Plymouth Rock Assurance (New Jersey) homeowners insurance

Overview

In New Jersey, the Plymouth Rock Assurance name on a home policy almost always means a company in the Palisades group, not the Massachusetts-based companies covered in our Plymouth Rock Assurance profile. The lead company is Palisades Safety and Insurance Association, a New Jersey reciprocal exchange owned by its policyholders. Its subsidiaries write the homeowners business: AtHome Insurance Company and Palisades Property and Casualty Insurance Company in New Jersey, with High Point Preferred Insurance Company renewing older policies, and Palisades Property and Casualty and High Point Preferred in Pennsylvania. Plymouth Rock Management Company of New Jersey, a subsidiary of Boston-based The Plymouth Rock Company, runs the whole group as attorney-in-fact.

The Palisades Group ranked #72 among U.S. homeowners insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written, with $279.1 million (0.15% of the national market), according to NAIC market share data. About $190.8 million of that came from New Jersey, where it was the 9th-largest homeowners insurer in 2025 with 4.13% of the market; most of the rest is in Pennsylvania. Auto insurance is the larger business for the group overall.

You can buy a home policy online, by phone or through an independent agent. Plymouth Rock's pitch is speed: its @Home product, launched in late 2019, can produce a quote from little more than a property address.

History

Palisades was formed on May 15, 1992, when American Employers', Commercial Union and Employees First pulled out of New Jersey's private passenger auto market, and it began writing auto policies that November. Commercial Union put up $16 million to create the management company that serves as attorney-in-fact, then sold it to a subsidiary of The Plymouth Rock Company, the Massachusetts insurer Jim Stone founded in 1982. Palisades added homeowners authority in January 1994 and grew mainly by taking over books of New Jersey auto business from departing carriers.

The big step came on October 31, 2003, when Palisades bought Prudential Financial's New Jersey property-casualty companies and renamed them High Point Preferred, High Point Property and Casualty and High Point Safety and Insurance. That deal brought homeowners and auto policyholders and a distribution tie to Prudential that still produces auto business. Palisades then bought Lancer Casualty (2007, renamed Teachers Auto Insurance Company of New Jersey) and National Atlantic Holdings, parent of Proformance Insurance (2008, renamed Palisades Property and Casualty). The management company took the Plymouth Rock Management Company of New Jersey name in 2011.

On the home side, High Point Preferred acquired 21st Century Security Insurance Company on August 1, 2018 and renamed it AtHome Insurance Company, the carrier now used for new New Jersey homeowners policies. Palisades bought motorcycle insurer Rider Insurance Company in October 2019. Plymouth Rock said in February 2021 that its home business across its six states had passed $250 million in premiums.

Homeowners coverage

The New Jersey and Pennsylvania policies cover the standard six parts: dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, personal liability and medical payments to others. Plymouth Rock offers several coverage levels, and some options are included automatically at higher levels; the company does not publish the level names or a sample policy form online, so ask the agent or phone representative which form you are getting and what each level adds.

Optional coverages on the New Jersey and Pennsylvania pages are home systems breakdown and utility service line (both backed by Hartford Steam Boiler), cyber and identity protection (underwritten by CyberScout), guaranteed replacement coverage, green upgrades after a loss, and flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program. Guaranteed replacement matters in high-cost New Jersey suburbs. Say your dwelling limit is $450,000 and a fire destroys the house when rebuilding would cost $520,000: a standard policy stops at the limit, while guaranteed replacement is designed to pay the rebuild subject to its own conditions, so read the endorsement for any cap or insurance-to-value requirement (see extended and guaranteed replacement cost coverage).

How claims are paid deserves attention. Plymouth Rock's home claims FAQ says most claims are first settled at actual cash value, meaning replacement cost minus depreciation, and that policyholders with replacement cost coverage recover the held-back depreciation once repairs are done (see recoverable depreciation: getting the rest of your claim).

Discounts and savings

Plymouth Rock lists five home discounts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: a home and auto bundle worth up to 20% off the homeowners rate, a new customer discount, a claims-free discount after five years without a homeowners claim, an age-of-home discount that is larger for newer houses, and a quote-in-advance discount when you buy at least seven days before coverage starts. That last one rewards shopping before the renewal date rather than the week of closing.

Where it sells and recent market moves

The Palisades companies write homeowners, condo and renters insurance in New Jersey and Pennsylvania; Plymouth Rock's other home companies cover Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York.

The underwriter behind a New Jersey policy has been shifting. New Jersey's Department of Banking and Insurance lists High Point Preferred as not accepting any new business and Palisades Property and Casualty as not accepting new owners business (it still takes condo and renters), with AtHome Insurance Company writing new homeowners policies. If your renewal arrives under a different underwriting company, the policy is still inside the same Palisades group, but the declarations page names the company that is financially responsible for it, and that is the name to check for ratings and complaints.

Underwriting has tightened. Plymouth Rock's chairman wrote in February 2026 that its Home Group, which oversees the property insurance business and grew a $75 million home book into a roughly $450 million operation, ran a serious cumulative underwriting loss before it shed its least profitable business and raised rates where needed. In 2025 its writings grew close to 13% and the net combined ratio fell below 92%, helped by light storm losses in its states.

Claims

Report a home claim online through the Claims Center, in the Plymouth Rock mobile app, by phone to the claims department at 844-346-1225, or through your independent agent. A dedicated claims representative contacts you by the next business day. Damage may be reviewed by phone or video chat, and for interior losses Plymouth Rock can build a 3D model of a room from your photos. It prefers that you hire your own contractor and will reconcile estimates with that contractor. Electronic payments by direct deposit or Zelle often arrive within 24 hours; paper checks take five to seven business days. Your mortgage company may be named on larger checks.

Ratings and reputation

AM Best upgraded the Palisades Group and the High Point Homeowners Group to A- (Excellent) with a stable outlook in August 2018, citing strong operating performance and a very strong balance sheet. Plymouth Rock's New Jersey home insurance pages continued to cite an A- (Excellent) AM Best rating as of October 2026. Because Palisades is a reciprocal, it has no shareholders. The Plymouth Rock Company does not own it; it earns management fees and held $18.6 million of surplus notes and preferred stock in the group at the end of 2025, about 2.3% of the group's equity. Plymouth Rock reported that the Palisades group's income rose to $117 million in 2025 from $30 million in 2024.

Service has been an admitted soft spot. In his February 2026 letter to shareholders, Plymouth Rock's chairman wrote that rankings from Consumer Reports and J.D. Power showed a number of policyholders were disappointed, traced much of it to claim handling in the independent agency auto business, and said fixing service was a priority for 2026.

Who it suits

The New Jersey Plymouth Rock companies suit homeowners who want a fast online quote, the choice of an independent agent, and a home and auto bundle with a carrier that has written in the state since 1992. They suit less well buyers who want published policy forms and package details before they call, or who would rather stay with an insurer whose underwriting company does not change.

• Strengths: 9th-largest home insurer in New Jersey in 2025; guaranteed replacement and home systems coverage available; up to 20% bundle discount; fast address-based quotes and quick electronic claim payments.
• Weaknesses: two older underwriters closed to new homeowners business in New Jersey; AM Best rating is A-, not higher; the company itself acknowledged weak 2025 customer satisfaction results; coverage level names and forms are not published online.

How to contact Plymouth Rock Assurance (New Jersey)