The 15 best car insurance companies, according to Consumer Reports
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 AAA Insurance Ford, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo: Jonathan Bachman (Getty Images)
Paying for car insurance sucks now more than ever. Premiums seem to keep rising and consumers aren’t receiving any benefits for their extra expenditure. Previously, we shared the worst performing car insurance companies according to a Consumer Reports survey, so now we’re going over the top car insurance companies. No company received perfect scores , with the highest overall score being 72 out of 100 possible points, and no company scored above a 3 out of 5 for customer satisfaction for the price of premiums. There’s no perfect car insurance company, but there are some that are better than others.
To establish this ranking, Consumer Reports issued a national survey of over 40,000 policy holders earlier this year and ranked 36 car insurance providers based on the responses. The highest scoring providers offered the best service with the most competitive monthly premiums, so the companies on this list scored the lowest in service and monthly premium pricing. Each company is scored out of five possible points for seven factors. The seven factors are premiums, claims, coverage, policy clarity, help and advice, policy review, and service.
The premiums score reflects customer satisfaction with the price of premiums, and claims scores are customer satisfaction with the handling of claims. Coverage scores reflect customer satisfaction with the breadth of coverage, and policy clarity scores reflect the clarity if policy coverage and prices. Help and advice scores reflect satisfaction with proactive advice, policy review scores reflect satisfaction with thoroughness of policy review, and service scores reflect satisfaction with non-claims customer service.
Keep in mind that your experience may vary, and external conditions like your local weather patterns and traffic conditions still impact your rates. Click here to see Consumer Reports’ car insurance buying guide.
CSAA is a regional insurance group that’s actually a AAA insurer. It’s available to residents of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington DC and Wyoming, as well as parts of several other states. It scored a 2 out of 5 for premium costs, but every other ranking is a 3 or higher. CSAA received an overall score of 52 out of 100.
Auto-Owners Insurance operates through independent insurance agents, and despite receiving a 1 for premium prices, it received a 4 for customer satisfaction with the handling of claims, and solid 3s across the rest of the categories. Overall, it scored the same 55 points as the next company on the list.
Shelter Insurance is sold by agents in 15 states. Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. It received a 4 in customer satisfaction with the clarity of policy coverage and prices, and 3s across the rest of the categories except claim satisfaction, which is missing a score. Shelter received an overall score of 55 out of 100.
FBPCIC is only available to individuals and small businesses in eight western and midwestern states, but it scored a rare 5 out of 5 in customer satisfaction with the handling of claims, and it scored a 2 for premium prices, which is low but still better than most companies on this list. FBPCIC received an overall score of 57.
Totally separate from the Australian Westfield Group that owns and operates Westfield shopping centers, Westfield insurance is an Ohio-based insurance company. I couldn’t find any explanation of regional availability, but the website unsurprisingly says there are no locations in the LA area. It received 3s across the board except for a 2 on policy premiums and an N/A for claims satisfaction. Westfield scored 60 out of 100 total points.
This particular identity of AAA includes the company’s more recent expansion into Texas, New Mexico, and Hawai’i. It received 4s in both customer satisfaction with the handling of claims, and satisfaction with the policy coverage and prices. It received an overall score of 61, or the same as the next company.
Acuity doesn’t offer policies in California, New York, or Florida, but it has fans in the states it does operate. It received a 5 in customer satisfaction with the handling of claims, 4s for customer satisfaction with the breadth of coverage and satisfaction with the company’s proactive advice. Acuity received an overall score of 61.
Wawanesa is now part of the Auto Club of Southern California as of this year, thouigh it is only licensed to offer insurance in California and Oregon. It’s one of the few companies to earn a score of 3 for customer satisfaction with the price of premiums, and it didn’t score below a 3 in any category. It received an overall score of 62.
COUNTRY Financial offers car insurance in 19 states, AL, AK, AZ, CO, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, MN, MS, NV, ND, OK, OR, TN, WA, and WI. It scored a perfect 5 for customer satisfaction with the handling of claims, a 2 for premium prices, and 4s for every other category. It received an overall score of 64.
Despite its name, Cincinnati Insurance offers coverage in all 50 states as well as Puerto Rico and Washington DC. It received a 2 for premium pricing, a 3 for customer service satisfaction, a 5 for claims satisfaction, and 4s in every other category. It received an overall score of 68.
This will only help a select group of people, since USAA is only available to military members and some of their family members. It received a 2 for customer satisfaction with premium prices, but scored 4s in every other category. It scored 68 out of 100, the same as the next company.
NYCM stands for New York Central Mutual, and the company only writes policies in New York State. It received a high 3 out of 5 for customer satisfaction with the price of premiums and a 5 for claims satisfaction, but received a surprising amount of 3s in other categories to score so high on the list. Overall, NYCM scored 68 out of 100.
Amica offers car insurance policies in every state except for Hawai’i, so it’s the highest ranking insurance group for many states that the top two companies don’t cover. It scored a 2 for customer satisfaction with prices of premiums, but 5s for satisfaction of claims and policy clarity. Everything else scored 4s. Overall, it scored 69 points, the same as the next group.
New Jersey Manufacturers or NJM only writes car insurance policies in Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. It received a high 3 for customer satisfaction with premium prices, and 4s in every other category. Overall it scored 69 points.
Erie Insurance writes policies in 12 states and Washington DC. It offers policies in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington DC, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. It reached the top spot with a total score of 72 out of 100, and received a customer satisfaction score of 3 for the price of premiums, a 5 for satisfaction with the handling of claims, and 4s in every other category.
A version of this article originally appeared on Jalopnik .
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