Full Review
Auto-Owners earned 5 stars out of 5 for overall performance. NerdWallet’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account consumer experience, complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and financial strength ratings.

Auto-Owners Insurance Company serves a lot more than just owners of automobiles. The company offers over a dozen types of insurance through independent agents in 26 states. People who need several insurance policies may benefit from the convenience and discounts of bundling them with Auto-Owners, which has many coverage options.

Auto-Owners is rated No. 6 on NerdWallet’s 2023 list of Best Car Insurance Companies.

Why you can trust NerdWallet: Our writers and editors follow strict editorial guidelines to ensure fairness and accuracy in our coverage so you can choose the insurance policy that works best for you. These carrier ratings are specific to auto insurance — a company's rating for other products may be different on our site. See our criteria for evaluating auto insurance companies.
How we review auto insurance companies

Where Auto-Owners stands out
Deductible benefits. If you have both home and auto insurance through Auto-Owners and need to make a claim due to the same covered loss, Auto-Owners will either reduce your auto insurance deductible or waive it completely, depending on how much your homeowners deductible is. Your collision deductible is also waived if you get into a crash with another Auto-Owners customer.

Rental car coverage. If you’re renting a car, Auto-Owners will pay any fees the rental car company may charge you if you have an accident. Like most other insurers, it will extend your personal auto insurance coverage to a car you rent.

Where Auto-Owners falls short
No online quotes available. Users who prefer to do everything online may find it frustrating that there are no online quotes available through Auto-Owners. Instead, you need to contact an independent agent to get a quote.

State availability. Although Auto-Owners is a great choice for many drivers, it's offered in only 26 states.

Compare to other insurers
Auto-Owners

Progressive

State Farm

Star rating

5.0NerdWallet rating 
5.0NerdWallet rating 
5.0NerdWallet rating 
NAIC complaints

Far fewer than expected.

Fewer than expected.

Fewer than expected.

Discounts

Great set of discounts.

Great set of discounts.

Average set of discounts.

Ease of use

Below.

Average.

Above average.

Bottom line

People who need several insurance policies may benefit from the convenience and discounts of bundling them with Auto-Owners, which also has few customer complaints.

Progressive offers a variety of discounts and insurance products to cater to most people, but ranks below average for customer satisfaction.

State Farm is a popular insurer with fewer complaints compared to other large competitors.

Read our detailed reviews

Auto-Owners auto insurance review.

Progressive auto insurance review.

State Farm auto insurance review.

Auto-Owners insurance coverage
When you're shopping for car insurance, it's important to understand what car insurance coverage you want and what you’re required to buy. For instance, most states require a minimum amount of car insurance to drive a vehicle. Alternatively, if you want extra protection, you may be interested in full coverage insurance. Read about the most common types of car insurance coverage to see how they work.

Auto-Owners offers all the usual coverage types, including liability, other state-required coverage, roadside assistance and comprehensive and collision. The company also offers several add-on coverage types and options:

Gap coverage can come in handy if you have a loan or lease balance and your car is totaled or stolen. Comprehensive and collision coverages pay out only up to the value of your car, which might be less than you owe on a loan or lease. Gap insurance pays the difference.

Diminished value coverage is similar to gap insurance, but for less extreme situations. If your car is damaged (rather than stolen or totaled), this add-on will compensate you for the reduced value of your car.

Additional expenses insurance goes further than traditional rental car coverage. In addition to paying for a rental car if your car is in the shop for a covered claim, this optional coverage also pays for food, lodging and other incidentals if you’re stranded.

The Personal Automobile Plus package has more than 10 perks and coverages, including identity theft coverage, cell phone insurance and coverage for replacing lost or stolen keys.

Accident forgiveness. Forgives your first at-fault accident, which means your rates won’t go up after a crash. Available only to drivers with no at-fault claims or major traffic violations in the past 36 months.

Auto-Owners also may include a few benefits in its auto policies that other major insurers don’t.

Common loss deductible. This benefit applies if you have your home insurance through Auto-Owners in addition to an auto policy with comprehensive coverage. If you need to make a claim to both policies for the same event — such as a bad storm or a tree falling on both your house and car — the company will reduce your auto deductible by the amount of your property deductible. If your homeowners deductible is higher, the company will waive your auto deductible.

Collision coverage advantage. If you’re in a collision with another customer of the company, your collision deductible will be waived. 

Rental car insurance. When you rent a car, your Auto-Owners policy covers as much as it does for your personal car, as well as any fees from the rental company associated with an accident. Some auto policies have lower coverage limits when you rent a car and don’t pay those fees.

» MORE: Compare car insurance rates

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ZIP Code
94103
Auto insurance discounts
Multipolicy discount.

Discount for a 36-month history of on-time payments.

Discount for paying your premium in full, upfront.

Paperless and online payments discount.

Multicar discount.

Discount for safety features like anti-lock brakes and air bags.

Discount for having few or favorable (not at-fault) claims.

Discount for new customers who get a quote at least one day before starting a policy.

Student discounts for good grades, leaving the car at home while attending school more than 100 miles away and monitoring a teen driver with GPS.

🤓
Nerdy Tip
First time shopping for auto insurance? Unsure of where to start? Check out our guide on how to shop for car insurance.

Auto-Owners life insurance
You can get term, universal and whole life insurance policies from Auto-Owners Insurance.

For most families, term life insurance is the best mix of price and protection. From Auto-Owners, term life insurance comes in 10-, 20- or 30-year terms and can be extended to age 95.

Consult a financial advisor if you’re considering permanent life insurance.

with Insure.com
See what you could save on car insurance
Easily compare personalized rates to see how much switching car insurance could save you.

ZIP Code
94103
» MORE: The best life insurance companies

Complaints and customer satisfaction
Auto-Owners had far fewer than the expected number of complaints about auto insurance to state regulators relative to its size, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Auto-Owners’ customer satisfaction ratings are mixed.

2022 J.D. Power study

Auto-Owners ranking

Auto insurance shopping

No. 5 out of 11 companies.

Auto insurance claims satisfaction

No. 14 out of 21 companies.

More about Auto-owners insurance
Website: Auto-Owners has a user-friendly website with information on policy options and discounts. Policyowners can log in to view policy information, select paperless billing, make payments and more.

Mobile app: Android and Apple users can download the Auto-Owners app and track claims, pay bills and view documents and insurance ID cards.

Auto-Owners homeowners and renters insurance 
Auto-Owners offers all the standard homeowners coverage, plus add-ons you can choose. To learn more, read our Auto-Owners home insurance review.

Auto-Owners also offers renters insurance through independent agents. To read about this coverage, see NerdWallet’s Auto-Owners renters insurance review.

Other insurance from Auto-Owners
Other types of insurance from Auto-Owners include:

Condo insurance.

Motorcycle insurance.

Motor home and RV insurance.

Business insurance.

Boat insurance.

Farm insurance.

ATV and off-road vehicle insurance.

Flood insurance.

Commercial auto insurance.

Umbrella insurance.

Mobile home insurance.

Auto-Owners can also provide pet insurance through a partnership with Figo.

Methodology
Insurer complaints methodology

NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2019-2021. To assess how insurers compare to one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC. Ratios are determined separately for auto, home (including renters and condo) and life insurance.

Auto insurance ratings methodology

NerdWallet’s auto insurance ratings reward companies for customer-first features and practices. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including financial strength, consumer complaints and discounts. Our “ease of use” category looks at factors such as website transparency and how easy it is to file a claim. Using our editorial discretion, we also consider customer satisfaction surveys. These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines and full ratings methodology for auto insurance.