Auto-Owners car insurance review 2024: Affordable rates and extensive coverage options

Insuring drivers since 1916, Michigan-based Auto-Owners Insurance has some of the lowest rates in the industry and has earned a spot on our top picks for liability-only insurance.

We like its robust add-ons, including accident forgiveness, diminished value coverage and additional expense coverage, which can reimburse you for a rental car and other costs if you’re away from home

Auto-Owners is only licensed in 26 states, however, so it’s not an option for everyone.

Auto-Owners offers auto insurance in 26 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Basic coverage

Full coverage is typically required if you’re financing or leasing your car.

Additional coverage

These policies are required in some states in addition to liability insurance.

• Personal injury protection: Also known as no-fault insurance, PIP covers medical bills, lost wages, child care, funeral costs and more, regardless of fault.
• Medical payments insurance: Less comprehensive than PIP, MedPay covers medical bills for you, your passengers and any pedestrians.
• Gap insurance: Pays the difference between the amount remaining on your car loan owed and the vehicle’s depreciated value.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance: Covers repairs and medical bills if you are in an accident with a driver with little or no insurance.

Endorsements

Auto-Owners offers a variety of optional add-ons.

• Accident forgiveness: Waives rate change for the first at-fault accident for drivers with no at-fault claims for three years.
• Additional expense: Cover the cost of a rental car, lodging, food and other expenses if you’re involved in an accident away from home.
• Rental auto gap: Covers additional coverage for amounts you’re liable for under a rental agreement.
• Rental car coverage: Covers the cost of a rental if your vehicle is being repaired after a collision and provides coverage if a rental car is damaged.
• Road trouble service: 24-hour assistance with common issues like flat tires and dead batteries
• Diminished value coverage: Compensates you for a reduction in the value of your car after an accident.
• Collision coverage advantage: Waives deductible if you’re involved in an accident with another Auto-Owners policyholder
• Common loss deductible: Waives or reduces deductible after events that damage your home and car if both your homeowners and auto policies are with Auto-Owners.

Auto-Owners offers many ways to save on your auto insurance policy, including:

• Multi-policy discount: Save if you bundle auto with homeowners, renters, condo or life insurance
• Multi-car discount: Insure two or more vehicles on one policy and save money.
• Payment history: Discount available if you’ve paid premiums on time for three years.
• Paid-in-full discount: You can save if you pay your premium in full upfront.
• Green discount: Rate reduction for enrolling in paperless billing and online payments.
• Advance quote discount: Save by getting a quote and enrolling before your current policy expires.
• Good student discount: Students maintaining a B or better GPA can get up to 20% off.
• Student away at school discount: Available to customers with a student on their policy who is attending school at least 100 miles away without a car.
• Teen monitoring discount: 5% rate reduction available to customers using an installed GPS or app to track young driver on policy.

Auto-Owners was ranked first in Florida in J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Auto Insurance Study, which asks customers in 11 regions to grade their insurer’s rates, ease of doing business, level of trust, product offerings, problem resolution and digital channels.

It also rated highly in the Central and Southwest U.S. but scored below average in the Southeast and North Central regions.

In a separate J.D. Power survey about the claims experience, the company ranked above average.

Auto-Owners earned an A+ from the Better Business Bureau and it receives fewer complaints about auto insurance than expected for an insurer its size, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

You can’t get rate quotes or buy a policy online, although the Auto-Owners website will direct you to a local insurance agent. The mobile app allows you to pay your bill, view your insurance ID and request roadside assistance, but you must call an agent to file a claim.

Customer service is not available evenings or weekends and there is no online chat feature.

Auto-Owners offers policies in many other categories, including:

Here’s how Auto-Owners stacks up against two other leading providers in the car insurance space.

While Auto-Owners and Erie are both smaller insurers with limited availability, Auto-Owners is licensed in 26 states — more than double Erie’s 12 — and Auto-Owners has a slight edge with lower rates.

Both companies have positive customer satisfaction ratings, although Erie was ranked No 1. in both of the regions of J.D. Power’s Auto Insurance Study it was eligible for, while Auto-Owner’s rankings were more mixed.

Erie was rated No. 2 out of 24 for the claims process, compared to No. 7 for Auto-Owners.

Where Auto-Owners really stands out is with its robust portfolio of endorsements. The diminished value feature can help you regain some of your car’s lost resale value after an accident and rental car protection is a useful perk for frequent travelers.

Customer satisfaction is a high point for both Amica and Auto-Owners: Both have a lower volume of complaints than expected and earned an A+ from the Better Business Bureau. Amica has the highest rating in J.D. Power’s survey on satisfaction with the claims process, however, while Auto-Owners comes in seventh.

Amica wins hands down on availability, since the only state it is not licensed in is Hawaii. You can also get price quotes quotes from Amica — something Auto-Owners doesn’t offer.

However, Amica is considerably more expensive than Auto-Owners. The sample rates we compared for an annual full coverage policy were hundreds of dollars more.

You’ll need to talk to an insurance agent to get an Auto-Owners auto insurance quote or to buy a policy. You can enter your ZIP code on the website to find an agency near you or call 800-346-0346, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET

Be prepared to provide your location, age, driving history, number of miles driven annually and other personal data.

You’ll also need to know the make, model and year for any vehicles you’re insuring.

Auto-Owners has affordable rates, especially for drivers with less-than-perfect records — including those with at-fault accidents or speeding tickets on their record.

It could also be right for you if you’re looking for extensive coverage options or superior customer service.

However, its lack of availability in many states and the limited online access mean Auto-Owners may not be a good fit for everyone.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every car insurance review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of insurance products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

CNBC Select reviews auto insurance products using a variety of criteria, including coverage options, average rates, availability, discounts and customer satisfaction. 

In addition, we incorporate results from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners‘ complaint index, Better Business Bureau ratings, A.M. Best’s financial strength scores and other independent sources, including J.D. Power surveys on insurance shopping, the claims process, the digital consumer experiences and overall customer satisfaction.

Auto insurance rates may come from various sources, including the provider and state insurance departments.

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