Finding the best car insurance company from the long list of options is challenging. To help you make the right decision, Insurance.com, along with our sister site Insure.com, gathered everything from rates to the thoughts of current customers to rank the best auto insurance companies of 2023.
Price matters when you buy car insurance, but so does great service and the right coverage. Insure.com surveyed car insurance customers about their experience and gathered average rates and third-party ratings to create a comprehensive look at the top car insurance companies nationwide.
For 2023, State Farm came out on top as the best car insurance company. Geico and Auto-Owners took second and third place. Get the details on the ratings below to help you in the search for the best car insurance.
Key takeaways
- State Farm is the top-rated auto insurance company in 2023 and won the home and life insurance categories this year.
- Nationwide had the cheapest rates of the companies surveyed.
- Trust is the most difficult category for insurance companies; no company earned more than 84% when customers were asked if they trust their insurer.
The top-rated car insurance companies of 2023
For 2023, insurance giant and market leader State Farm came out on top. Companies were ranked on survey responses regarding customer service to policy options, as well as rates, complaints recorded by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and AM Best financial ratings.
Some big companies were not ranked because they do not provide rate information to our data partner, Quadrant. USAA was also not included in the rankings because it limits eligibility to military families.
The top 10 car insurance companies of 2023 are:
- State Farm
- Geico
- Auto-Owners
- Travelers
- Nationwide
- Erie
- Progressive
- American Family
- Allstate
- Farmers
State Farm: 4.6 stars
It’s the biggest insurance company in the nation, and clearly, State Farm is doing things right. The company rated highly across the board in the survey and was chosen as the most trusted insurer.
With a low complaint ratio and top AM Best rating of A++, State Farm is our No. 1 choice for auto insurance and a strong, stable company.
Geico: 4.1 stars
Geico offers consistently low car insurance rates and pairs them with a great rating for customer service. Customers largely plan to renew their auto insurance policies with Geico, and its strong showing overall in the survey landed it in second place.
Geico also has an A++ rating from AM Best and is the third-largest car insurer in the nation.
Auto-Owners: 3.8 stars
Although Auto-Owners isn’t available in every state and doesn’t offer online quoting, customers are so pleased with the service that it landed in the No. 3 spot overall. Auto-Owners combines low rates with a low complaint ratio for a winning combination.
It also has an A++ rating from AM Best and scores very well in J.D. Power’s auto insurance survey.
Travelers: 3.7 stars
A top score for customer satisfaction in the survey helped land Travelers in the No. 4 spot on the list. The company earned high marks for trust as well from its customers despite a higher rate of complaints from the NAIC.
Travelers has an A++ rating with AM Best, and most customers plan to renew their car insurance policies.
Nationwide: 3.5 stars
Nationwide has the cheapest car insurance rates on average of any of the companies in our survey and is also ranked very highly for digital experience. With a wide variety of policies from home to pet insurance, Nationwide is also a good place to bundle your coverage.
Nationwide was also top-rated for claims handling and has an A+ rating with AM Best.
Erie: 3.2 stars
Erie Insurance is a smaller insurance company that’s not available in all states but is highly rated by its customers. Erie’s rates were among the lowest of the companies surveyed, and customers said they’d recommend it to others. It was also top-rated for renewals, meaning more Erie customers plan to renew than any other company surveyed.
Progressive: 3.1 stars
Progressive is a big name in car insurance thanks to memorable commercials and is the second-largest car insurance company in the U.S. It ranks in the No. 7 spot on our best car insurance companies list.
Progressive was rated highly in most categories, and 97% of customers said they plan to renew their car insurance with the company.
American Family: 2.7 stars
With a low complaint ratio and a high score for customer satisfaction, American Family insurance ranks at No. 8 on the list of best insurance companies. American Family isn’t available in all states but offers a good selection of policy options and the opportunity to bundle your insurance. American Family was rated best for young drivers and teens.
Allstate: 2.7 stars
Allstate was rated highly by customers for the ease of getting service and for policy offerings. Its rates are a little higher than competitors, but it rates well with J.D. Power and is one of the biggest car insurance companies in the nation. Allstate has a solid financial rating of A+ from AM Best. Allstate was rated best for high-risk drivers.
Farmers: 2 stars
Farmers was rated well for its discount options and bundling auto and home. Discounts for some customers may balance out higher-than-average rates. Farmers has a low complaint ratio with the NAIC and an A rating from AM Best.
Best car insurance companies in each category
To rate the best in each category, we included all companies, even those not ranked due to a lack of rates or eligibility requirements. Here are the winners:
- Best for cheap rates: Nationwide
- Best for customer satisfaction: Erie and Travelers
- Best for ease of service: Liberty Mutual and USAA
- Best for policy offerings: Erie
- Best for claims handling: Nationwide
- Best digital experience: Nationwide
- Best discounts: The Hartford
- Best military discounts: USAA
- Best for young drivers and teens: American Family
- Best for college students: Travelers
- Best for senior drivers: The Hartford
- Best for drivers with tickets: Progressive
- Best for high-risk drivers: Allstate
- Best for auto and home bundling: Safeco
- Most likely to be recommended to others: Travelers and Erie
- Most trustworthy: State Farm
- Best for renewals: Erie
How to choose a car insurance company
The right car insurance company for your needs won’t always be the same as the company someone else chooses. Rates and coverage options can differ, and even within one company, depending on factors like driving history and location.
To find the right car insurance company for your needs, take a few simple steps.
- Decide how much coverage you need. Start with what you have right now, and then consider what options you might want to add or remove and what coverage limits you need to fit your current situation.
- Request quotes. Make sure that all of your quotes are for the same coverage levels and have the same deductibles for a fair comparison.
- Compare companies. Look at more than the price. Make sure you look at the company’s reputation and also pay attention to any extras that the policy might include, like accident forgiveness, that can add value.
Once you have narrowed down your choices to the best and the cheapest, you might also want to look at bundling options before you buy.
Methodology
Insurance.com's sister site, Insure.com, in the fall of 2022, surveyed more than 1,500 insurance consumers (1,080 people with auto insurance). The survey was conducted by online market research company Slice MR.
Respondents were asked to name their auto insurer and then grade it in the following categories – customer satisfaction, ease of service and policy offerings. The percentage of respondents who said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their insurer is presented in the results.
Respondents were then asked to rank their insurer’s top three attributes out of more than a dozen presented – including claims satisfaction, digital experience, discounts, military discounts, best for young drivers and teens, best for college students, best for senior drivers, best for drivers with a ticket, best for high-risk drivers and best for auto/home bundling. For a number one choice, five points were given; for a second choice, three points; and for a third choice, a single point. The total points for each choice – first, second and third – were then divided by the number of each company’s customers who responded to that survey question to create a percentage. Those percentages are presented in the results as survey scores.
Respondents were then asked if they would recommend their auto insurer to someone else and whether they would renew with their company. The percentage who said yes is presented in the results.
Finally, respondents were given the statement “I trust my insurance company” and asked if they strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement. The percentage of those who said they agreed or strongly agreed 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 National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ complaint data, which ranks a company by the number of customer complaints it receives, and AM Best data, which measures financial strength.
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)
- Annual premium: 20% of total score
- AM Best: 25% of total score
- NAIC: 15% of total score
Each insurer was awarded from 1 to 5 stars. No insurer in our star ranking received less than 1 star and 5 stars was the most any insurer could receive.
