Homeowners insurance in Tennessee

The home insurance market in Tennessee

Tennesseans paid $3.86 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 Tennessee Farm Bureau together write about 40% of the state's homeowners premiums, and the top 10 write about 82%, based on NAIC data. Tennessee Farm Bureau, a mutual that sells only to Farm Bureau members through local agents in county offices, is the second-largest writer. Erie Insurance, at fifth, is a regional carrier sold through independent agents.

What drives home insurance costs in Tennessee

Tennessee does not have a coast, but it has nearly every other peril. The NAIC put the state's average HO-3 premium at $1,649 for 2023, a little below the countrywide $1,737. Severe convective storms drive most claims: NOAA's Storm Prediction Center logged 216 major hail events (hailstones one inch or larger) in Tennessee in 2025, the eighth-highest count of any state, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

FEMA's major disaster declarations show how varied the losses are:

• December 9, 2023: tornadoes in Middle and West Tennessee, nine counties.
• September 26 to 30, 2024: Tropical Storm Helene, 14 East Tennessee counties, including Carter, Unicoi, Greene and Cocke.
• April 2 to 24, 2025: storms, tornadoes and flooding, 30 counties.
• January 22 to 27, 2026: Winter Storm Fern, declared in all 95 counties.

Fern is still working through the claims system. The Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) said in March 2026 that complaints had already topped 940 for the year, an uptick it attributed to Fern. Its top complaints in 2025 were claim delays, claim denials and unsatisfactory settlement offers.

Earthquake risk is real at both ends of the state. TDCI notes that Tennessee has two seismic zones, the New Madrid Seismic Zone in the west and the East Tennessee Seismic Zone, and cites scientists' estimate of a 25% to 40% chance of a magnitude 6.0 or larger quake in the central U.S. within 50 years.

Deductibles and coverage rules to know

Tennessee has no hurricane or named-storm deductible rules. What matters is your wind/hail deductible, if your policy has a separate one. It applies to every hail or windstorm loss and may be a percentage of the dwelling limit. Say your Coverage A limit is $300,000 with a 2% wind/hail deductible: a hail-damaged roof costs you the first $6,000. Run your numbers with the hurricane and percentage deductible calculator.

Sinkholes. Tennessee has its own sinkhole law (T.C.A. §56-7-130). Every insurer selling homeowners policies must make sinkhole loss coverage available for optional purchase, at an added premium, so it is not automatically in your policy. If you buy it and file a claim, the insurer must inspect, and before denying it on the ground that the damage is inconsistent with sinkhole activity, it must get a written certification from an engineer or professional geologist. If a covered loss is confirmed, you have 90 days to sign a stabilization and foundation repair contract, and the insurer pays as the work proceeds without making you advance the cost. See sinkhole and catastrophic ground cover collapse coverage explained.

Earthquake damage is excluded from standard homeowners policies, and TDCI says earthquake deductibles usually run 10% to 20% of the coverage limit. On a home insured for $200,000, a 10% deductible means the first $20,000. See earthquake insurance explained.

Aerial imagery. In an April 2026 bulletin, TDCI told insurers that aerial or drone photos should not be the only basis for a decision about a homeowner's policy, that homeowners should be told and shown the images, and that denying a claim based solely on unclear or outdated images is an unfair claims practice under T.C.A. §56-8-105. See aerial imagery: how insurers inspect roofs from the sky.

Nonrenewal of a homeowners policy requires at least 30 days' written notice before the policy expires (T.C.A. §56-7-1901). If the notice gives no reason, you can ask in writing, within 15 days after the nonrenewal takes effect, and the insurer must send a reason within 20 days (T.C.A. §56-7-1902).

Flood and other gaps

Standard homeowners policies do not cover flood, and TDCI reminds consumers that only a flood policy does. Take-up is thin even after Helene: FEMA counted 22,260 NFIP policies in force in Tennessee on September 30, 2026, down from 23,474 a year earlier. New NFIP policies generally take 30 days to start. TDCI also lists what homeowners policies typically leave out after a storm: interior water damage when the roof and walls were not damaged, removal of trees that fell without hitting the house, food spoilage from a power outage, and sewer or drain backup unless you added that coverage. See NFIP flood insurance explained and winter storms, freezes and power outages.

If you can't find coverage

Tennessee has no FAIR plan or wind pool; it is not among the residual-market plans listed by the Property Insurance Plans Service Office. Homeowners declined by standard carriers can try an independent agent with access to regional and specialty insurers, a dwelling fire policy, or the surplus lines home insurance when standard carriers say no market. TDCI's online search lets you confirm that an insurer or agent is licensed in Tennessee before you pay. If you have been dropped, the nonrenewal action plan walks through the next steps.

Claims rules and deadlines

Tennessee's unfair claims rule (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0780-01-05) sets the clocks:

• 30 days to acknowledge your claim, and to reply to other communications about it.
• 60 days after the insurer receives a properly completed proof of loss to accept or deny the claim. If it needs more time, it must tell you within those 60 days and update you every 60 days after.
• 30 days to pay once it accepts liability and the amount is settled and undisputed.
• 30 days' warning. The insurer must notify you in writing at least 30 days before a statute of limitations on your claim runs out.

If an insurer refuses to pay within 60 days after your formal demand and a court finds the refusal was not in good faith and cost you added expense, it can add a penalty of up to 25% of the loss to the judgment (T.C.A. §56-7-105). Check your policy's "Suit Against Us" condition for its own time limit, and talk to a Tennessee attorney before it runs. See bad faith claim handling: what it means and what it doesn't and deadlines to sue over a home insurance claim.

Discounts and mitigation programs

Tennessee has no state grant program for roofs or storm mitigation, and we found no law requiring insurers to discount fortified or impact-resistant roofs. Some insurers file their own credits for Class 4 impact-resistant shingles, security systems and newer roofs, so ask before you re-roof. See Impact-resistant (Class 4) roofs and hail discounts.

Where to get help

TDCI's Consumer Insurance Services team takes calls at 800-342-4029 or 615-741-2218. File a complaint online or by mail or fax to Consumer Insurance Services, 500 James Robertson Parkway, 10th Floor, Nashville, TN 37243; the policy must have been written in Tennessee. The team mediates complaints with insurers and returned $15.67 million to Tennesseans in 2025, a year in which it handled 5,199 complaints. See how to file a complaint with your state insurance department. Neighbors Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi share the same tornado and hail exposure.