Homeowners insurance in Missouri

The home insurance market in Missouri

Missourians paid $3.72 billion in homeowners premiums in 2025, according to NAIC market share data. These are the 10 largest insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written:

State Farm and American Family write about 41% of the market between them, and the top 10 write about 82%, based on NAIC data. Two of the 10 are home-grown: Columbia-based Shelter and the Missouri Farm Bureau group. The Department of Commerce and Insurance (DCI) calls the market competitive and tells nonrenewed homeowners to apply with several companies at once.

What drives home insurance costs in Missouri

Hail, wind and tornadoes. The NAIC put Missouri's average HO-3 premium at $1,589 for 2023, about 9% below the countrywide $1,737, but the trend is steep. DCI's 2023 Homeowners Insurance Report counted 1.3 million exposures with an average annual premium of $1,872 across homeowners forms. Loss frequency jumped from 4.8% in 2022 to 9.2% in 2023, with 125,231 losses averaging $16,635. Pure premium, losses per unit of exposure, was up 76.6% since 2014.

The 2025 season was worse. By June 2026, DCI counted 253,241 catastrophe claims on homes, renters, condos and autos, and more than $2.9 billion paid, about $2.5 billion of it on residential property. The May 16, 2025 St. Louis tornado alone produced more than 10,000 claims and more than $475 million in payments. DCI also flagged a large share of uninsured losses in St. Louis.

Deductibles and coverage rules to know

Missouri has no hurricane or named-storm deductible rules, and it is not on the Insurance Information Institute's list of states that have them. Your wind and hail deductible is whatever your policy says. If it is a percentage, the math matters: say your dwelling limit is $300,000 and your wind/hail deductible is 1%. A hailstorm that totals the roof leaves you paying the first $3,000.

How the roof itself is settled matters just as much. DCI's "Raising the Roof" tool summarizes roof coverage for the 20 largest homeowners insurers in Missouri: actual cash value, replacement cost or functional replacement cost. Check yours before hail season, and see hail damage claims: roofs, siding and windows and the roof claim payout estimator.

Missouri's notice rules (RSMo §375.002 to §375.004) apply year-round:

• Nonrenewal: at least 30 days' written notice, with a reason specific enough to understand without further inquiry. The notice must also say you may be eligible for the FAIR plan.
• Cancellation: after a policy has been in force 60 days, only for nonpayment, fraud or misrepresentation, certain crimes, or physical changes that increase the hazard. It takes 30 days' notice, or 10 days for nonpayment.

After the 2025 storms, DCI Bulletin 25-10 (October 13, 2025) told insurers not to cancel or nonrenew storm-damaged homes based on claims or property condition. Bulletin 26-09 rescinded that moratorium effective June 1, 2026. It still asks insurers to give extra time to owners making good-faith repairs. Bulletins do not have the force of law. See disaster moratoriums on cancellations and nonrenewals.

Flood and other gaps

Homeowners policies exclude flood. FEMA counted 14,139 NFIP policies in force in Missouri as of September 30, 2026, down from 15,138 a year earlier. New policies generally take 30 days to start; see NFIP flood insurance explained.

Earthquake is the other gap. DCI says a U.S. Geological Survey study puts the chance of a magnitude 7.5 or larger quake in the New Madrid zone at 7% to 10% over 50 years. In the seven-county New Madrid region, the share of residences with earthquake coverage fell from 18.3% in 2015 to 10.4% in 2024, and fewer than 20% of residences have it in 101 of Missouri's 115 counties. Availability is improving: in DCI's 2025 survey, 37% of insurers were writing new earthquake policies, up from 32%, and about 85% of the market offered deductibles under 10%. Earthquake deductibles of 10% to 20% of the dwelling limit are common. See earthquake insurance explained.

If you can't find coverage

The Missouri FAIR Plan, formally the Missouri Property Insurance Placement Facility, has been the market of last resort since October 1969. What it offers is basic:

• A DP 00 01 named-peril dwelling fire policy on an actual cash value basis, with no replacement cost.
• A maximum of $200,000 for building and contents combined, set by statute. Optional theft coverage is capped at $25,000.
• No liability, earthquake, flood or sewer backup coverage. A standalone sinkhole policy is available for dwellings.
• An interior and exterior inspection after the first payment, and again at least every four years.

Apply through any Missouri-licensed agent, or call the plan at 314-421-0170 (800-392-7240 in Missouri). Most homeowners turned down for a standard HO-3 should shop the admitted market and surplus lines home insurance when standard carriers say no first, because a FAIR plan policy needs a separate liability policy to match what they had. See FAIR plans explained: the insurer of last resort for homes.

Claims rules and deadlines

DCI's claims rules (20 CSR 100-1) set the clock in working days:

• Acknowledge the claim within 10 working days, by payment, written or oral acknowledgment. Providing claim forms and instructions in that time counts.
• Accept or deny within 15 working days after you submit all forms needed to establish the claim. A denial must be in writing and cite the specific policy provision.
• More time: the insurer must say so within that period and then send a letter every 45 days explaining why.
• Deadline warning: if you are not represented by a lawyer, the insurer must warn you in writing 30 days before a suit deadline or policy time limit runs out.

An insurer also may not deny a claim for late notice unless the delay prejudiced it. If a court finds an insurer refused to pay "without reasonable cause or excuse," RSMo §375.420 adds up to 20% of the first $1,500 of the loss and 10% of the rest, plus attorney's fees.

Section 431.030 voids any contract term that limits the time to sue. A shorter suit clause in your policy therefore does not control, and Missouri's limitation periods for contract actions, five years under §516.120 or 10 years for a written promise to pay money under §516.110, apply instead. Ask an attorney which one fits your claim, and see deadlines to sue over a home insurance claim.

Discounts and mitigation programs

Missouri has no state-funded home-hardening grant, and it is not among the states IBHS lists with statewide FORTIFIED grant programs. A 2026 House bill, HB 3328, proposed a Missouri Stronger Homes Fund and a disaster mediation program; it cleared the House Insurance Committee 9-0.

The one recent state benefit is the Homestead Disaster Tax Credit (RSMo §135.445, from SB 3 of the 2025 special session). It offers a nonrefundable income tax credit of up to $5,000 for an insurance deductible paid on a primary residence for a 2025 disaster for which the governor requested a federal declaration. No new credits may be authorized after October 15, 2026. SB 3 is being challenged before the Missouri Supreme Court, and the Department of Revenue is processing returns without the credit until it rules. Ask insurers about roof, protective-device and bundling discounts; see homeowners insurance discounts to ask about.

Where to get help

DCI's Consumer Affairs Division runs the Insurance Consumer Hotline at 800-726-7390, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. File a complaint online, by fax to 573-526-4898, or by mail to P.O. Box 690, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0690. The offices are in the Harry S Truman State Office Building, 301 W. High St., Room 530. In 2025 the division handled 4,405 formal complaints and recovered a record $46.2 million for consumers. See how to file a complaint with your state insurance department, and use the nonrenewal action plan if you get a nonrenewal notice. Neighbors Kansas, Illinois and Arkansas share the same hail and tornado exposure.