AAA - CSAA Insurance Group homeowners insurance

Overview

CSAA Insurance Group is the insurer behind AAA home and auto policies for a large share of the country's AAA members, from Northern California, Nevada and Utah to Arizona, Oklahoma, Colorado and the Mid-Atlantic. Its policies are issued by CSAA Insurance Exchange, so that is the name you will see on the declarations page even though the card in your wallet says AAA. It sells to AAA members of partner clubs in 23 states and Washington, D.C., mostly through the clubs' own insurance agents, by phone and online, and it also contracts with some independent agencies.

The group ranked #17 among U.S. homeowners insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written, with $1.72 billion (0.91% of the national market), according to NAIC market share data. California is its largest homeowners market: it was the state's fifth-largest homeowners group in 2025 with $1.07 billion and 6.02% of premiums, just behind the separate AAA insurer for Southern California, the Auto Club of Southern California. It was also the 7th-largest homeowners group in Nevada (5.80%), 8th in Oklahoma and 10th in Arizona.

CSAA Insurance Exchange is a reciprocal exchange: it has no stockholders, its policyholders are its subscribers, and an affiliated attorney-in-fact runs the business under the oversight of an insurance board, according to California Department of Insurance (CDI) examiners. The company reports more than 3,500 employees and more than $8 billion in revenue. Mike Zukerman, its former chief legal officer, has been president and CEO since May 2024.

History

CSAA traces its roots to the Automobile Club of California, founded at San Francisco's Cliff House in 1900. The California State Automobile Association was incorporated in 1907, and in 1914 it created the Inter-Insurance Bureau to sell auto insurance to members. Homeowners insurance followed in 1974 and renters insurance in 2000.

Expansion beyond Northern California came in steps. CSAA bought Western United Insurance Company in 1999 and used it to sell in Utah and Nevada from 2001, entered Arizona, Oregon and Idaho in 2003, and added Colorado, Ohio, Indiana, Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Virginia, Wyoming, New York, West Virginia and Montana between 2004 and 2007. In 2011 the insurer separated from the AAA club serving Northern California, Nevada and Utah (the two still work together) and bought the AAA Mid-Atlantic Insurance Group, adding Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington, D.C. It took the name CSAA Insurance Group in 2013, and the current exchange began business on January 1, 2014. With AAA Shelby in Ohio joining in 2016, its products reached clubs in 23 states and D.C. The Northern California club now operates as AAA Mountain West Group, which also serves Arizona, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska; its website names CSAA as the provider of AAA auto and home insurance.

Homeowners coverage

CSAA writes homeowners, condo and renters policies with the standard pieces: Coverage A (dwelling), other structures, personal property, loss of use and personal liability. The AAA club pages describe optional building code (ordinance or law) coverage and higher limits for jewelry and watches, plus a personal umbrella. Flood coverage is available through the agency.

Earthquake is not part of a AAA home policy. In California, the AAA agency places earthquake coverage with the California Earthquake Authority (CSAA is a CEA participating insurer) or with private carriers such as GeoVera, so members can buy it in the same visit.

The California rate plan approved under the Sustainable Insurance Strategy added wildfire-specific features. Customers whose homes earn the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home designation and meet other policy conditions can keep their homeowners policy for at least three years, even in higher-risk areas. In its 2025 filing CSAA also proposed new coverage for buried utility lines and equipment breakdown; ask the agent whether those endorsements are available in your state.

Discounts and savings

AAA's club sites advertise a home and auto bundle discount, a protective-device discount of 5% to 15% depending on the alarm, monitoring or fire-protection system, and a new-home discount for houses up to 10 years old that shrinks as the home ages. Discounts are not cumulative and vary by club.

California adds three mitigation discounts from the 2025 filing: "My Home Hardening," worth up to 12.5% for wildfire risk-reduction work; credits for the Wildfire Prepared Home designation; and discounts for water leak detection and automatic shutoff devices. Those sit alongside the state's "Safer from Wildfires" credits for defensible space and home hardening.

Where it sells and recent market moves

CSAA lists full-state service in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and Washington, D.C., and partial-state service in California, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. In California it covers the north and center of the state; Southern California is Auto Club territory.

It has not stopped writing new homeowners business in California, but it underwrites selectively. In August 2023, KGO-TV reported nonrenewals of long-time Northern California customers over yard debris, roof age and pool maintenance; CSAA said it reviews properties with aerial and satellite imagery and continues to write where its underwriting criteria are met. That is a reminder that aerial imagery now drives many renewal decisions.

The most important recent change is California's Sustainable Insurance Strategy. CSAA filed in August 2025, saying it already insured more homeowners in wildfire-distressed areas than the program's 85% threshold requires. CDI approved the filing in December 2025, the second approved under the strategy. The approved plan raised homeowners rates an average of 6.9% from March 15, 2026, affecting nearly 481,800 policyholders, with individual changes from 0% to 10%, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. CSAA also committed to offer quotes to about 1,000 FAIR Plan policyholders who meet its underwriting rules.

Claims

Claims and customer service share one number, 800-922-8228, staffed 24 hours a day. Policyholders can also start a claim online from their AAA club's website. Members outside Northern California can find a state-specific number on the CSAA contact page. As with any carrier, get the claim number, photograph damage before temporary repairs, and keep receipts; the adjuster will ask for them.

Ratings and reputation

AM Best affirmed CSAA Insurance Exchange's A (Excellent) financial strength rating with a stable outlook on July 22, 2026, along with an a+ long-term issuer credit rating. The rating has been A rather than A+ since a June 2016 downgrade that followed years of weak underwriting results. AM Best moved the issuer credit rating outlook to negative in July 2024 and back to stable in July 2025, citing a stronger balance sheet helped by $500 million of surplus notes issued in February 2025.

In J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Home Insurance Study, CSAA Insurance Group (AAA) ranked third in the renters segment with 689 points, behind Amica and Erie Insurance. It was not among the top three in the homeowners segment.

Who it suits

CSAA fits AAA members in its partner clubs who like dealing with a local branch and want home and auto from one AAA company. In Northern California it is one of the larger admitted carriers still writing new homeowners policies, and its wildfire-hardening discounts and three-year renewal promise give owners of hardened homes something concrete to work toward. It suits less well if you are not a member, live in Southern California (where the Auto Club writes AAA policies) or own a home with an older roof or deferred maintenance that aerial imagery will flag.

• Strengths: A (Excellent) from AM Best, affirmed July 2026; still writing in Northern California and committed to taking FAIR Plan policyholders; third in the renters segment of J.D. Power's 2025 home study; wildfire and water-device discounts in California.
• Weaknesses: AAA membership required; a 6.9% average California increase in 2026; rated one notch below the A+ it held before 2016; strict condition-based underwriting that has led to nonrenewals.

How to contact AAA - CSAA Insurance Group