How Good is Your Car Insurance?
"ValChoice, a data analytics company that aims to bring some transparency to the opaque insurance industry."
-Gretchen Morgenson
ValChoice is “Carfax for...insurance”
-Giovanni Rodriguez
Compare Auto Insurance Companies in Kansas
| Market Share | ValChoice Score | |
|---|---|---|
| State Farm | 20.23% |  |
| American Family Insurance | 12.29% | |
| Progressive Insurance | 10.78% | |
| Farm Bureau Property & Casualty | 7.51% | |
| Farmers Insurance | 6.48% | |
| ValChoice only comments publicly on companies that are above average. For any company that is below average we don't publicly display the score. For those interested, scores on all companies are available with free reports. All analysis based on quantitative, high-quality data. Data sources include: SERFF, state insurance commissioners, National Association of Insurance Commissioners and AM Best Company. Data used by permission. | ||
Kansas laws require the minimum insurance amounts shown in the table below. The important point to know about insurance coverage amounts is they define the maximum amount and insurance company is obligated to pay. If the costs are more than the amount of insurance coverage you purchased, you will be personally responsible for the costs above your coverage limits. More information on how insurance coverage protects you is included below the table.
Minimum Car Insurance Coverage Required in Kansas
| Minimum Coverage | |
|---|---|
| Bodily Injury, per person | 25,000 |
| Bodily Injury, per accident | 50,000 |
| Property Damage | 25,000 |
| Personal Injury Protection | 4,500 |
Types of Kansas Car Insurance
Kansas is known as a "no-fault" state for auto insurance. You may have also heard of no-fault insurance coverage by the name personal injury protection. No fault and personal injury protection are the same.
No Fault and Bodily Injury Protection
With no-fault insurance, it doesn't matter who causes an accident. Whether the accident is caused by you or someone else, the coverage you have under your insurance pays for your bodily injuries and your passengers bodily injuries. In the case your passengers are covered by their own insurance, their insurance will be the first to pay for their injuries.
The payment amount is capped at the coverage limit of the policy. The table above shows the minimum coverage limits. Minimum coverage limits means you must buy at least this much insurance coverage. Buying more than the minimum coverage amount is also acceptable.
In the event that you are at fault and the other party (one or more people) has bodily injuries in excess of the amount of coverage you purchased, you will be responsible for the amount above the coverage you bought. This means you will be personally responsible for the medical bills, lost wages, etc, of all the people that were injured. To avoid being personally responsible, you can purchase additional bodily injury liability coverage. Click this link for more information on car insurance coverage requirements in Kansas.
Property Damage Protection
The property damage liability portion of your insurance coverage pays for repairs to the other person's vehicle or property. This works the same way as the bodily injury coverage, with the difference being it pays for the other parties property. The maximum amount the insurance will pay on your behalf is the coverage limit that you purchased. If you want coverage above the minimum amount, that can be purchased, but is not required. Coverage for your own vehicle can also be purchased.
The flooding that occasionally occurs in Nebraska has people wondering what coverage they have for a vehicle that gets damaged by floodwater. Floodwater damage protection is part of your comprehensive insurance. For more details on insurance coverage for flooded vehicles, read our blog post titled "Does Your Car Float Like a Boat? What to do if it Won't!"
Getting an Auto Insurance Quote
When you get a car insurance quote, be sure to get an example of the insurance policy, or the declarations page. This will be proof of how much insurance you're actually buying. Also, be sure to keep a copy of the insurance policy so you know the full extent of your coverage.
Always ask your agent to provide you with a ValChoice report. ValChoice reports are the only reliable way to know how well insurance companies perform for providing a good value, their performance when handling claims and the level of service they provide.
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Kansas Homeowners Insurance Rates and Trends
The five largest homeowner insurance companies in Kansas are shown in the table below. The market share of each company is shown in the second column. The third column shows their most recent ValChoice Score for homeowners insurance. ValChoice Scores are only presented for companies with above average performance. For companies where there is no needle on the fuel-gauge-style image, you can order a free report to get the ValChoice Score. This information is presented so you can reliably compare Kansas homeowners insurance companies in order to understand how to get the best homeowners insurance.
The ValChoice scoring system takes into account how they price, their historic performance for claims handling and the level of service they provide. This scoring system uses high quality data and grades on a curve. This approach to grading yields companies that score as high as 100 and as low as 0. Only a system like this gives consumers a true picture of company performance. For more details on any given company, order a ValChoice report.
Compare Homeowners Insurance Companies in Kansas
| Market Share | ValChoice Score | |
|---|---|---|
| State Farm | 21.52% |  |
| Travelers | 5.89% |  |
| American Family Insurance | 15.22% | |
| Farm Bureau Property & Casualty | 8.27% | |
| Farmers Insurance | 8.05% | |
| ValChoice only comments publicly on companies that are above average. For any company that is below average we don't publicly display the score. For those interested, scores on all companies are available with free reports. All analysis based on quantitative, high-quality data. Data sources include: SERFF, state insurance commissioners, National Association of Insurance Commissioners and AM Best Company. Data used by permission. | ||
Renters Insurance
Many companies that offer homeowners insurance also offer renters insurance. The ValChoice grading system applies to renters insurance as well as home insurance. To get a report on renters insurance, simply select homeowners insurance and choose the type of insurance report card you would like to have.
Flood Insurance
Flood insurance is offered separately from homeowners insurance. Talk to your insurance company or insurance agent if you wish to purchase flood insurance. At this time ValChoice does not grade any flood insurance offerings. For more information on flood insurance, read our blog post titled "10 Facts About Flood Insurance, Without Drowning in Details."
Getting an Insurance Quote
When getting a homeowners insurance quote, be sure to consider the following important items.
Amount of Coverage
The dollar amount of insurance coverage to purchase should be equal to the estimated cost of rebuilding the home. Do not include the property value when determining the amount of insurance to buy.
Extended Dwelling Endorsement
This coverage is often referred to as “extras.” This is additional coverage that addresses the problem that occurs when the actual cost to rebuild the home is more than was estimated when buying the insurance. In situations where there is a catastrophic event such as a flood, tornado or hurricane, building costs can increase significantly due to building materials increasing in price and contractors being scarce. Extended dwelling endorsements cover this higher than expected building cost. Extended dwelling endorsements are typically offered as a percentage of the coverage amount. The amount offered is commonly 10%, 25%, 50% or 100% of the coverage.
Building Code Coverage
When rebuilding a home, local laws will require that you rebuild to current building codes. If building damage is extensive, sometimes the laws even require you to upgrade the undamaged portion of the home to meet current building codes. This can be a significant additional expense. It's common that a homeowner insurance policy will exclude or limit the coverage for conforming to current building codes. Be sure to understand this important point about the insurance you buy.
Loss of Use
This specifies how much and how long the insurance company will pay for you to live somewhere else while your home is being rebuilt or repaired. One year in loss of use coverage is common. If your home requires a total rebuild, it’s wise to plan on a couple years for the project to be completed.
Covering Your Personal Items (“Contents”)
Your personal items will commonly be covered by what’s known as “replacement cost” coverage. This means you only get paid when you actually replace the item. There are two important items to understand here. 1) You must have a detailed home inventory to know what you had in order to replace these items, and 2) if you had $200,000 worth of contents and only replaced $20,000 worth of items, you would only receive the $20,000. “Replacement cost” sounds good. In reality, it may leave you far short of what you expected.
How Good is Your Home Insurance?
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Kansas Homeowners Insurance Rate Calculator
This calculator is an average of insurance prices across the state. Individual prices will vary depending on factors such as deductibles, coverage and the risks associated with the specific area where you live.
Use this calculator to estimate home insurance prices in Kansas. Just enter the replacement value (cost to rebuild, not including the land).
More Information on Kansas Homeowners Insurance Prices
Compared to other states, the value consumers get for their home insurance in Kansas is good. For home insurance value, Kansas is in the top 1/3 of all states. Like the neighboring states of Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri and Oklahoma, residents of Kansas get a good value from their home insurance.
Homeowners insurance prices are increasing faster in Kansas than in most other states. This means Kansas residents need to keep a close watch on their home insurance to make sure that it doesn't get more expensive than it should.