AIG Homeowners Insurance Review: Best for High-Value Homes

Why we chose it: If you’re looking for a basic homeowners insurance policy with affordable premiums, AIG likely isn’t for you. But if you own multiple properties, have a million-dollar-plus home or are building a custom estate, AIG could be a good choice. Its offerings provide robust coverage that goes beyond a typical homeowners insurance policy, making AIG our choice as the best insurer for high-value homes.

• AIG Homeowners Insurance Pros and Cons
• AIG Homeowners Insurance
• Credentials
• Cost of AIG Homeowners Insurance
• Accessibility
• Customer Satisfaction
• AIG Homeowners Insurance FAQ
• How We Evaluated AIG Homeowners Insurance
• Summary of AIG Homeowners Insurance Review

AIG Homeowners Insurance Pros and Cons

Pros explained

Cash settlement option available

If your home is declared a total loss, AIG gives you the option of receiving a cash settlement rather than rebuilding a house on-site. A cash settlement option allows you to purchase or build a home elsewhere. Under most policies, your insurer will only pay for you to repair or rebuild the home as it was in the current location.

Covers incidents other insurers exclude

AIG’s homeowners insurance policy is more extensive than the typical coverage. It covers things like upgrading a home to meet building ordinances during the rebuilding process, damage to landscaping, extended rebuilding costs and even damage caused by domestic pets — items usually excluded under a homeowners insurance policy.

High deductible options

While AIG’s policies tend to be expensive, you could potentially reduce your premiums by increasing your deductible. AIG has a range of deductible options, allowing you to choose a deductible as high as $100,000.

Insure multiple properties at once

With AIG, you can insure all of your homes, including your primary residence, vacation properties, condos or properties abroad.

Cons explained

Standalone policies aren’t available

AIG doesn’t sell standalone homeowners insurance policies. Instead, its coverage is only available to AIG Private Client Group policyholders. The AIG Private Client Group is a risk management and property coverage division that provides coverage for homes, yachts, horses and automobiles.

High premiums

AIG caters to homeowners with high net worths, so it’s no surprise that its premiums are quite high. According to the company, the average policyholder pays $18,000 in annual premiums.

Not all homes will qualify for coverage

AIG’s Private Client Group is limited to high-income individuals. While it doesn’t have a fixed minimum value, the typical home is worth $1 million or more. AIG will consider homes worth $500,000 or more, but higher-value homes are more likely to qualify for coverage.

AIG Homeowners Insurance

AIG offers the following coverage:

• Dwelling: AIG’s dwelling coverage can apply to your primary residence, vacation homes and other properties. It protects your properties against damage from storms, fire or theft.

• Other Structures: If you have other structures on your property, such as a pool house, pergola or fence, this coverage will pay for their repair or replacement if they’re damaged in a covered incident.

• Personal Property: Personal property coverage pays for the items within your home, including your furniture and clothing.

• Loss of Use: If your house is damaged in a storm or other disaster and isn’t inhabitable, loss of use coverage helps cover the cost of a hotel or rental and other living expenses.

• Liability: If a guest is injured or their personal property is damaged while at your home, liability coverage will pay for your legal expenses.

• Medical Payments: Medical payment coverage pays for medical payments for guests injured at your property.

Besides these basic coverages, AIG’s policies go above and beyond what the typical homeowners insurance policy will cover with the following protections:

• Water backup: AIG will compensate you for physical damages caused by the backup or overflow of sewers, drains or sump pumps located on your property.

• Personal property losses away from home: If you are traveling and your personal property is lost or stolen, AIG will cover the cost of replacing those items.

• Food spoilage: If a storm causes food spoilage, AIG will cover the cost of replacing those items, up to a contents limit and subject to a $250 deductible.

• Loss assessment: If you are a member of a condo or homeowner’s association and are responsible for a portion of the property damages, AIG will pay up to $100,000 for your share of a covered loss assessment.

• Damage caused by domestic pets: If your pet destroys an antique rug or tears through the drywall, AIG will pay to repair or replace those items.

• Business property: If you own or lease business property, your policy will cover up to $25,000 to repair or replace those items.

• Landscaping: Trees and shrubs can be shockingly expensive to replace. If your landscaping is damaged in a storm or fire, AIG’s landscaping coverage will pay up to 5% of your property coverage limit. This includes up to $5,000 for any one tree, shrub or plant.

• Property of domestic workers guests: If you have guests or workers in your home, AIG will pay to repair or replace their property if it’s damaged or destroyed in a covered loss.

Additional coverage available

Whether you have a luxury estate or multiple properties all over the world, you may need more coverage than a basic homeowner’s insurance policy provides. Depending on your needs, you may need to purchase insurance riders to cover your belongings and to get extra protection. AIG offers the following optional add-ons for an additional cost:

• Equipment breakdown: If you own high-end equipment, such as top-of-the-line appliances or a home theater, equipment breakdown coverage will pay to repair or replace those items. Limits of $50,000 to $1 million are available.

• Extended personal property protection: Typical homeowners insurance policies have sub-limits that apply to valuables like jewelry, furs, silverware, firearms and coins. With AIG, you can get extended coverage or purchase a separate policy just for those items.

• Green rebuilding cost: If your home is damaged in a covered incident, you can opt to repair or replace your property with environmentally-friendly materials. The green rebuilding cost rider covers the added expense.

• Household safeguard: Individuals with high net worths or visible public profiles may be at risk of stalking or kidnapping. AIG’s Household Safeguard option pays for up to $250,000 of expenses related to these traumatic events, such as hiring forensic analysts or negotiators, mental and physical care after the event and adding additional home security.

Limitations

AIG’s policies are only for its Private Client Group policyholders.

Credentials

AIG is the marketing name for American International Group, an international property-casualty, life and retirement insurance company. It was founded in 1919, and now operates in over 80 countries and jurisdictions. It’s a publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol AIG).

AIG policies are underwritten by its member companies, including AIG Property Casualty Company.

Financial stability

For those insuring million-dollar properties and extensive personal valuables, it’s essential that you check the financial stability of any insurance company you’re considering.

AM Best is a credit rating agency that issues its opinions on the financial stability of insurance companies by assigning them financial strength ratings. In 2021, AM Best affirmed AIG’s A (excellent) rating, meaning the rating agency believes AIG has an excellent ability to meet its contractual obligations and weather market changes.

Third-party ratings

In the 2021 J.D. Power U.S. Homeowner Insurance Study, J.D. Power evaluated, scored and ranked 21 insurance companies based on five factors: product offerings, price, billing process and policy information, claims and interactions.

In the study, J.D. Power ranked AIG 8th out of 21 companies. Its score was 830 out of a possible 1,000, putting it above the segment average.

Regulatory actions

AIG received a government bailout of $182 billion during the 2007–2009 financial crisis. As part of the agreement, AIG was subject to strict federal oversight and capital rules.

In 2017, U.S. financial regulators voted to remove AIG from the “systemically risky” list, meaning they thought AIG no longer posed a threat to the country’s financial stability. The move allowed AIG to be supervised by state insurance regulators.

Since then, AIG’s finances have stabilized, and it received an A (excellent rating) from credit rating agency, AM Best.

Cost of AIG Homeowners Insurance

Whether you’re insuring a condo or a large estate, it’s wise to get multiple quotes for homeowners insurance so you can compare rates and coverages. Whereas some insurance companies allow you to get quotes or even purchase a policy online, AIG doesn’t have that option. It requires individuals to work with an insurance agent to find out about available options and pricing.

According to the company, its average policyholder has 3.5 insurance policies, owns a home with a replacement cost of $2.6 million, owns four vehicles and pays $18,000 in annual premiums.

As a benchmark, consider that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners reported that the average annual premium for a home valued at $500,000 or more — $500,000 is the minimum home value AIG will consider — was $2,854.

Accessibility

AIG’s Private Client Group offers more than insurance. As a policyholder, you get risk management solutions, broad coverage for multiple assets and concierge-level claims service. Its Private Client Group policyholders include nearly 40% of the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list.

Claims are handled through a single point of contact, and you’ll get a response within 24 hours — emergencies are handled within one hour.

AIG Private Client Group works through a network of brokers and agents, and you have to work with an agent to join. To start the process, you can schedule a personalized assessment of your current insurance policies and risk management profile. You can use the locator tool to find a Private Client Group agent near you.

Contact information

For customer support, contact your agent directly. For other inquiries, you can call the following numbers:

• Payments and billing: 888-978-5371
• Claims: 888-760-9195
• If traveling abroad: +1-302-482-6000

User experience

As an AIG Private Client Group policyholder, you can create an account on AIG’s customer portal. The portal allows you to make payments and view policy documents online.

Customer Satisfaction

Reviews of AIG are limited. Since AIG’s homeowners insurance caters to high net worth individuals — and is focused on discretion and privacy — limited public reviews are to be expected. The reviews that do exist tend to be about other AIG products rather than its Private Client Group offerings.

Customer reviews

On Trustpilot, AIG has a 1.8 out of five rating, putting it in the “poor” category. However, that score is based on just 25 reviews, all of which are focused on issues with AIG travel insurance rather than homeowners insurance or AIG’s Private Client Group.

Complaint index

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) collects all complaints regulators receive about insurance companies from consumers. Using that information, the NAIC releases complaint ratios that reflect how companies compare to similar insurers. The industry standard for complaint ratios is 1.0. Insurers with a lower ratio received fewer complaints than expected for companies of their size.

AIG’s homeowners insurance policies are issued by three member companies. All three have significantly better ratios than the industry standard:

• AIG Assurance Company (0.0)
• AIG Property Casualty Company (0.13)
• AIG Insurance Company PR (0.0)

How We Evaluated AIG Homeowners Insurance

To evaluate AIG and other homeowners insurance companies, we looked at the following factors:

• Availability
• Coverage options
• Optional coverage
• Policy exclusions
• Cost
• Third-party ratings
• Financial stability
• Customer service

Summary of Money’s AIG Homeowners Insurance Review

Although AIG’s homeowners insurance policies aren’t for the average homeowner, individuals with high net worths and expensive properties may find it to be an excellent option.

By becoming an AIG policyholder, you get access to extensive coverage that goes beyond the typical homeowners insurance policy, giving you additional protection and benefits.

AIG’s policies include protections you may not find elsewhere, such as coverage for domestic workers, landscaping and green rebuilding costs. It even has an optional Home Safeguard policy that can provide you with assistance if you’re the target of a kidnapping or abduction.

AIG’s policies cost significantly more than a traditional homeowners insurance policy, and not all homeowners will be eligible for the Private Client Group. If you own a more modest home — or simply want to purchase standalone coverage — view our choices for the best homeowners insurance companies of 2022.