Encompass Auto & Home Insurance Review
Encompass is a good company if you want a wide array of home policy options, but you will pay more for even basic coverage.
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Encompass Insurance Company has a variety of ways you can expand your policy, including three coverage packages as part of a home-auto bundle called EncompassOne. Given its breadth of policy options and relatively strong customer service experience, we recommend looking into Encompass, especially if price is not a top concern.
Pros and cons
Pros
Many ways to add to your policy
Great for bundling polices
Good customer service for home insurance
Cons
High car insurance rates
No online claims or quotes
Encompass Insurance: Our thoughts
Auto insurance takeaway: Rates for Encompass are high, and you'll need to purchase a special coverage level to get more than fairly standard options. At those higher levels, you can add unlimited accident forgiveness or windshield repairs with no deductible.
Homeowners insurance takeaway: Encompass homeowners insurance rates tend to be more expensive than other major insurers. But the policies are customizable, allowing you to increase or decrease coverage to find a balance you're comfortable with.
If you're looking for homeowners and auto insurance policies with a variety of features and optional coverage add-ons, Encompass can provide you with a large selection of policy options at higher rates. Encompass emphasizes bundling auto and homeowners insurance together and provides special bonuses to encourage this approach, such as a single deductible for all claims.
Encompass offers three different coverage packages — Special, Deluxe and Elite — each with varying add-on features. Encompass also has a good customer service reputation, although you will have to call an insurance agent for a quote and handle claims over the phone. Some bills can be paid online through the company's "MyEncompass" portal.
Encompass auto insurance
Encompass offers a wide range of extra coverage options, but you'll have to pay more on top of already-high auto insurance rates. You can add features such as accident forgiveness or roadside assistance, or upgrade to Special, Deluxe or Elite coverage tiers.
Encompass auto insurance quotes
Encompass auto insurance rates are higher than average, with full coverage rates of $208 per month.
That comes in at 26% more than average. You can get cheaper rates with other companies such as State Farm, Erie or Progressive.
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Encompass rates vs. competitors
Encompass auto insurance discounts
Encompass has an impressive range of discounts, which can help lower the company's high rates. Discount will vary depending on your location.
Encompass auto insurance coverages
Beyond standard coverages, Encompass insurance policies can be purchased as one of their three packages, with varying amounts of features added to your coverage. Elite packages provide the most comprehensive and expensive coverage compared to the Special and Deluxe levels. Outside the features included in these packages, you can also customize your policy with optional add-ons, though some features, such as unlimited accident forgiveness, are only available with the Elite policy.
Each level of coverage Encompass offers comes with a more expansive set of protections.
Encompass also offers standard car insurance coverages including:
- Bodily injury and property liability coverage
- Collision and comprehensive coverage
- Medical payments and personal injury protection
EncompassOne Policy: Bundled home and auto insurance
Encompass offers an attractive set of bundling options as part of the EncompassOne package. However, EncompassOne packages are not available in Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina or Texas.
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The most notable feature of the bundled policy is its single deductible. This means if a covered peril damages both your home and your car, you will only pay the higher individual deductible in the event you make a claim.
For example, say your current policy contains a $500 deductible for damage to your home and a $250 comprehensive deductible for damage to your car. If a thunderstorm damages your house and your automobile, you will only pay the $500 deductible under a single deductible policy.
Encompass specialty coverage
Encompass also provides additional insurance options if you have a specialty vehicle, such as a motorcycle, recreational vehicle or boat. If you own a boat or other watercraft, you may be able to bundle your boat insurance into an EncompassOne policy with your home or auto insurance. Check with an Encompass agent for possible discounts.
You can also purchase personal umbrella coverage, home business coverage and identity fraud coverage.
Encompass homeowners insurance review
While Encompass homeowners insurance rates can be expensive, they include a lot of policy coverage options. If you're willing to pay a bit more, you can get a high level of protection for your home.
Encompass homeowners insurance quotes
Encompass homeowners insurance rates are more expensive than several large competitors. Its rates were considerably less than those at Travelers, higher than rates for Allstate, Erie and State Farm, and about as expensive as Nationwide.
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Encompass home insurance rates
Your specific homeowners insurance rate may differ greatly depending on your location, and you should measure your Encompass rates against other rates in your area.
Encompass homeowners insurance coverage options
Encompass has a wide array of extra features you can add to your coverage, along with standard features you'd expect from an HO-3 policy. Similar to auto coverage, the company offers three packages — Special, Deluxe and Elite — that provide different combinations of coverage and a few special features.
One of the unique features available in both Deluxe and Elite homeowners policies is the property location limit. This feature allows you to pool coverage of all your property under a single limit, set at twice the replacement value of your home. This gives you rare flexibility to fully cover damage, whether it affects your home itself, your personal belongings or another structure that's part of your home. Most home insurance policies have different limits for different types of property.
For example, a standard policy might limit coverage of the structure of your home to its replacement value, say $500,000, and provide a separate limit of $350,000 covering what you have in your home. This means if the contents of your home sustained $400,000 of damage, you would be on the hook for the remaining $50,000. Under the Encompass property location limit, all of your property is covered under a combined limit up to twice the replacement value of your home. In this case, that's $1 million, which would easily cover $400,000 in damage to your personal belongings.
Regardless of whether you opt for a Special, Deluxe or Elite policy, all packages include the standard policy features in a regular home policy.
Encompass homeowners insurance discounts
Although availability may vary depending on your location, Encompass also provides some limited discount options.
- Claim-free: If your home has been claim free for five years, it may be eligible for a 15% discount
- Dwelling age: If your home is less than 20 years old
- Renovation: If your home has updated home systems such as heating, cooling, plumbing or a new roof in the last 10 years
- Protection devices: If your home has fire alarms, burglar alarms or other safety devices
- Homebuyer: If your home is less than 49 years old and was purchased within the last five years, you may be eligible for a discount of up to 10%
Encompass customer service and reviews
Encompass has average to below-average customer service for auto insurance and good service for home insurance.
The company received 84% fewer home insurance complaints than an average company its size, according to the National Association of Insurance commissioners. Encompass received 6% fewer auto insurance complaints, but its second-largest subsidiary received more complaints than average. Fewer complaints tends to mean customers are happier with their coverage and experience.
Encompass does lag in terms of certain parts of the online experience. You cannot get a quote or file an insurance claim online, meaning these will have to be handled on the phone. The company does, however, have a roadside assistance app.
How to file a claim with Encompass
You will have to file your claims with Encompass over the phone. You take similar steps for auto claims, home claims and catastrophe claims.
- Call the Encompass Insurance phone number: 1-800-588-7400 to report a loss.
- Speak to a claims center team member. This should be within 24 hours, but it might take longer.
- Have an inspector evaluate the damage.
- Speak to an adjuster to review your estimate.
- Complete your claim by filling out the final documentation
Methodology
ValuePenguin collected home car insurance quotes from Encompass and large competitors in Pennsylvania, where the company does a considerable amount of business. Auto quotes are for a 30-year-old man with a 2015 Honda Civic, a clean driving record and good credit. Home insurance quotes are for a house with dwelling coverage that matches the median home value in the state.
The company's star rating was calculated using a proprietary formula that factors in rates, customer service and coverage options.
All quotes used rate data from Quadrant Information Services. These rates were publicly sourced from insurer filings and should only be used for comparison — your own quotes will be different.
About the Author
Managing Editor
Ben Breiner is the Managing Editor of ValuePenguin/LendingTree's insurance vertical. He oversees a team of writers who focus on guiding readers through the rigors of home and auto coverage. He still loves that moment when the words fall together and he can translate an intimidating topic so a reader can make the best choice.
Ben got involved in insurance in 2021 when he joined ValuePenguin. He moved up from writer to editor and watched the team grow to expand the ways it helps consumers. Before that, he spent a decade as a sportswriter for newspapers in the Southeast and Midwest.
Ben had to put off buying his first car because of high insurance rates, so he's keenly aware how the wrong policy can get in the way of your goals. He should've shopped around and looked to the experts.
Insurance tip
Always keep an eye out for insurance you can load up on at a low price. A lot more liability coverage won't break the bank and protects your hard-earned assets.
Expertise
- Car insurance
- Home insurance
- Renters insurance
Education
- BA, Economics and Journalism, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the author's opinions and recommendations alone. It has not been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.
