Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Insurance Review & Complaints: Commercial Auto, Property and Casualty & Worker’s Compensation Insurance (2023)

Berkshire Hathaway is a multinational conglomerate with holdings in multiple industries – including one of the biggest names in insurance and some lesser-known insurance brands. It is the fourth-largest publicly-traded company in the world as ranked by Forbes, and it sits at number 3 on the Fortune 500 for 2018.

Who is Berkshire Hathaway Homestate?

The company started as the Valley Falls Company, a successful textile business in its namesake city in Rhode Island. A 1929 merger with the now Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Insurance Company brought in the first of the current company’s names; the second came from a 1955 merger with Hathaway Manufacturing.

The insurance-focused company is owned by famed billionaire Warren Buffett, who became on of the shareholders in the company in 1962. The company first bought a stake in a company then known as Government Employees Insurance Company in the 1970s – Buffett completed the purchase of that company, now known as Geico, in 1996. Geico is the second-largest auto insurer in the country. The American corporate empire is now headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, and owns many brands.

Other insurance interests include Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies (BHHC), which writes commercial insurance policies. Other insurance subsidiaries under Buffetts lead include WestGUARD (operating as Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance companies), Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, and United States Liability Insurance Group. They write personal and commercial auto policies, coverage for injured workers, and casualty insurance.

For the purpose of this review, we will provide an overview of the two branded companies; you can see our review of Geico here.

What Insurance Service Offered?

The United States-based insurance carrier focuses on a specific type of insurance, although there is some overlap.

Homestate Companies

This group of companies in the United States writes commercial insurance, including commercial auto, property and casualty, and worker’s compensation coverage. Product availability varies by state.

Commercial auto is offered in 30 states, having recently expanded into South Dakota and Mississippi. They write policies for local and long-range trucking, public auto transportation, non-emergency medical transportation, charter buses, and more.

Commercial Property policies are available in 47 states and cover more than 150 classes of business. The site states that they specialize in hard to place non-standard risks. They also cover vacant buildings and dwellings, rental dwellings, and real estate owned and force-placed properties.

Public Entity insurance coverage is offered in a select area of mainly Midwestern states. Products are designed for small to medium communities.

Worker’s Compensation is also available for a wide variety of companies in 47 states.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

In the U.S., The insurer writes a variety of commercial and personal insurance policies.

Their Executive and Professional Lines products are designed for financial institutions, public companies, private companies, and non-profits. Executive liability, professional liability, and transactional liability products are all available. Their underwriters also write workers compensation insurance policies.

Healthcare Professional Liability is available for healthcare professionals, practices, managed care, and senior care among others. Medical Stop Loss is also offered.

Warren Buffett’s insurance company also has targeted commercial insurance programs that include a variety of coverages to suit the particular needs of each industry. Target areas include affinity associations, allied healthcare, builder’s risk, event liability, miscellaneous professional, CAT liability, and admitted multi-line commercial.

Casualty products include general liability and liability coverage for energy, transpiration, and life sciences sectors.

Finally, property insurance policies are available for many different industries, including marine. A wide variety of surety bonds are also available.

On the personal lines end of things, the company writes homeowners insurance aimed at high-value homes and seasonal and vacation homes, specifically on the east coast.

The company also writes a variety of travel insurance policies such as travel convenience, travel accident, and travel insurance coverage directed at travel agents, tour guides, and others in the travel industry.

Are Rates Expensive?

Insurance premiums are not available for any of the programs and products listed above from either company. Given that these are specialty programs for the most part, it is expected that an annual premium quote would be provided based on detailed information and with the assistance of an agent or broker; online insurance premium quotes are unlikely to be accurate or useful when seeking this type of coverage.

The auto insurance rates through GEICO are competitive, but premiums, casualty coverage, and other specialized rates aren’t readily available. If you’re looking for such as the cost of workers’ comp insurance,

Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Claims Process

Ease of Filing a Claim (Online, Over the Phone, Mobile Apps)

Berkshire Hathaway Homestate offers multiple channels for filing insurance claims, providing customers with flexibility and convenience. For Worker’s Compensation claims, the company offers online claims reporting. This digital option allows policyholders to submit their claims efficiently through the company’s website.

In addition to the online option, claims for various other insurance products can be filed through traditional methods, including phone, fax, email, or regular mail. This diversity of claim submission methods ensures that customers can choose the approach that best suits their needs and preferences.

Average Claim Processing Time

While the article provides information on the ease of filing claims, it does not specify the average claim processing time for Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Insurance. Including this information would be valuable to potential policyholders, as claim processing speed can be a critical factor in their decision-making process.

Policyholders often prefer insurers that can efficiently handle and resolve claims, reducing the time they must wait for compensation or coverage.

Customer Feedback on Claim Resolutions and Payouts

The article does not provide specific customer feedback on the claim resolutions and payouts offered by Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Insurance. Including this information would be beneficial for readers who want to understand the company’s track record in terms of customer satisfaction.

Real-world experiences and testimonials can provide valuable insights into how the insurer handles claims and whether it meets customers’ expectations.

Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Digital and Technological Features

Mobile App Features and Functionality

The article mentions that Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Insurance offers a mobile app, but it does not provide details about the app’s features and functionality. To give readers a comprehensive understanding of the company’s digital offerings, it would be helpful to outline the key features of the mobile app.

This could include features such as policy management, claims reporting, bill payment, and access to digital resources.

Online Account Management Capabilities

The article briefly mentions that policyholders can manage their insurance policies online, but it lacks specific details about the extent of these online account management capabilities.

Providing information on what customers can do through their online accounts, such as updating personal information, viewing policy documents, and making changes to coverage, would give readers a clearer picture of the insurer’s digital services.

Digital Tools and Resources

While the article briefly mentions digital tools and resources related to COVID-19 updates, it does not elaborate on other digital resources that Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Insurance may offer. It would be valuable to readers if the article provided information on any online tools, educational resources, or customer support options available through the company’s website or mobile app.

This would help potential policyholders understand the additional benefits and convenience offered by the insurer’s digital presence.

Are Ratings and Consumer Reviews Positive?

We had difficulty locating Better Business Bureau (BBB) ratings for the first of the two companies. The BBB page for the Homestate Companies headquarters shows an NR (not rated) and states that complaints are handled by another BBB, but not where to look. The company has been accredited since 1981.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance has an A rating with the BBB. Three complaints were filed in the past three years, and one was closed in the past 12 months.

The Berkshire Hathaway name can make it hard to find a solid source of reviews since they own so many companies. The fact that nothing major appears for either of these companies is, however, in their favor.

What’s the Bottom Line?

Buffett’s branded insurance businesses write specialized products that keep them off the radar of the general public, but they are big in the workers’ compensation premiums business and other areas. This business run by Warren Buffett owns many brands. The American company has a superior, complex, and varied array of products and is backed by very solid financial strength, which makes them a reliable choice for insurance in the United States. If you are in the market for these superior specialty products, Berkshire Hathaway is well worth a closer look.