Security First home insurance review: Affordable rates
With rates lower than both the national and Florida state average, Security First is one of the cheapest home insurance options in the Sunshine State.
By
Rachael BrennanRachael BrennanSenior Editor & Licensed Insurance ExpertRachael Brennan is a licensed auto insurance expert and a former senior editor at Policygenius. Her work has also been featured in MoneyGeek, Clearsurance, Adweek, Boston Globe, The Ladders, and AutoInsurance.com.
Edited by
Pat HowardPat HowardManaging Editor & Licensed Home Insurance ExpertPat Howard is a licensed insurance expert and former managing editor at Policygenius. Pat has written extensively about the home insurance industry and his insights as a subject matter expert have appeared in several top tier publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and Reuters. Pat has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Michigan State University.
Our proprietary ratings methodology takes multiple factors into account, including customer satisfaction, cost, financial strength, and policy offerings. See the “Ratings methodology” section for more details.
3.3
AM Best rating
AM Best is a global credit rating agency that scores the financial strength of insurance companies on a scale from A++ (Superior) to D (Poor).
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Cost
Using a mix of internal and external rate data, we grade the cost of each insurance company's premiums on a scale from least expensive ($) to most expensive ($$$$$).
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The bottom line
Security First Insurance offers some of the cheapest home insurance policy options in Florida, along with a variety of discounts to lower your rates even further. Security First customers can get discounts for being 55 years of age or older, living in a gated community, having a newer home, or protecting their home with a security system.
Rates are 217% cheaper than the Florida state average
Multiple available discounts to help you keep your rates down
Will insure homes that are more than 30 years old
Cons
Receives significantly more customer complaints compared to other comparable insurance companies in Florida, according to the NAIC Complaint Index
Doesn’t give you the options of bundling home and auto insurance
Basic coverages offered
Security first Insurance home insurance policies include several standard coverages to protect your home, belongings, and personal liability:
Dwelling coverage: Pays to repair or rebuild the structure of your home after a covered loss.
Other structures coverage: Pays to repair or rebuild other structures on your property not connected to your home, including detached garages, storage sheds, and fencing.
Personal property coverage: Pays to repair or replace your personal belongings after a covered loss, including furniture, clothing, electronics, and anything else you own that is not part of the physical structure of your house.
Loss of use coverage: Pays for living expenses like hotel stays, restaurant bills, pet boarding fees, and other costs if you need to live somewhere else temporarily after a covered loss.
Personal liability coverage: Pays for both legal and medical expenses if you are legally responsible for injuries or damage someone else experiences while at your home.
Medical payments coverage: Pays for medical bills under a certain dollar amount if someone is injured on your property, no matter who is at fault.
Additional coverages offered
Equipment breakdown: Pays to repair or replace AC units, water heaters, and other home systems that are damaged due to mechanical breakdown.
Identity theft: Offers everything from assistance with your credit reports to attorney fees resulting from identity fraud to help replacing personal identification documents destroyed in a natural disaster.
Service line coverage: Protects the pipes and other lines that enter your home, such as electrical, water, sewer, or communication lines.
Premier home insurance: Only available to Florida homeowners who have a home value of $500,000 to $2.5 million and an excellent credit rating. This policy includes coverage for loss of personal property (even if you simply misplaced it) and includes equipment breakdown, service line coverage, refrigerated property coverage, and lock replacement.
Dwelling flex: This is Security First’s flexible dwelling fire policy offering that provides coverage for owner-occupied homes or condo units that are sometimes offered as a temporary rental. Choose from several additional coverages, like personal property replacement cost, ordinance or law, theft, liability, and medical payments coverage.
Landlord flex: Also known as a dwelling fire policy, this policy provides landlord’s with basic coverage for the physical structure of one-to-four family home rental properties. The policy includes optional coverage for theft, ordinance or law, premises liability, and medical payments.
Ratings methodology
Price
4.6/5
Our price rating scale looks at home insurance rates for a policy with $300,000 in dwelling coverage, as well as the total number of discounts offered. Security First Insurance's average annual rate of $721 is 143% less than the national average.
Customer experience
1.4/5
Our customer experience scale uses data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index. Security First Insurance has a score of 13.57, which means it received significantly more complaints than expected for a company of its size in 2021. (The expected number would be 1.0.)
Coverage options
4.6/5
Our coverage options rating is based on both the number and quality of additional coverage and policy options offered by the company. Security First Insurance earns an average score compared to other regional home insurance companies thanks to a number of coverage add-ons, including equipment breakdown, identity theft, and service line coverage.
How much does Security First Insurance cost?
The average cost of Security First home insurance is $721 per year for a policy with $300,000 in dwelling coverage. This is over $1,000 cheaper than the national average of $1,754 per year.
What discounts does Security First Insurance offer?
Age 55+: Automatically applies to policyholders who are 55 years of age or older.
Secured community: Applies to policyholders living in single-entry communities protected by a 24-hour security patrol or has 24-hour manned or passkey gates.
Alarm systems: Applies to policyholders who have a central burglar or fire alarm.
Indoor sprinkler system: If you have fire sprinklers in every room throughout your home, including closets.
Wind resistant home features: If your house has wind-resistant features.
Roof credit: If your roof has a hip shape (pyramid shaped) or a steep slope.
Home exterior siding: If the siding of your house is made of brick, concrete, stone veneer, hardiplank, or hardipanel cement fibers.
New construction: If your home is newly built.
Water leak detection device: If you have a water leak detection device with proof of installation.
Paperless: If you sign up for paperless billing.
Security First Insurance home insurance state availability
Security First Insurance is only available in Florida.
What to expect with Security First Insurance home insurance
How to get a quote: You can get a Security First home insurance quote by filling out a form on its website. From there, an agent will contact you to begin the application process.
Customer service options: You can get in touch with a Security First Insurance customer service rep by calling 877-333-9992, emailing policyservices@securityfirstflorida.com, using the live chat function on its website, or logging in to your online account.
How to file a claim: You can file a Security First homeowner insurance claim by logging in to your online account, using its mobile app, completing an online claim form, or calling 877-581-4862.
How to cancel your policy: You can cancel your Security First home insurance policy by calling a customer service representative at 877-333-9992.
Security First Insurance vs. other home insurance companies
Compare Security First Insurance to similar homeowners insurance companies using the table below.
How long has Security First Insurance been in business?
Founded in 1984, Security First Insurance has been around for 39 years.
Is Security First a good company?
Security First offers some of the lowest home insurance rates in Florida, but it does have significantly more complaints than other home insurance companies in the state.
Rachael Brennan is a licensed auto insurance expert and a former senior editor at Policygenius. Her work has also been featured in MoneyGeek, Clearsurance, Adweek, Boston Globe, The Ladders, and AutoInsurance.com.
Pat Howard is a licensed insurance expert and former managing editor at Policygenius. Pat has written extensively about the home insurance industry and his insights as a subject matter expert have appeared in several top tier publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and Reuters. Pat has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Michigan State University.
