Best Car Insurance Companies: 2018
Who are the best auto insurance companies? USAA, American Family and Allstate earned the top three spots, in Insure.com’s annual analysis that identifies the best car insurance companies.
Auto insurers with the most market share in the nation were ranked based on the ratings from surveyed policyholders in the categories of:
- Value for price
- Customer service
- Claims satisfaction
- Usefulness and ease-of-use of its website and mobile apps
- If plan to renew
- If would recommend
Unlike evaluations you might find elsewhere, Insure.com's Best Insurance Companies is the result of a survey of 3,160 current customers – people just like you. We believe it to be the most comprehensive, assessment available and a useful guide to help you find the best auto insurance company for your needs quickly and easily.
The Top 5 Car Insurance Companies
| Rank | Company Name | Overall Score (Out of 100) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | USAA Car Insurance | 89.98 |
| 2 | Allstate Car Insurance | 88.34 |
| 2 | American Family Car Insurance | 88.34 |
| 3 | CSAA Insurance Group Car Insurance | 88.09 |
| 4 | Mercury Car Insurance | 87.71 |
While everyone loves a bargain, price was overshadowed by service when surveyed policyholders were asked to leave feedback. When customers described their car insurance company, the overwhelming majority commented about how the company treated them, how responsive the company was in answering questions about coverage or claims and about features of the coverage, such as discounts, apps or road-side service. It’s not that price wasn’t mentioned, but rather that it wasn’t the main reason policyholders liked – or disliked-- their insurer.
You’ll see in the table below how each company scored overall, as well as on each metric, in Insure.com’s Best Auto Insurance Companies ranking. To see all the comments for each company, as well as detailed information on each company’s coverage and discounts, visit our company pages by clicking on the logo in the table below.
Company |
Score |
Value For Price | Customer Service |
Claims
Service | Website and Apps | Customers Who Recommend | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
89.98
out of 100 |
88 |
90 |
95 |
85 |
92%
| See Details | |
|
|
88.34
out of 100 |
85 |
89 |
94 |
84 |
89%
| See Details | |
|
|
88.34
out of 100 |
84 |
90 |
93 |
86 |
93%
| See Details | |
|
|
88.09
out of 100 |
87 |
89 |
89 |
84 |
94%
| See Details | |
|
|
87.71
out of 100 |
87 |
87 |
92 |
83 |
93%
| See Details | |
|
|
87.67
out of 100 |
88 |
88 |
90 |
82 |
94%
| See Details | |
|
|
87.17
out of 100 |
84 |
90 |
89 |
85 |
86%
| See Details | |
|
|
86.84
out of 100 |
86 |
89 |
92 |
83 |
94%
| See Details | |
|
|
86.56
out of 100 |
84 |
87 |
90 |
84 |
85%
| See Details | |
|
|
86.31
out of 100 |
85 |
87 |
88 |
82 |
89%
| See Details | |
|
|
86.00
out of 100 |
83 |
86 |
90 |
83 |
89%
| See Details | |
|
|
85.81
out of 100 |
85 |
84 |
92 |
82 |
87%
| See Details | |
|
|
85.24
out of 100 |
82 |
87 |
91 |
82 |
81%
| See Details | |
|
|
84.76
out of 100 |
81 |
87 |
89 |
82 |
86%
| See Details | |
|
|
84.56
out of 100 |
82 |
84 |
89 |
82 |
85%
| See Details | |
|
|
84.40
out of 100 |
78 |
86 |
93 |
80 |
85%
| See Details | |
|
|
84.29
out of 100 |
82 |
84 |
88 |
83 |
85%
| See Details | |
|
|
83.35
out of 100 |
82 |
84 |
91 |
78 |
80%
| See Details | |
|
|
82.80
out of 100 |
83 |
83 |
84 |
79 |
83%
| See Details | |
|
|
81.34
out of 100 |
78 |
85 |
86 |
78 |
79%
| See Details |
Here are what some policyholders had to say when asked to make a comment about their experience (you can see all comments for each company by clicking on the logo in the table above):
1. USAA
Note that USAA serves only to active and retired military personnel and their immediate family members.
- They treat you like family. Everyone I've spoken to there has been extremely kind and obviously focused on helping me with whatever I needed. They were especially wonderful for the first few years they were insuring me because I was driving a very old car that didn't always do very well. I paid just two dollars per six month policy for roadside assistance and they were fantastic. No matter when I called for help they sent someone who arrived promptly and was able to help me with whatever the car needed. I can't imagine switching to another insurance company.
- They actually care about you as a person and not just a client. Not only do they have the best rates, but they give you a lot of benefits with a really low rate.
- They are great at walking through scenarios and what would have the best or worst impact our situation.
Good to know:
USAA caters to military personnel, so you get a discount for garaging your car on base, and it also offers coverage if you have a side-hustle as an Uber or Lyft driver.
Bottom line:
USAA not only ranks No. 1 overall, but also on the individual metrics of customer service satisfaction, claims processing and value. Its limited membership, however, means it’s not available to everyone.
2. American Family (tie)
- They look out for you to make sure you have the correct amount of insurance and work with you to make sure you can afford it.
- They are good and friendly, always quick to respond via e-mail or phone call.
- All my questions, even if odd -- like are my cats covered if we are in car traveling to vet or moving-- have been answered and met with thoughtful responses not laughter.
Good to know:
American Family is a mutual company, meaning its customers are its owners, so any profits earned are returned to the policyholders in the form or dividends or reduced premiums. Young volunteer. It also offers a “young volunteer” discount to drivers under age 25 who complete 40 hours of volunteer work per year for a non-profit organization.
Bottom line:
American Family tied for second overall, but in the top spot for most serviceable website and apps. For price it landed in the middle of the pack, in ninth place. But policyholders had positive experiences with customer service, which is likely why American Family was among those with the highest precentage of customers who said they were likely to renew their policies with the company.
2. Allstate (tie)
- They have great customer service and proactively make sure I get the coverage I need and any discounts I am entitled to receive.
- Allstate makes it very easy and convenient for you to handle any of your insurance needs all from your Allstate App that is easily available for download from any App Store.
- This company treats you like family, keeps up to date with changes to your situation without being intrusive and even remembers you family members with a birthday card each year.
Good to know:
Safe drivers can earn points redeemable for savings on gift cards, merchandise and travel, whether an Allstate customer or not, by using the Allstate Rewards feature of the company’s mobile Drivewise app. Allstate also offers affordable coverage for Uber and Lyft drivers.
Bottom line:
Allstate, tied for second, was well liked by its surveyed policyholders, ranking in the top four for claims, customer service and for how easy and useful its website and apps were. Feedback showed it to be a well-balanced company, but not cheap. “Overall good coverage, but a bit pricey,” was a sentiment some shared and shows in the ranking with Allstate’s price to be average and coming in eighth in value for price.
Here is how insurance companies ranked when data were analyzed by age and region.
Best auto insurance companies by age
- Best car insurance companies for millennials:
- American Family
- USAA
- Mercury
- Best car insurance companies for Gen X:
- CSAA
- USAA
- Auto Club of Southern California
- Best car insurance companies for Baby Boomers:
- USAA
- Allstate
- Mercury
Best car insurance companies by region
- Best car insurance companies for Northeast region:
- USAA
- Mercury
- CSAA
- Best car insurance companies for Midwest region:
- CSAA
- USAA
- Allstate
- Best car insurance companies for South region:
- American Family
- CSAA
- Farmers
- Best car insurance companies for West region:
- Allstate
- Liberty Mutual
- USAA
Agree with our findings? Disagree? Join the conversation by sharing your own experience with your car insurance provider in the commenting forum below.
Note that this is an independent editorial analysis devoid of affiliations or partnerships of any kind– companies did not pay to be included. Finally, the A.M. Best financial ratings represent an assessment of an insurer's ability to meet its financial obligations to policyholders, and are separate from the editorial ranking.
Insure.com commissioned Op4G to survey more than 3,100 insurance customers nationwide in December 2017. The survey collected customer ratings for 20 leading companies in the auto category and 15 leading companies in each of the home, health and life categories. Only current customers of the insurers on our lists were surveyed, and the survey was not open to the general public on the Insure.com website.
Auto, home and health insurers were ranked according to a weighted 6-point measurement of the following factors: customer service, claims processing, value for price, website/apps and would recommend and would renew. Life insurers were rated on a weighted 4-point measurement on customer service, value for price, website/apps and would recommend. Weighted measurements were derived from surveyed policyholders’ historical rank of prioritization of these factors. Overall score shown out two decimals, individual ranking scores (claims, etc.) shown without decimals; however, we used additional precision to assign rankings.
The A.M. Best ratings, discounts and coverage options noted in the survey do not affect the scores, but are provided as a supplementary resource.
Insure.com makes these ratings freely available via this site. The views and opinions expressed by users do not reflect the views and opinions of Insure.com. Insure.com expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with the ratings.
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