Travelers homeowners insurance

Overview

Travelers is one of the oldest names in American insurance and one of the largest U.S. home insurers that sell mainly through independent agents rather than their own agency force. Its NAIC group ranked #7 among U.S. homeowners insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written, with $8.62 billion (4.56% of the national market), according to NAIC market share data. The parent, The Travelers Companies, Inc., is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (TRV); Alan Schnitzer is chairman and CEO.

Homeowners is one part of a much larger business that also writes commercial, specialty and surety insurance. Personal Insurance, which writes the home and auto policies, is run from Hartford, Connecticut. In 2025 Travelers was the largest home insurer in Connecticut (10.36% of premiums) and the District of Columbia (23.40%), 2nd in Maryland, 4th in Georgia, Kansas, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia, and 6th in Texas, where its homeowners premiums passed $1 billion. It appears in the top 10 of 38 states and DC.

History

James G. Batterson, a Hartford businessman, founded The Travelers Insurance Company on April 1, 1864, to sell accident insurance, and ran it until his death in 1901. Travelers says it issued the industry's first automobile policy in 1897. In 1968 it introduced the CAT Van, a mobile claim office for disaster areas, and in 1999 it added identity fraud expense coverage to home policies.

Its modern shape comes from a series of combinations. After decades inside larger financial groups, the property-casualty business went public in a March 2002 IPO and was spun off from Citigroup on August 20, 2002. On April 1, 2004, it merged with The St. Paul Companies, whose St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company paid its first claim in 1855, to form The St. Paul Travelers Companies. The company took back the name The Travelers Companies, Inc. in February 2007, and joined the Dow in 2009.

The most recent change was a sale. On January 2, 2026, Travelers completed the sale of its Canadian personal insurance business and most of its Canadian commercial business to Definity Financial for about US$2.4 billion, keeping its Canadian surety unit. U.S. homeowners customers were not affected.

Homeowners coverage

Travelers' current homeowners program, Quantum Home 2.0, launched in 2018 to replace its older Quantum Home and Homesaver programs. It is built on the standard HO-3 structure: dwelling, other structures, personal property, personal liability and loss of use. It also sells condo, renters and landlord policies, umbrella policies and separate jewelry and valuables coverage.

Optional coverages listed on its site include:

• Contents replacement cost, which pays for belongings without deducting depreciation (with special limits on items such as jewelry and watches), and special personal property coverage for broader open-perils protection of contents.
• Additional replacement cost protection, which adds money if the dwelling limit falls short of the cost to rebuild; see extended and guaranteed replacement cost coverage.
• Water backup and sump pump discharge or overflow, up to a set amount, excluding flood and surface water.
• Identity fraud expense reimbursement up to $25,000.
• Green home coverage, which pays the extra cost of rebuilding with green materials after a covered loss.

Travelers does not underwrite flood insurance. Its website offers flood coverage from Neptune Flood, a private alternative to the National Flood Insurance Program, through its InsuraMatch agency, which can refer homes that Neptune will not take to the NFIP or another carrier.

The coverage page does not describe how roofs are settled. Because many large carriers now pay older roofs on an actual cash value basis or by schedule in hail-prone states, ask the agent to show you how a Travelers quote values the roof, and compare it against the guide to roof payment schedules.

Discounts and savings

Travelers lists five home discounts: a homebuyer discount for homes bought within 12 months before the policy starts, a multi-policy discount for adding auto or other Travelers policies, a protective device discount for smoke and fire alarms, sprinklers, security systems or connected-home devices that alert to fire or burglary, a loss-free discount for customers without recent losses, and a green home discount of up to 5% for homes certified under LEED. Discounts depend on underwriting rules and state availability.

Where it sells and recent market moves

Travelers sells homeowners insurance in most states through independent agents and, in many states, online. Its website says quotes are not available for homes in Alaska, Florida, Hawaii or Louisiana. Its Florida subsidiary, First Floridian Auto and Home Insurance Company, is a separate single-state company with a lower AM Best rating.

The homeowners book has been getting smaller. Through 2025 Travelers kept pushing large renewal increases (its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings release credited "continued strong renewal premium change in Homeowners" for premium growth), and its second-quarter 2026 release showed domestic Homeowners and Other net written premiums of $4.18 billion for the first six months of 2026, down 4% from a year earlier, while retention held up and homeowners new business rose.

California shows both sides. Travelers was approved for an average 15.3% increase on its Quantum Home 2.0 program effective June 24, 2024, affecting about 320,000 policyholders, according to filings reported by the San Francisco Chronicle; the same filings showed it nonrenewing several thousand older, grandfathered policies with the most extreme wildfire risk (5,236 in a 2022 filing and 1,389 in a 2023 filing). Now it is moving the other way. The California Department of Insurance said in May 2026 that Travelers had announced voluntary participation in the Sustainable Insurance Strategy, which lets insurers use catastrophe models and reinsurance costs in rates in exchange for writing more homes in wildfire-distressed areas. Press reports on its filing described a 6.9% average increase for single-family homes, rate cuts for renters and condo owners, coverage for wildfire-prepared homes and help moving homeowners off the California FAIR Plan. Travelers was the 10th-largest home insurer in California in 2025.

Claims

Personal insurance claims can be filed online (the company says most simple claims are faster to file that way) or by phone at 800-252-4633. Policyholders can check claim status online, upload documents and photos, message their claim professional and look up service providers through the MyTravelers account. For disaster response, Travelers pioneered the CAT Van, a mobile claim office, in 1968. A contents inventory made before a loss makes the personal property part of any claim far easier to document.

Ratings and reputation

AM Best affirmed the A++ (Superior) Financial Strength Rating of Travelers' main insurance subsidiaries on August 21, 2026, its highest grade, with a stable outlook, citing balance sheet strength it assesses as the strongest, very strong operating performance and $4.1 billion of net underwriting income in 2025. Travelers' ratings page (read October 2026) lists its main reinsurance pool at AA from S&P, Aa2 from Moody's and AA from Fitch. First Floridian Auto and Home Insurance Company is rated A- (Excellent) by AM Best.

Customer satisfaction scores are middling. In J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Home Insurance Study, Travelers ranked 20th of 28 homeowners insurers, though it placed 7th among renters insurers with a score of 663. It was not among the top three in the 2026 study or in the 2025 and 2026 Property Claims Satisfaction Studies.

Who it suits

Travelers suits a homeowner who wants an independent agent to place home, auto and umbrella with one highly rated company, and who values a broad menu of add-ons such as contents replacement cost and additional replacement cost protection. It suits less well if you live in Florida or Louisiana, where it does not quote homes, or in a wildfire or coastal area where it is limiting new property business.

• Strengths: A++ (Superior) from AM Best (August 2026) plus AA and Aa2 ratings from S&P and Moody's; sold through independent agents who can compare it with other carriers; useful endorsements including green home coverage and $25,000 identity fraud reimbursement.
• Weaknesses: Ranked 20th of 28 in J.D. Power's 2025 homeowners satisfaction study; no homeowners quotes in Alaska, Florida, Hawaii or Louisiana; still reducing exposure in high-catastrophe areas.

How to contact Travelers