Auto-Owners auto insurance review and ratings
Auto-Owners is the No. 2 company among regional carriers in our 2025 Best Car Insurance Companies ranking with 4.60 stars out of 5. The company ranks high for its ease of service and policy offerings.
Katrina Raenell
Katrina Raenell is a writer, editor and educator with 20 years of experience in content and communications for international organizations, nonprofits and start-ups. In her previous roles, she was a communications manager for study abroad, content project manager for higher education and finance websites, reported on arts and culture, and was a managing editor for an online health and wellness publication.
Laura Longero
Laura Longero
Laura Longero is an insurance expert and executive editor of CarInsurance.com. With 15 years of experience simplifying complex financial topics, Laura provides clear, expert-backed guidance to help drivers make smart, confident decisions. Before joining CarInsurance.com, she was an award-winning editor for the USA Today Network.
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Our take
Auto-Owners is No. 2 among regional insurance carriers in our 2025 Best Car Insurance Companies. The insurer received 4.60 stars out of 5 and ranked highly for its policy offerings, ease of service and access to policy documents.
Auto-Owners customers were highly likely to renew their policies with the insurer. It scored high for trustworthiness; most customers recommend its services to others. However, its discount offerings could be improved.
Auto-Owners has an A+ (Superior) rating for financial stability from AM Best.
Below is Insure.com’s review of the company. It’s based on third-party metrics and an in-depth survey of insurance customers. Find the full methodology here, including an explanation of our survey scores.
How we weight our score
- Survey Score 40%
- AM Best Rating 25%
- Premiums 20%
- NAIC Complaint Index 15%
What is this rating?
AM Best's Financial Strength Rating is an independent opinion of an insurer's financial strength and ability to meet its ongoing insurance policy and contract obligations.
The effective date indicates when the rating was last confirmed by AM Best. Ratings are subject to change based on financial performance and market conditions.
As of date:
For the latest Best's Credit Rating, access AM Best's website.
Pros and Cons
- Ranks highly for ease of service
- A top insurer for renewing customers
- Lower than-average monthly premiums
- Some competitors scored better for discounts
- Not available in every state
How much Auto-Owners costs
With a monthly premium of $129, Auto-Owners is one of the cheapest insurers in our ranking. It is slightly more expensive than regional competitor Erie Insurance, but only by $6 a month.
Auto-Owners’ low rates are one of the key reasons the company placed so highly on this year’s list of best car insurance companies. Nationwide is the most affordable national insurance company, tied with Auto-Owners at $129 monthly.
The table below shows how much auto insurance from Auto-Owners compares with the monthly rates from its competitors.
| Company | Monthly premium |
|---|---|
| USAA* | $115 |
| Erie | $123 |
| Nationwide | $129 |
| Auto-Owners | $129 |
| Travelers | $134 |
| American Family | $142 |
| Geico | $147 |
| State Farm | $165 |
| Progressive | $166 |
| Amica | $185 |
| Farmers | $199 |
| Allstate | $209 |
*USAA is only available to military community members and their families.
QuickTake
How Auto-Owners rates for customer satisfaction
Regarding customer satisfaction, 87% of Auto-Owners policyholders said they are satisfied with the company’s customer service. This makes it the top regional insurer in this category. Erie came in a close second at 85%.
| Company | Percent of satisfied customers |
|---|---|
| Auto-Owners | 87% |
| Erie | 85% |
| American Family | 79% |
How Auto-Owners scores on ease of service
Most Auto-Owners customers said they were satisfied with its ease of service. While Erie Insurance led this category at 96%, Auto-Owners came in at a close second at 92%.
| Company | Percent of customers satisfied with the company’s ease of service |
|---|---|
| Auto-Owners | 92% |
| Erie | 96% |
| American Family | 83% |
How Auto-Owners scores on policy offerings
Eighty-seven percent of Auto-Owners customers reported satisfaction with the insurer’s policy offerings. While Erie Insurance led this category at 89%, Auto-Owners was a close second. Auto-Owners offers home, condo, umbrella and flood insurance policies.
| Company | Percent of customers satisfied with the company’s policy offerings |
|---|---|
| Auto-Owners | 87% |
| Erie | 89% |
| American Family | 75% |
Would current customers recommend Auto-Owners?
Many Auto-Owners customers said they would recommend the company to others. The insurer scored a mid-range 85% compared to Erie Insurance, which was No. 1 at 92%. Car insurance companies are often recommended based on affordability, policy offerings, ease of service and claims handling — all of which Auto-Owners ranks highly for.
| Company | Percent of customers who would recommend the company to others |
|---|---|
| Auto-Owners | 85% |
| Erie | 92% |
| American Family | 71% |
How trustworthy is Auto-Owners?
Auto-Owners scored in the upper half of companies for trustworthiness in the survey, with 90% of its customers saying they trusted it. Erie Insurance ranked slightly higher at 92%.
| Company | Percent of customers who say they trust the company |
|---|---|
| Auto-Owners | 90% |
| Erie | 92% |
| American Family | 85% |
Do Auto-Owners customers plan to renew?
Most Auto-Owners customers say they plan to renew their policies. The insurer led this category at 95%, followed by Erie Insurance at 92%. Continuous renewals often speak to the level of services and support customers feel with a car insurance company.
| Company | Percent of customers who plan to renew with the company |
|---|---|
| Auto-Owners | 95% |
| Erie | 92% |
| American Family | 88% |
How Auto-Owners scores on claims handling
Eighty-three percent of Auto-Owners’ customers reported satisfaction with how the insurance company handles claims. While Auto-Owners led the ranking in this category, Erie Insurance came in second at 80%.
| Company | Percent of customers who are satisfied with the company’s claims handling |
|---|---|
| Auto-Owners | 83% |
| Erie | 80% |
| American Family | 67% |
How Auto-Owners scores on digital experience
At 75%, Auto-Owners had a lower score for digital experience than other carriers. Overall, the regional insurers in the survey scored about mid-range, from 75% to 80%.
| Company | Percent of customers satisfied with the company’s digital experience |
|---|---|
| Auto-Owners | 75% |
| Erie | 80% |
| American Family | 77% |
How Auto-Owners scores on discounts
Almost 70% of its customers gave Auto-Owners high marks for discounts.
| Company | Percent of customers satisfied with the company’s discounts |
|---|---|
| Auto-Owners | 68% |
| Erie | 72% |
| American Family | 67% |
How Auto-Owners scores on bundling
Of the Auto-Owners customers we surveyed, 80% gave the company high marks for bundling. Nationwide (92%) led the bundling category, a metric that considers discounts for bundling auto with other insurance products like home, renters, condo or life.
| Company | Percent of customers satisfied with the company’s home and auto bundling |
|---|---|
| Auto-Owners | 80% |
| Erie | 90% |
| American Family | 68% |
Auto-Owners car insurance coverages
- Auto
- Motorcycle
- ATV
- Off-road vehicle
- Motor home
- RV
- Boat
- Trailer
Auto-Owners additional policies
- Homeowners
- Condo
- Renters
- Renters dwelling
- Mobile home
- Umbrella
- Property and valuables
- Farm
- Pet
- Flood
- Life
- Business
- Commercial auto
Auto-Owners car insurance coverage options
- Collision
- Comprehensive
- Bodily injury liability
- Property damage liability
- Medical payments
- Personal injury protection
- Additional expense
- Diminished value
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist
- Road trouble service
- Loan or lease gap
- Rental auto gap
- Common loss deductible
- At-fault accident forgiveness
- Collision coverage advantage
- Rental cars
Auto-Owners car insurance discounts
- Multi-policy
- Payment history
- Green discount
- Multi-car
- Deductibles
- Good student
- Student away at school
- Teen driver monitoring
- Paid in full
- Advance quote
- Safety feature discount
- Favorable loss history
States where Auto-Owners offers coverage
| States where Auto-Owners offers coverage |
|---|
| Alabama |
| Arizona |
| Arkansas |
| Colorado |
| Florida |
| Georgia |
| Idaho |
| Illinois |
| Indiana |
| Iowa |
| Kansas |
| Kentucky |
| Maine |
| Massachusetts |
| Michigan |
| Minnesota |
| Montana |
| Nebraska |
| New Hampshire |
| North Carolina |
| North Dakota |
| Ohio |
| Pennsylvania |
| South Carolina |
| South Dakota |
| Tennessee |
| Utah |
| Vermont |
| Virginia |
| Wisconsin |
Company background
Auto-Owners insures about 3 million households nationwide. Founded in 1916 in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, the company has nearly 4,700 licensed agents who operate in 30 states.
Resources & Methodology
Methodology
In the fall of 2024, Insure.com surveyed more than 1,750 insurance consumers (1,199 people with auto insurance). Online market research company Slice MR conducted the survey.
Respondents were asked to name their auto insurer and then grade it in the following categories:
- Customer satisfaction
- Ease of service
- Policy offerings
- Claims satisfaction
- Digital experience (website/app)
- Discounts offered
- Fair rate increases over time
- Insurance for young drivers/teenagers
- Insurance for college students
- Insurance for senior drivers
- Insurance for drivers with tickets or accidents
- Auto and home bundling
The percentage of respondents who said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their insurer is presented in the results.
We then asked respondents to provide a yes or no response to indicate their agreement with the following statements:
- I plan to renew with my current auto insurance company
- I would recommend my auto insurance company to others
- I trust my auto insurance company
The percentage of respondents who said yes is presented in the results.The editors compiled the survey results and then selected – based on the number of survey responses – the top companies for further evaluation.
They then collected AM Best data, which measures financial strength, and National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ complaint data, which ranks a company by the number of customer complaints it receives. The Insure.com team identified the NAIC codes of each underwriting company for each carrier and calculated a weighted average complaint index, weighted by the annual written premium. The associated NAIC complaint index score was used in the calculations.
They also collected insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services.
With the help of Prof. David Marlett, Ph.D., Managing Director of the Brantley Risk and Insurance Center at Appalachian State University, the editors created a rating system to determine which insurance companies were best in each sector. For auto insurers, we took the following and gave each a weight.
- Survey: 40% of the total score (10% customer satisfaction, 10% recommended, 10% renewal rate and 10% claims handling)
- AM Best: 25% of total score
- Annual premium: 20% of total score
- NAIC: 15% of total score
Each insurer was awarded between half a star and 5 stars. No company in the ranking received less than half a star in any category, and 5 stars was the most any insurer could receive.
