The Best Car Insurance Companies

By Jamie Page Deaton

Making a car insurance claim is usually a pretty bad experience. Your car is probably damaged, or you’ve caused damage to another person’s car or other property. Someone, maybe you, could be injured. No one wants to face any of those scenarios, and having a terrible car insurance company can take a bad situation and make it much, much worse.

Bad auto insurance comes in many forms. With bad car insurance, premiums are higher than they should be, or the company offers low premiums but minimal coverage. Some car insurance companies have poor customer service and don’t effectively communicate the status of your auto insurance claim. Others require you to use only repair shops that they approve of, and those shops can be inconvenient to access, forcing you to travel across town for repairs or wait weeks for an appointment. Still other auto insurance companies don’t have a comprehensive network of adjusters, so you have to wait longer for your claim to be processed so you can get the repairs you need. In a worst-case scenario, a car insurance company may not have the financial resources to pay claims, leaving its customers high and dry.

So, what does the best car insurance look like? The best car insurance companies balance their rates with the amount of coverage they offer, so their customers don’t pay more than they have to and are covered when they need to make a claim. The best car insurance companies work with you to figure out how much car insurance you need and explain your policy to you. When you need to file a claim, the best auto insurance companies walk you through the process, keep you informed, and work with you to resolve any issues you have. The best auto insurers will help you understand how car insurance works and make you feel like you’ve gotten the best value for your money when you insure your vehicle. The best car insurance companies will also offer you auto insurance discounts for things like having multiple policies or a good driving record. Finally, the best car insurance companies have great customer service, keep their customers updated on the status of their claims, and make sure the customer is satisfied with the way the claim is resolved.

The Best Car Insurance Companies

1. USAA: USAA is the best car insurance company we found. Customers report that they love USAA for its customer service, ease of filing a claim, and frequent updates on claim status. USAA customers also report that USAA is a good value, and USAA’s average annual rates are some of the lowest in the business. The only downside we could find to USAA is that its insurance products are only available to veterans, members of the military, and their immediate families, so not everyone will be able to work with the top-ranked insurance company.
2. Travelers: Travelers is the second-best car insurance company. Travelers’ customers report that they appreciate the customer service Travelers provides, and the company gets high marks for how it resolves its customers’ claims. Travelers’ lost a few points from customers who didn’t feel like they got good value from the company, and Travelers’ average annual rates are a bit higher than average among all companies on this list.
3. State Farm: State Farm is the third-best car insurance company, though its overall score is very close to second-place Travelers. State Farm gets high marks from its customers for ease of filing a claim, and many State Farm customers say they’re likely to renew their policy with the company. State Farm customers report being satisfied with the value they get from the company, and it’s no wonder they say that: State Farm rates are, on average, lower than most of the competition.
4. Geico: Geico is the fourth-best car insurance company, and even a cave man can see why. Geico customers say it’s easy to file a claim with the company, though some were unhappy with status updates from the insurer. That said, most Geico customers would recommend it and plan to renew their policy. Their rates may have something to do with that: Geico offers lower rates on average than most other auto insurance companies.
5. Farmers: Farmers is the No. 5 insurance company on our list. Farmers gets somewhat uneven ratings from its customers. It gets high marks for ease of filing a claim, customer service, and how claims are resolved but lower scores for value. That might be because Farmers’ rates, on average, tend to be higher than the competition.
6. Nationwide: Nationwide is the sixth-best car insurance company. Nationwide’s customers are generally happy with the company’s customer service and how claims are resolved, but some don’t consider the company’s insurance a great value, and fewer would recommend Nationwide to someone looking for insurance than customers of other companies.
7. Progressive: Flo, Progressive’s perky pitchwoman, might be No. 1 in the heart of advertisers, but Progressive is the No. 7 insurance company on our list. Progressive customers are satisfied with how easy it is to submit a claim to Progressive but are less positive about the company’s customer service, communication, claim resolution, and value.
8. Allstate: Allstate is the eighth-best insurance company, with many Allstate customers in our survey reporting that they didn’t feel like they were in good hands. Allstate customers were particularly unhappy with the value they felt they got from Allstate, with many of them saying they wouldn’t recommend Allstate and didn’t plan to renew their policies.
9. Liberty Mutual: Liberty Mutual ranks ninth out of the 10 insurance companies on our list. Liberty Mutual customers rated the company poorly for value, and many said they wouldn’t recommend the company and were not planning on renewing. With Liberty Mutual’s average annual premiums much higher than the rest of the companies on the list, it’s not surprising that many Liberty Mutual customers felt that way.
10. American Family: American Family car insurance is the lowest-ranked company on our list. While a fair number of customers said filing a claim with American Family was easy, that was about the only positive thing they had to say, with the company faring poorly on measures of customer service, communication about claim status, value, and claim resolution.

How We Found the Best Car Insurance Companies

At U.S. News, we’re all about helping people make life’s important decisions, and we’ve been informing people since 1933. In 1983, we launched our college rankings, which for decades has set the standard in educational rankings. Since then, we’ve used our expertise to rank everything from hospitals to diets to states, and in 2007, we started ranking cars. Now we’re continuing to empower you with the information you need to make the right choices for your life with our Best Car Insurance Rankings.

To build the car insurance ranking, we surveyed 2,799 consumers who filed a car insurance claim in the last five years. Respondents provided this data based on their experience with their car insurance company, answering questions about their satisfaction with the ease of filing a claim, customer service, claim status communication, claim resolution, overall value they feel their insurance company gives, if they’d recommend the company, and if they planned to renew their policy.

For extra information on car insurance rates, U.S. News also worked with Quadrant Information Services to provide a report of average insurance rates in all 50 states from the 10 largest national car insurance companies. The rates are based on profiles for both male and female drivers aged 17, 25, 35, and 60. Vehicles used include the 2018 Honda Civic, 2018 Toyota RAV4, 2018 Ford-F-150, 2015 Honda Civic, 2015 Toyota RAV4, and 2015 Ford-F-150, with annual mileage of 6,000 and 12,000. Three car insurance coverage levels were used, as were credit tiers of good, fair, and poor. Clean driving records and records with one accident, one speeding violation, and one DUI were also used in the calculations. The rates shown here are for comparative purposes only. Individual rates will differ.