UPC insurance review 2023
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Bottom Line
United Property & Casualty Insurance Company, better known as UPC Insurance, may have been a good option for homeowners in some risk-prone areas who also preferred working with in-person agents. However, the company has been declared insolvent and new policies are no longer available.
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Offered home insurance in some risk-prone states
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Products were offered through local independent agents
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Offered a few optional coverage types
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Company is insolvent and policies may no longer be available
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Had limited state availability
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Had an above-average NAIC Complaint Index
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- On February 16, 2023, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) initiated insolvency proceedings against UPC.
- On February 10, 2023, United Insurance Holdings Corp. — the parent company of UPC — filed a notice with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that UPC, due to its incurred losses from Hurricane Ian, was expected to be declared insolvent.
- On February 1, 2023, UPC announced that it had sold some of its home insurance policies in Florida to Slide. Other policies were sold to the State of Florida.
- In December 2022, Florida state regulators placed UPC under administrative supervision. The company is still solvent but its policies, at least in Florida, will all be canceled by May 31, 2023.
- In August 2022, UPC announced plans to withdraw its personal lines business in Florida, Louisiana, New York and Texas. The company previously also sold coverage in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, but quotes are currently unavailable in those states and UPC has sold its renewal rights to those policies. This effectively means that UPC will soon no longer write personal home insurance policies in any state.
UPC home insurance
UPC home insurance is no longer available. The company was declared insolvent on February 16, 2023 by the Florida OIR. In Florida, some policies were transferred to the state while others were transferred to Slide Insurance. If you had a UPC policy, be on the lookout for communications from the company about how to handle your policy going forward. It may be transferred to another company or you may need to seek new coverage yourself.
UPC previously helped to provide coverage availability for homes in coastal areas where home insurance options were harder to find. While UPC's policies were fairly basic, you may have been able to add a few optional coverage types to bolster your policy, like service line coverage and home systems protection.
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UPC home insurance cost
The national average cost of home insurance for $250,000 in dwelling coverage is $1,428 per year. UPC home insurance rates are not available due to the company’s discontinuation of personal home insurance policies.
UPC home insurance discounts
If you are shopping for the cheapest home insurance, most insurance professionals recommend shopping around to compare home insurance quotes from several companies. Discounts may help you save on home insurance, so choosing a company that offers several discounts you are eligible for might help you find a more affordable policy.
UPC home insurance discounts likely varied by state when the company was still solvent, and its advertised discounts were not very extensive or unique. If you’re looking for a new home insurance policy due to UPC’s insolvency, you may want to consider bundling your auto and home insurance, updating your home’s roof or installing a home security device, as these measures are among the most common ways to get a home insurance discount.
UPC home tools and benefits
When you apply for a home insurance policy, it's common for the insurer to send someone out to do an exterior inspection of your property (and potentially an interior inspection, depending on the value of your home). UPC knew this process could be disruptive, so it offered a do-it-yourself inspection process called Home Self-Inspection. With this program, you simply used your smartphone to take photos and videos of your home to send to UPC. If you had questions about the process, you contacted UPC's Client Experience Center at 1-866-515-4428 or cec@upcinsurance.com.
Because UPC has been declared insolvent, this program will not be available anymore. Inspections will no longer be necessary because UPC doesn’t sell home insurance.
UPC customer satisfaction
When shopping for the best home insurance company, it may be helpful to look at more than just quoted premiums. Analyzing customer service and financial strength ratings could help you discern how satisfied you might be with your interactions with the company.
To review customer satisfaction from a historical perspective — remember that UPC is now insolvent, so it will no longer have any policies or customers once the process has been completed — Bankrate looked at third-party data from companies like J.D. Power. UPC was unrated in the current J.D. Power studies for homeowners customer satisfaction and claims satisfaction. While the company wasn’t scored for 2023, it was ranked second-lowest in the 2020 U.S. Home Insurance Study with a below-average score of 777 out of 1,000.
Another customer satisfaction metric Bankrate analyzed is the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Complaint Index. The NAIC records complaints about insurance companies and assigns a Complaint Index to each carrier. A baseline Complaint Index is 1.00. Scores above 1.00 indicate more complaints than average for a company of that size and vice versa. NAIC data was not favorable regarding UPC's customer satisfaction. UPC's home insurance product had an NAIC Complaint Index of 10.60. This means over 10 times more complaints were filed with the NAIC about UPC than expected for a company its size.
We also analyzed financial strength ratings from companies like AM Best and Demotech, as these may demonstrate a company's historical ability to pay claims. While UPC is unrated by AM Best, it used to be rated as A (Exceptional) by Demotech. In August 2022, however, Demotech downgraded UPC to an M (Moderate) rating and has since withdrawn its rating altogether. This was likely an early sign of the financial instability within UPC, which has now erupted into full-blown insolvency.
How to file a claim with UPC
If you were a UPC customer and need to file a claim, you can do so in one of two ways:
- Fill out the online claim form
- Call 1-888-256-3378
After your claim is filed, you'll work with an adjuster to explain the details of your claim. The adjuster will review the damage and your policy to check for coverage. If you do have the proper coverage for the loss situation, your adjuster will work to pay the claim. Any claims filed before the insolvency date should be paid for by either UPC’s available funds or by the state of Florida. Make sure you watch for information from UPC regarding its contact information, as it could be in flux as the company winds down.
If your UPC policy was one that was transferred to Slide, you can file a claim by:
- Calling 1-866-230-3758
- Filling out the online claim form
Slide offers a helpful online claims center, and you can even get help from a pre-approved contractor by calling 1-833-854-3440.
UPC availability
At one time, UPC was available in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. The company has sold renewal rights to its policies and, in Florida, has been declared insolvent. This means that UPC will no longer be selling home insurance.
Other UPC perks worth considering
Although it no longer offers home insurance or other personal insurance coverage, UPC Insurance has indicated that its commercial insurance division is still writing new policies. It is possible that, going forward, UPC will become a commercial-lines-only insurer.
UPC corporate sustainability
Bankrate's UPC Insurance review would not be complete without looking at the company's social responsibility. According to UPC, the company is reducing its environmental impact by investing in clean energy initiatives, promoting waste reduction strategies and employing energy-efficient technologies.
In terms of social responsibility, the company supports community nonprofits for education, medical care, research, domestic violence prevention and more. The company also created a corporate governance guideline structure to promote accountability among executives.
Not sure if UPC is right for you?
After reading this UPC Insurance review, you may decide the company isn't the right choice for you — especially given that UPC is leaving the home insurance business. If so, you may consider getting quotes from other homeowners insurance companies to compare your options.
UPC vs. State Farm
State Farm offers a full range of product lines and is consistently highly rated by third-party rating services such as AM Best and J.D. Power. If you like that UPC was sold by local agents, State Farm's agency network might appeal to you. State Farm is also available in a broader range of states than UPC was.
Learn more: State Farm Insurance review
UPC vs. USAA
USAA only offers insurance policies to active-duty members of the U.S. Military, veterans and qualifying family members. If you qualify, you may appreciate USAA's highly-rated customer service and policy features that are tailored to the needs of military families. Unlike UPC, USAA is available nationwide.
Learn more: USAA Insurance review
UPC vs. Lemonade
If you're looking for a highly-rated home insurance company that operates fully online, you may want to research Lemonade. Lemonade also offers car insurance, so it might be a good option if you want to bundle your policies and prefer a digital platform. Lemonade isn’t available nationwide, but it does offer coverage in a wider range of states than UPC did.
Learn more: Lemonade Insurance review
Is UPC a good insurance company?
UPC isn’t an option for home insurance. The company isn’t offering quotes online anymore, and it has been declared insolvent in Florida. UPC's high NAIC Complaint Index and the withdrawal of its Demotech financial strength rating may have been indications of the company's service level and financial stability. If you were considering a quote from UPC, you’ll need to research and compare quotes from other companies for more information on relevant rates, coverage offerings, discounts, and third-party scores and ratings.