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California Casualty offers specialty homeowners insurance for firefighters, peace officers, RNs and NPs, and other heroes. It also partners with Mexpro to cover homes in Mexico.
B+
- Offers discounted homeowners insurance with additional coverage for nurses, firefighters, and other heroes
- Partners with MexPro to offer homeowners insurance in Mexico
- Homeowners insurance policies can be bundled with auto, recreational, and other insurance policies
- Offers specialty earthquake and flood coverage through partnerships
- California Casualty is only open to customers of certain professions
- Coverage is not available in all states
California Casualty Homeowners Insurance
Founded in 1914, California Casualty offers auto, homeowners, renters, motorcycle, and other insurance products for firefighters, EMS, nurses (NPs and RNs), teachers, higher ed employees, peace officers, and other select occupations. The company markets itself as the insurance for "American heroes" as long as you live in certain states.
Taking a queue from USAA, California Casualty offers competitive pricing for eligible buyers. More importantly, it provides unique coverage and industry-specific discounts other insurance providers don't. This is counterbalanced by California Casualty's restricted availability, but is it worth it?
California Casualty Homeowners Insurance Cost
California Casualty has an online "Start your Quote Today" form for homeowners insurance. First, it requests your state and occupation (we used California and an educator job position). From there, you can choose "Get a Quote." However, the next page tells you to call 1-866-680-5143 for a custom quote. As such, we were not able to get a sample quote online.
However, its website suggests California Casualty provides the following:
- Discounts for nonsmokers
- Bundling home and auto protection
- Installing a home security system
As it only insures peace officers, firefighters, teachers, nurses, and other "heroes," occupation-based discounts are automatically built into each policy.
How to File A Claim With California Casualty Homeowners Insurance
Filing a claim can be done online or over the phone.
Claims phone number: 1-800-800-9410 option 4
Homeowners claims online form: https://www.calcas.com/home-claim?view=homeClaim
The online form will ask for your contact information, the date/time of the incident, details of what happened, and if anyone contacted the police/fire or sustained injuries. After filling out the form, wait for a phone call, email, or the policy declarations page to confirm the claim order is effective.
California Casualty Homeowners Insurance Plans
California Casualty offers a comprehensive policy that covers homeowners in a variety of ways, including:
- Coverage for home and belongings in the event damage occurs
- Providing living expenses if unable to live in the house due to these damages
- Protection from lawsuits and legal claims if other parties are injured on your property
California Casualty offers qualifying homeowners many benefits, such as broad policy protection, $500 if your luggage is lost, $1,000 if your debit or credit card is used unlawfully, and a $0 deductible for loss of use.
As previously mentioned, all qualifying customers enjoy industry-specific perks with California Casualty. For example, teachers can deduct $3,000 for using their personal property for work, $500 to cover theft of fundraising money or goods with a $0 deductible in most states, and Educators Excess Liability Coverage. In addition, a School Violence Death Survivor Benefit is available in case of a school shooting or other violent act. Unfortunately, Georgia, Montana, New Hampshire, Texas, and Virginia customers are not eligible for this benefit.
Firefighters and Peace Officers receive additional benefits, including $5,000 for theft of personally owned off-duty weapons, turnout gear coverage, uniforms coverage, and a Fall Hero/Fallen Officer Survivor Benefit.
California Casualty also offers ID Defense, a service that helps protect against and resolve identity theft at no cost to all California Casualty policyholders. It can help safeguard information during life transitions, connect you to a fraud specialist at CyberScout if your identity is compromised, and replace personal documents that may be destroyed or lost. Services offered include tax fraud support, social media compromise assist, email compromise assist, child identity theft support, break-in recovery, employment identity theft support, assisted living fraud support, and travel identity theft support.
California Casualty offers the following insurance policies:
- Single Family Dwelling or Home - It's offered to public safety and education association members, credit unions, and other select employer groups. Discounts include ones for security systems, nonsmokers, and those who bundle their auto and home insurance. Home insurance is unavailable in AK, HI, MA, MI, NY, or WI.
- Condo - Unlike homeowners insurance for single-family residences, condos typically require minimal, if any, coverage A (for the building). Any coverage you buy would cover things like appliances, flooring, etc., in the event of a loss. So its premiums are much lower but can still include strong personal property, liability, and other protections.
- Mobile homes - Public safety and education association members, credit unions, and other select employer groups can obtain coverage for mobile homes through California Casualty. However, this coverage is unavailable in AK, HI, MA, MI, NY, WI, or FL.
- Renters insurance - California Casualty also provides rental insurance for those not owning a home. Like a condo policy, renters insurance policies can offer strong coverage for personal property, renters liability, etc. Like homeowners policies, renters policies may be discounted if you bundle, don't smoke, etc.
Additional Coverage Options from California Casualty
California Casualty also offers homeowners flood and earthquake coverage. A representative will determine the property's flood zone to provide flood insurance options and prices. The NFIP sets pricing for flood insurance. So you should get the same pricing everywhere. However, many homeowners prefer to keep all their policies with one carrier for easy management.
Most policies are active after a 30-day wait period. Customers can reach flood insurance representatives for California Casualty at 1-800-652-2638.
If you live in an active seismic zone, California Casualty offers earthquake insurance in a limited number of states in partnership with GeoVera Insurance Company.
B+
- Offers discounted homeowners insurance with additional coverage for nurses, firefighters, and other heroes
- Partners with MexPro to offer homeowners insurance in Mexico
- Homeowners insurance policies can be bundled with auto, recreational, and other insurance policies
- Offers specialty earthquake and flood coverage through partnerships
- California Casualty is only open to customers of certain professions
- Coverage is not available in all states
FAQs
California Casualty's website lists specific career groups such as RNs or NPs (nurses), firefighters, police officers, etc. As far as we could find, only these professionals or surviving spouses would qualify for coverage with California Casualty.
California Casualty customers can create an online account through its website to manage their policies and pay their bills. They can also call the hotline at 1-800-800-9410. Option three will allow customers to update their policy or billing. Option four helps customers report an accident or file a claim. California Casualty also has an online messaging system and a form found at https://www.calcas.com/contact-us.
Although these more significant ticket items can be covered, they are not automatically included in the standard insurance policy from California Casualty. Instead, customers would need to add a rider for specific items.
California Casualty has partnered with Mexpro to offer homeowners and renters insurance policies to customers living in Mexico full or part-time. It includes personal property coverage, replacement value coverage, liability coverage, extraordinary expense coverage, and optional catastrophic events and theft coverage. Mexpro also offers auto insurance in Mexico through this partnership.
Compare California Casualty
See how California Casualty compares to three other options for home insurance coverage: Amica, USAA, and Lemonade.
California Casualty vs. Amica Homeowners Insurance
Amica homeowners insurance and California Casualty both offer homeowners insurance, but Amica was rated the #1 company for overall customer satisfaction in 2022 by JD Power. Like California Casualty, Amica also bundles auto, home, and other insurance products to stay competitive. Still, it lists no discounts for public service members as California Casualty does. More importantly, Amica doesn't provide the career-specific extended coverage you'd see with California Casualty.
Instead, Amica offers competitive home insurance and Contractor Connection, a service for policyholders to connect them to licensed contractors. Currently, Amica offers homeowners insurance in 48 states (excluding Alaska and Hawai'i). Based on what we've seen, Amica covers a much wider range of customers. But California Casualty offers more competitive benefits and pricing for the customers it does serve.
Amica Homeowners Insurance Review
California Casualty vs. USAA Homeowners Insurance
USAA homeowners insurance, like California Casualty, also offers unique benefits to select individuals. USAA's focus, however, is on military members and their families. Homeowners insurance through USAA offers military members coverage for their uniforms with no deductible and for military equipment. If personal property is damaged or lost due to war, USAA will also waive the deductible. For military families, there is no US homeowners coverage cheaper than USAA.
California Casualty and USAA target exclusive and differing demographics. However, both companies offer low rates and more comprehensive homeowners insurance coverage for said target audiences. A more significant difference is licensing. USAA sells homeowners insurance in all 50 states. California Casualty offers coverage in a limited number of US states and Mexico through its partnership with Mexpro.
USAA Homeowners Insurance Review
Compare California Casualty vs. Lemonade Homeowners Insurance
Lemonade is an insurtech company that specializes in providing coverage 100% online. Lemonade also offers renters, life, pet, and car insurance, with discounts available for bundling. We've established that California Casualty only serves designated heroes in select states. Lemonade sells to all customers in a limited number of states, but its site says it's "expanding across the US." So it may soon offer coverage in all 50 states and Washington, DC.
It's designed for tech-savvy homeowners who manage policies online or via a mobile app. Based on our information, Lemonade is more likely to offer low prices in certain states. However, California Casualty will offer more comprehensive coverage with relevant riders for its target demographics. Again, for its accepted customers, California Casualty also offers affordable premiums.
Lemonade Homeowners Insurance Review
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed California Casualty Homeowners Insurance
We know how hard it can be to find the right homeowners insurance for your needs. The most comprehensive coverage may be prohibitively expensive, while the cheapest coverage leaves you wanting. Unfortunately, homeowners often don't see the problems with their homeowners policies until they file their first claim.
At Insider, we apply an expert lens to homeowners insurance. First, we examine customer reviews, JD Power, AM Best, pricing, coverage, and more. Then we compare companies like California Casualty against others. Finally, if a company is not on JD Power (because of its restrictive offerings, JD Power does not rank California Casualty), we look to sites like TrustPilot or ConsumerAffairs. You can read more about our method in our homeowners insurance rating methodology.
B+
- Offers discounted homeowners insurance with additional coverage for nurses, firefighters, and other heroes
- Partners with MexPro to offer homeowners insurance in Mexico
- Homeowners insurance policies can be bundled with auto, recreational, and other insurance policies
- Offers specialty earthquake and flood coverage through partnerships
- California Casualty is only open to customers of certain professions
- Coverage is not available in all states
