The Best Car Insurance Companies in November 2023

When shopping for a policy, you should consider a company's costs, available discounts, customer service reviews, claims-filing process and financial strength. We used these factors to determine the best car insurance company overall, by state, as well as for specific driver profiles.

We recommend browsing our resources by your state, needs and what you value — whether you care more about customer service than cost, have a history of driving violations, are a young driver or drive a new car.

Because insurance is regulated at a state level, MoneyGeek ranked the best car insurance in each state based on local pricing and regional J.D. Power scores. Excluding USAA, which is restricted to members of the military community, GEICO most frequently ranked as the best insurer in a state (23 times) and in Washington, D.C. State Farm, which ranked as the best insurer in 10 states, came in second. Erie, a regional insurer, is also an excellent option if you're in one of the 12 states where it does business.

Click on your state to learn more about the best car insurance company where you live. It’s crucial to compare auto insurance products and quotes based on where you live because insurers may offer different rates, coverages and features across state lines.

MoneyGeek's car insurance comparison tool can help you measure which company is the best fit for you where you live. Sort by service quality and affordability and find stats on the average cost per year, customer service rank and standout features in that state.

Car insurance companies use specific driver characteristics to calculate their rates. Companies may offer coverages that make them better for drivers with particular traits. Credit history, driving history and age are three of the most significant factors used to determine rates in most states.

We’ve provided our recommendations for the best car insurance companies for young drivers, drivers with poor credit and drivers with an at-fault accident on their records, all of whom are typically charged higher rates than the average driver.

If price is not as important for you as ensuring you’re going to get the best possible service when you need to file a claim, MoneyGeek found that Auto-Owners has the best combination of high satisfaction and low complaints. Using just these factors, Auto-Owners is the best insurer in 10 out of 50 states, more than any other company.

If you’re on a budget and want to purchase the minimum car insurance required in your state with good customer service, MoneyGeek recommends GEICO.

If you’re adding a young driver to your policy, there are several high-quality policy options available. Both GEICO and Allstate rank high in MoneyGeek’s scoring system for over 15 states for a policy with a young driver, but we picked Allstate as our winner, given that it offers a distant student discount and GEICO doesn’t.

There is a clear winner for the best car insurance for veterans, active-duty military personnel and their families: USAA. MoneyGeek found that USAA has a low rate of complaints, high customer satisfaction and some of the most affordable rates in the industry.

MoneyGeek recommends that those with new or expensive vehicles only opt for insurers that offer new car replacement or better car replacement coverages. Of the insurers meeting this standard, Allstate ranks top.

High-risk drivers, including those who need SR-22 or FR-44 insurance, pay more for car insurance. Some insurance companies are better suited for drivers with violations on their motor vehicle record. If you’re a driver with a speeding ticket or at-fault accident on your record, MoneyGeek found that State Farm is usually the best option.

Low mileage discounts are relatively rare and tend to be quite minor. If you barely drive, the best way to save may be with a pay-per-mile insurance company such as Metromile. MoneyGeek found that pay-per-mile insurance can be worth it if you only tend to drive a few miles per day.

At the end of the day, many car insurance companies offer coverages required by state law and little more. But some car insurance companies go the extra mile to offer extra coverages that tailor to unique drivers and situations. MoneyGeek found that Liberty Mutual has eight coverages that are rarely or only occasionally offered by other companies.

You can take many steps to determine which insurance company has the best customer service for you.

• Examine our claims and customer satisfaction ratings.
• Read our in-depth reviews of insurance companies.
• Read market research from authoritative sources such as J.D. Power and AM Best.
• Look up customer complaint ratings on the website of your state department of insurance or of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

MoneyGeek’s claims and customer satisfaction ratings incorporate J.D. Power data to score insurance companies against each other, so you can easily see how they score out of a maximum of five points for each category. And our MoneyGeek scores incorporate all other factors you should consider while shopping so that you get the full picture of how a company stacks up.

If you want to do your own research, J.D. Power releases an overall auto insurance satisfaction study and a claims satisfaction study each year. You can also read AM Best reports that review a company's financial stability. And if you want to dig deep into the data, your state department of insurance website has public data on how much consumers complain about insurance companies in your state. Insurers with lower complaint rates are more likely to have a strong service experience.

Once you’ve narrowed down the companies with strong customer service reputations, you should compare quotes among them. Insurance companies use a variety of factors to calculate your rate. As a result, you could find that two companies have very similar customer service reputations but quote you at vastly different rates.

You should also make sure that your quotes incorporate all available discounts, as these can have a sizable effect on what you pay. For instance, one insurance company may offer more discounts for car safety features, so drivers with a lot of safety technology may get a comparably cheaper quote. Discounts usually come in four forms: driving record discounts, driver profile discounts, policy discounts and car safety discounts.

• Driving record: Discounts for having a clean motor vehicle record, driving infrequently or taking driver safety courses.
• Driver profile: Discounts for achievements outside of driving, such as students who get good grades, or for membership in professional or government organizations.
• Policy: Discounts for bundling with other insurance policies or for how you pay for your policy, such as paying in full for the entire policy term or paying via electronic funds transfer (EFT).
• Vehicle: Discounts for safety devices on your car, such as anti-theft technology or anti-lock brakes.

When you are confident you’re only getting quotes from quality insurers, you can save money by buying a policy from the company that offers you the best cheap quotes.

Almost all insurance companies will offer the following core coverages:

• Bodily injury liability insurance
• Property damage liability insurance
• Collision and comprehensive insurance (also called full coverage)
• Personal injury protection or medical payments coverage
• Uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance for both bodily injury and property damage

If you’re looking for additional coverages — such as accident forgiveness, mechanical breakdown insurance (MBI) or rideshare insurance — you should make sure a company offers it in your state before comparing quotes. Most major companies offer similar types of coverage, but there are some unique differences among them.

Finally, ensure that the company responsible for your policy is financially stable. Our MoneyGeek score incorporates financial strength ratings from AM Best, which measures companies’ ability to meet claims-paying obligations.

Most major insurance companies have excellent or superior ratings from AM Best. But if you’re shopping with a more local or regional insurer, check their financial strength rating before purchasing a policy. If you’re risk-averse and want to avoid the small chance that problems with your insurance company could affect your claims, it may be best to stick with a company in top-tier financial condition.

Although most states require vehicle owners to carry insurance, not everyone can get it, at least not through the regular channels. Because of their past driving records, some people may be unable to obtain insurance from a standard auto insurer. Others may simply not be able to afford car insurance. In these cases, there may be state programs available to help.