |
| 3 | Armed Forces Insurance Exchange* | $1,809 |
| 4 | Marysville Mutual Insurance Co. | $1,832 |
| 5 | Safeco Insurance Co. of America* | $1,898 |
| 6 | Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Co. | $1,932 |
| 7 | American Family Insurance Co. | $1,966 |
| 8 | Shelter Mutual Insurance Co.* | $2,038 |
| 9 | Homesite Indemnity Co.* | $2,102 |
| 10 | United Services Automobile Association | $2,323 |
| Source: Kansas Insurance Department, rates as of Jan. 1, 2019, for $200,000 in home insurance coverage.
*These companies have complaint levels that are higher than the industry median, according to the Kansas Insurance Department. The company with the lowest level of complaints in this list is American Family. | ||
20 largest Kansas homeowners insurance companies
| Rank in Kansas | Company | Market share % in the state |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | State Farm | 21.46 |
| 2 | American Family Insurance | 15.29 |
| 3 | Farm Bureau Financial Services | 7.87 |
| 4 | Farmers Insurance | 7.71 |
| 5 | Travelers | 6.31 |
| 6 | Allstate Corp. | 5.8 |
| 7 | USAA | 5.14 |
| 8 | Nationwide | 4.76 |
| 9 | Liberty Mutual | 4.39 |
| 10 | Shelter Insurance | 2.42 |
| 11 | Chubb | 1.35 |
| 12 | Marysville Mutual Insurance Co. | 1.29 |
| 13 | MetLife | 1.22 |
| 14 | Farmers Alliance Cos. | 1.08 |
| 15 | Munich Re | 1.02 |
| 16 | Auto Club Exchange | 1.02 |
| 17 | Bremen Farmers Mutual Ins Co. | 1.02 |
| 18 | Auto-Owners Insurance | 0.96 |
| 19 | Progressive | 0.94 |
| 20 | State Auto | 0.8 |
| Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence, based on homeowners multiple peril insurance market share in 2018. | ||
What if I can’t find home insurance in Kansas?
If you’ve been turned down for home insurance you may be able to buy basic insurance from the Kansas Fair Plan. Fair Plans are called the “insurer of last resort.” Any licensed Kansas insurance agent can help you buy a policy through the Fair Plan if your property qualifies for coverage.