Homeowners insurance in Virginia

The home insurance market in Virginia

Virginians paid $4.35 billion in homeowners premiums in 2025, according to NAIC market share data. These are the 10 largest insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written:

USAA, which insures military members, veterans and their families, holds 16.31% here, more than double its 7.01% national share, and trails State Farm by less than a point. Erie Insurance and Virginia Farm Bureau give non-military shoppers regional alternatives to the national brands. The top 10 together wrote about 77% of premiums.

What drives home insurance costs in Virginia

NAIC's average HO-3 premium in Virginia was $1,537 in 2023, about 12% below the national $1,737 and 23rd lowest of 51 by our ranking of NAIC's table. That statewide figure blends very different risks. Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore carry the hurricane and tidal flood exposure, and the coastal cities lead both the state's NFIP policy count and the FAIR plan's book (below).

Storm damage is not only coastal. FEMA's major disaster declaration for Tropical Storm Helene (DR-4831, Sept. 25 to Oct. 3, 2024) covered 37 cities and counties, mostly in western and Southwest Virginia, and a second declaration (DR-4863) followed the severe winter storms and flooding of February 2025. The state also has some earthquake exposure; since 2012 insurers must tell you in writing that earthquake coverage is excluded unless bought by endorsement (§38.2-2129).

Deductibles and coverage rules to know

Virginia has no statute setting a hurricane deductible trigger or cap. The Bureau of Insurance says many insurers use a separate wind, hail or named-storm deductible, either a flat amount or a percentage of the dwelling limit. An insurer may change a deductible only at renewal, and must send written notice that says the deductible changed and explains how it applies (§38.2-2127). Say your Coverage A is $350,000 and your hurricane deductible is 2%: you pay the first $7,000 of the hurricane loss. Try your own numbers in the hurricane and percentage deductible calculator and read hurricane and named-storm deductibles explained.

Other Virginia rules worth knowing:

• Roof age (from Jan. 1, 2027). An insurer cannot refuse, cancel or nonrenew an owner-occupied home solely because of the age of an asphalt shingle roof under 15 years old, and must accept written proof of age or an inspection at your expense. A roof an authorized inspector says has five or more years of useful life left cannot be the sole reason either, though the insurer can still require repairs of noted defects (§38.2-2114, as amended by 2026 chapters 657 and 658). See roof age limits: when insurers won't cover an old roof.
• Water backup. Every insurer must offer sewer and drain backup coverage as an option (§38.2-2120). See water backup and sewer backup coverage.
• Flood notice. A policy that excludes flood must say so in writing and point you to the NFIP (§38.2-2125).

Flood and other gaps

FEMA counted 87,975 NFIP policies in force in Virginia as of Sept. 30, 2026, the ninth most of any state by our ranking. Virginia Beach (19,733), Norfolk (10,816), Hampton (8,980) and Chesapeake (7,158) hold more than half of them. Standard homeowners and VPIA policies exclude flood, so a home near tidal water needs a separate policy; see NFIP flood insurance explained and Private flood insurance vs the NFIP, and remember the usual 30-day waiting period.

If you can't find coverage

The Virginia Property Insurance Association (VPIA) is Virginia's FAIR plan, writing statewide since 1968 for owners turned down in the voluntary market. Its basic FP-1 dwelling form covers named perils such as fire, lightning, hail, explosion, smoke and vandalism; primary residences can qualify for the broader FP-2 form if insured to 80% of replacement cost, and theft, liability, contents replacement cost and ordinance or law coverage are available under stricter eligibility rules. The maximum is $500,000 per habitational location (October 2025 manual). VPIA stops accepting new windstorm coverage whenever a hurricane watch or warning is in effect for any part of Virginia. Its June 30, 2025 exposure report lists about 20,600 insured residential and commercial risks (our total of its locality table), led by Virginia Beach and Norfolk but spread statewide, down to Wise County in the coalfields. See FAIR plans explained: the insurer of last resort for homes and surplus lines home insurance when standard carriers say no.

Virginia's termination rules for owner-occupied homes (§38.2-2114):

• Cancellation: after the first 90 days, only for nonpayment, fraud or material misrepresentation, conviction of a crime that raises the hazard, willful or reckless acts that raise it, physical changes making the home uninsurable, or a completed foreclosure sale.
• Notice: at least 30 days for cancellation or nonrenewal (10 days for nonpayment), stating the specific reason, your right to Commissioner review and your possible VPIA eligibility.
• Barred reasons: nonrenewal solely for a claim caused primarily by natural causes, claims more than five years old, a coverage question that did not report a loss, or credit information alone.
• Review: ask the Commissioner in writing within 10 days of receiving the notice, and the policy stays in force during the review unless the reason is nonpayment.

See your home insurance was nonrenewed: what to do now and the nonrenewal action plan.

Claims rules and deadlines

Virginia's claim rules (14VAC5-400) give an insurer 15 days to acknowledge a claim and send forms, and 15 days after it receives a properly executed proof of loss to accept or deny it. If it needs more time it must say so within those 15 days, and if the investigation is still open it must write within 45 days of the claim notice and every 45 days after that. The standard fire policy written into Virginia law makes a loss payable 60 days after proof of loss and ascertainment of the amount (§38.2-2105). If you sue and a court finds the insurer, not acting in good faith, denied coverage or failed to pay, it can award your costs and attorney fees (§38.2-209). See bad faith claim handling: what it means and what it doesn't.

The same standard policy requires any lawsuit to be started within two years after the inception of the loss. If you and the insurer disagree on the amount of loss, either side can demand appraisal; each names an appraiser within 20 days, and a judge picks the umpire if the appraisers cannot agree on one. Virginia has no claim mediation program. See the appraisal clause: settling a claim value dispute and deadlines to sue over a home insurance claim.

Discounts and mitigation programs

We found no Virginia grant for FORTIFIED or other wind retrofits, and the state was not among the nine states IBHS listed in July 2025 as running statewide FORTIFIED grant programs. The Bureau's homeowners guide points to the usual discounts to ask about: protective devices, new homes, multi-policy and affinity groups. For flooding, the Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund, created in 2022, lets localities make loans or grants to homeowners for resilience upgrades, buyouts and relocation, so check whether your city or county runs a program. See homeowners insurance discounts to ask about and elevating a home and other flood mitigation.

Where to get help

The Bureau of Insurance of the State Corporation Commission is at 1300 East Main Street, Richmond; its mailing address is P.O. Box 1157, Richmond, VA 23218. Call 877-310-6560 toll free or 804-371-9185 for property and casualty consumer services, or email [email protected] with questions. File complaints through the Bureau's online complaint portal or by mail or fax (804-371-9349); the Bureau does not take complaints by phone or email. See how to file a complaint with your state insurance department.

Neighboring state guides: Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and District of Columbia.