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American Family, Auto-Owners, Nationwide and USAA are the most sensible auto insurance companies, according to Forbes Advisor’s analysis.
We evaluate insurers nationally to identify auto insurance corporations based on costs, policy options, claims processes, and complaints. Use our research as a starting point to compare the top auto insurers and find out which one suits your specific needs.
Our editors are committed to providing you with unbiased reviews and information. Our editorial content is influenced by advertisers. We use data-driven methodologies to compare insurance corporations, so that all corporations are valued equally. You can read more about our editorial rules and judging method below.
Here are Forbes Advisor’s picks for December 2023 auto insurance companies:
American Family has a wide diversity of types of optional auto insurance coverages and a very low number of court cases filed against the company. This helps them stand out even with average car insurance rates.
Read more: US Family Car Insurance Review
American Family auto insurance is available in 19 states:
Car owners insurance shines with its optional options, claims process, low level of complaints, and competitive pricing.
Read more: Auto Insurance Review for Car Owners
Auto insurance for car owners is available in 26 states:
Nationwide offers decent car insurance rates for certain types of drivers and many useful additional coverages. The goal of court cases opposing this car insurance is very low, making it a business check if you buy car insurance. Notably, Nationwide offers a usage-based insurance program and pay-per-mile option for drivers who potentially need their prices based on actual driving.
More: National Car Insurance Review
Nationwide auto insurance is available in 46 states and Washington, D. C. Not available in: Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana, or Massachusetts.
The USAA offers affordable car insurance rates for drivers with many types of driving records. It’s worth checking the USAA if you qualify. You will need to be a member of the military, veteran, or family member of a military member to be eligible for USAA Auto Insurance.
Read more: USAA Car Insurance Review
USAA is available in all 50 states and Washington, D. C.
Geico offers very competitive car insurance rates for many other types of drivers, which involves checking to see if you need reasonable car insurance.
More: Geico Car Insurance Review
Geico auto insurance is available in all 50 states and Washington, D. C.
Travelers offers decent rates overall for many types of drivers. The company also has many optional offerings that can give you greater insurance protection, making it a smart choice when making comparisons.
Read More: Traveler Car Insurance Review
Traveler’s auto insurance is available in 42 states and Washington, D. C. Not available on:
Westfield offers competitive auto insurance rates for many types of drivers, a very low number of complaints, and is rated by repair professionals for its collision claims process. Westfield’s feed-in tariffs are worth it if you live in one of the states in which it operates.
Read More: Westfield Car Insurance Review
Westfield offers auto insurance in 10 states:
Erie has policy packages and a maximum score for its collision repair claims processes. These benefits offset Erie’s car insurance rates, which can be combined based on your driving record.
Read more: Erie Car Insurance Review
Erie is available in 12 states and Washington, D. C. :
Progressive offers great prices for drivers with a DUI and many other types of optional auto insurance policies. The goal of court cases is low, which helps offset prices that are only average for smart drivers and superior for those who have been in an accident.
Read more: Progressive Insurance
Progressivism can be achieved in all 50 states and Washington, D. C.
It’s worth checking out State Farm’s competitive auto insurance prices and lower court cases.
Read more: State Farm Auto Insurance Review
State Farm is available in all 50 states and Washington, D. C.
Our research shows that American Family, Auto-Owners, Nationwide, and USAA are the most sensible auto insurance corporations overall, with five stars in our ratings. USAA auto insurance is available only to members of the military, veterans, and their immediate circle of family members.
The auto insurance companies for you will depend on your driving record, condition, and other individual factors. When comparing car insurance quotes, you’ll notice the companies that can offer you the value tailored to your situation.
Geico offers the lowest nationwide rates available to the general public if we look at average rates for a variety of driving records and ages of drivers. (USAA is cheaper, but the club is limited to car owners with a military connection. )
Drivers who have bad credit compare Geico quotes because of their competitive rates. Getting quotes is worth it if your credit is poor, as many auto insurance corporations charge much higher rates based solely on bad credit.
Average Annual Geico Auto Insurance Costs
Complaints against a company are a reflection of visitor service. Most court cases involving auto insurance companies concern claims issues. Families and travelers have very low grades of auto insurance court cases, in verified court cases filed with state insurance departments across the country.
Average Annual Car Insurance Costs for U. S. Families
Average Annual Car Insurance Costs for Travelers
Erie scores for collision repair professionals among the corporations we review, with a B. Collision repair professionals have insight into which insurers are looking to save money and which have the smoothest claims processes.
Average Annual Car Insurance Costs in Erie
Drivers who have won a ticket for a hefty price can expect to be charged fees for 3 to 5 years, depending on their insurance company and the state. Geico and Westfield have the lowest rates for those drivers, among corporations open to the general public. Westfield is a regional insurer that sells auto insurance in 10 states, most commonly in the Midwest.
USAA also offers low rates for military members and veterans who have tickets on their record.
Westfield Average Annual Car Insurance Costs
A “payer” twist of fate can remain on your history and car insurance rates for 3 to five years, depending on your state’s legislation and/or the auto insurance company’s. Auto-Owners offers the most productive average rates for stranded drivers at this location, based on the corporations we’ve analyzed.
The severity of the accident, i. e. , the dollar cost of the damaged and/or injured property, will likely determine the amount of your surcharge. Ask your car insurance agent how long the surcharge will last on your car insurance rates.
Average Annual Auto Insurance Rates for Car Owners
You can’t raise rates after a DUI, however, Progressive offers competitive maximum costs for drivers in this situation, based on national averages among the corporations we analyzed.
Auto insurance companies usually get your motor vehicle report when you get a new quote or when your policy is about to be renewed. This is your ability to adjust rates based on your recent history of trouble, and a driving conviction will be an expensive insurance issue. .
Progressive Average Annual Car Insurance Costs
With consistently smart rates and a variety of policy options, USAA continues to be the auto insurance choice for the military, year after year. Although the number of USAA auto insurance court cases has increased in recent years, its existing court cases are at the industry average.
Average Annual USAA Auto Insurance Costs
Finding auto insurance starts with determining your express policy needs. From there, you can use our list of auto insurance corporations and those tips in your search.
Knowing the aspects that affect auto insurance rates, such as your credit, can help you identify ways to save. Here are the simplest ways to find a great deal on affordable auto insurance.
To determine the value of auto insurance, compare auto insurance quotes from at least three companies for the same point of coverage. Since rates can vary greatly between companies, buying groceries is the way to get the biggest potential savings.
If you have collision and comprehensive coverage, opting for a higher car insurance deductible is a reliable way to lower your insurance bill. (There is no deductible for liability insurance. )
Many auto insurance discounts will be automatically implemented on your bill, such as “pay in full” discounts. But your insurance company may not know that you’re eligible for a discount, so it’s smart to ask. For example, if you have a high school or college-age driver getting good grades, ask about a smart student discount.
Auto liability insurance is a type of auto insurance policy because it covers damages you cause to others. This includes personal injury and property damage. This also extends to paying for lost wages and the pain and suffering of others when you cause an accident.
If you are sued for a twist of fate that you caused, auto liability insurance will pay for your legal defense, as well as any settlement or judgment that opposes you. But this will only pay up to your liability limits, so it’s vital to have high enough limits. You are liable for damages that exceed your limits of liability.
Liability insurance pays you cash for your own injuries, damage to your car, or non-economic damages like pain and suffering.
Collision insurance covers damage to your own vehicle, regardless of the cause of the accident. If you, a pole, or other object hits you, you can file a claim with your collision insurance.
If someone hits you, another option is to file a claim with that person’s liability insurance. But in some cases, car owners find it easier to purchase their own collision insurance than it is to deal with someone else’s insurer.
Comprehensive insurance is a smart policy because it will pay for damage to your car that is covered by collision insurance. This can come with hail, fallen tree limbs, car fires, and flooding.
They will also pay you the value of your car in case it is stolen.
Collision and comprehensive insurance are included together and cannot be purchased separately.
Comprehensive car insurance is a common option for a car insurance policy that includes liability insurance, collision insurance, and comprehensive insurance.
While there are many other useful types of policies that you can add to an insurance policy, the comprehensive auto insurance policy will provide you with an insurance foundation for a wide variety of situations.
Gap insurance is if you have a giant car loan or lease. If your car is totaled or stolen, comprehensive insurance will pay the difference between your totaled vehicle insurance check and the amount you owe on a loan or lease.
For example, if you have a huge balance on your car loan but your car balance is less than the loan balance, comprehensive insurance can pay the difference.
Liability insurance is mandatory in almost every state and is one of the main types of auto insurance. Liability insurance covers injuries and property damage you cause to others in a car accident.
Uninsured motorist insurance is a type of car insurance required in many states. If you are hit by an uninsured motorist, this policy will pay for your medical expenses and those of your passengers. Although in states with a “no-fault” auto insurance system, you will use your own personal injury policy (PIP) for your and your passengers’ medical expenses, regardless of who is at fault. accident.
You will most likely require collision and comprehensive insurance for your car loan if you financed your cars. Even if you don’t have a car loan, it’s a good idea to get this type of car insurance, especially on newer cars. Collision insurance covers car injuries with other cars or objects, such as a building or pole, and will pay regardless of fault. Comprehensive auto insurance covers auto theft, fire, weather damage, flooding, hail, falling objects, vandalism, and collision with animals.
Related: Cheap Only Liability Insurance
Car insurance costs an average of $2,067 per month, according to Forbes Advisor research on the rates of major auto insurance companies. That’s $172 per month on average.
Your car insurance charge will vary depending on several points including:
First and foremost, you want enough car insurance to meet the state’s minimum requirements. Your car insurance company will make sure that you at least meet the state’s requirements.
From there, you’ll need to accumulate policy amounts and load other types of auto insurance based on your threat tolerance and your needs. For example, comprehensive car insurance is a smart start. You may need to carry rental reimbursement insurance, umbrella insurance, and other policies for broader protection.
Erie has earned one of the ratings of repair experts for its collision repair process.
Making a collision claim or comprehensive car insurance is rarely much fun (it means your car has broken down), but a claim procedure that ensures quality maintenance can be a stressful experience. The CRASH Network, a weekly newsletter covering the auto insurance market and collision repair segments, annual surveys help experts find out how insurance companies’ claims procedures compare.
To identify the most productive auto insurance companies, we evaluated the companies based on their average rates for a variety of drivers, the characteristics of the policies offered, court cases opposing the company, and the collision repair scores of auto body shop professionals.
Auto Insurance Rates (50% of the score): We use Quadrant Information Services’ knowledge to locate the company’s average rates for smart drivers, drivers who caused an accident, drivers with a rush ticket, drivers with a DUI, drivers with bad credit. Drivers caught without insurance, adding a teen driver, older drivers, and young drivers.
Unless otherwise specified, rates are based on a 40-year-old driver with a Toyota RAV4 and a policy of:
Car Insurance Policy Features (25% of the bill): Any car insurance company can offer the basics of liability, collision, and comprehensive policy insurance, as well as other popular offerings. But it’s also vital to have other types of policies that may be offering greater policies or savings. In this category, we award emissions to corporations that offer accident excuse, new car replacement, disappearing deductibles, pay-per-mile or pay-per-mile insurance, and SR insurance. -22s.
Complaints (20% of the score): We use the knowledge of court cases from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Each state’s insurance branch is guilty of recording and tracking court cases opposing corporations operating in their state. Most auto insurance court cases involve claims that add unsatisfactory settlements, delays, and denials. The industry average for court cases is 1. 00, so companies with a ratio below 1. 00 have lower levels of court cases.
Collision Repair (5% of score): We’ve incorporated the corporate insurance ratings of collision repair professionals. We use the knowledge through the CRASH Network, a weekly newsletter covering the collision repair and auto insurance market segments. CRASH Network’s Insurer Ratings Report used ratings from more than 1,100 collision repair professionals to rate auto insurers based on the quality of their collision claims service.
Car insurance is a contract between you and the insurance company that provides you with an express policy in exchange for paying your premiums. A car insurance policy is the contract that outlines what you can claim and your obligations as a customer.
The most productive auto insurance policies cover liability (i. e. , damages you cause to others), damage to your own vehicle, and injuries caused by a twist of the car’s fate to you and your passengers.
American Family, Auto-Owners, Nationwide and USAA all have auto insurance, according to Forbes Advisor’s analysis. We evaluate prices for a variety of drivers, the types of policies available, complaints, and collision maintenance to identify companies.
Drivers’ desires vary, so use our research as a starting point in your search for the auto insurance company that fits your unique situation.
The key to finding a smart deal is to get auto insurance quotes from corporations. This is the only way to know which corporations will qualify and which corporations will offer the lowest rates.
Another smart savings strategy is to bundle car insurance with some other policy, such as homeowners or renters insurance. Buy multiple policies with the same corporate effects at a decent discount.
Look for auto insurance reductions that are compatible with your motive force profile. Look for a smart reduction for motive forces if you have a smart driving record. Look for a combined reduction if you buy your home and auto insurance from the same company or from a multi-company auto reduction if you have two or more cars on your policy.
There are a wide variety of auto insurance discounts presented through insurers, so ask your agent if any are missing, such as going paperless when receiving bills and insurance policies electronically for small savings. Check out the student car insurance discounts you can get if you have a young driving force in your home.
The cost of auto insurance continues its upward trend: Drivers spent an average of 1. 3% more on auto insurance between September 2023 and August 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Each month, the BLS tracks the average prices of goods and services, such as auto insurance.
Auto insurance prices increased 18. 9% year-over-year (September 2022 to September 2023), nearly the highest increase among all expenses tracked through the BLS. Rate hikes don’t seem to be slowing down. BLS data shows that auto insurance prices have increased month-over-month since January 2022, marking 21 consecutive months of rate increases.
Auto insurance rates have been rising due to new claim prices for insurers, which pass on higher prices to consumers in the form of higher rates. The increase in claims spending is being driven by more expensive medical, labor and auto parts expenses.