Auto-Owners Insurance Review [2024]: Insurance with a Personal Touch

Auto-Owners Insurance is an insurance company that has been around for more than 100 years. The company offers several discounts and coverage options through more than 48,000 agents in 26 states.

Auto-Owners Insurance uses a customer-centric approach with a focus on personalized experiences. This means its quote process is only available via an agent, which can be a downside for people looking to get a quick quote online. Learn more about the auto coverage you can get in this Auto-Owners Insurance review.

Auto-Owners Insurance: Is it worth it?

Pros	Cons
Offers personalized experience via thousands of local agents Has unique coverage options Maintains a superior financial strength rating	Doesn’t have an online quote process Only operates in 26 states
Our verdict: Auto-Owners Insurance offers a more traditional approach to car insurance coverage. The company has many local agents to help you get a personalized quote. However, it only operates in 26 states and doesn’t offer an online quote option, which are two significant downsides.

What is Auto-Owners Insurance?

Auto-Owners Insurance is an insurance company founded in 1916 in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Today, it’s headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, and it has become one of the largest auto insurance companies in the U.S., with more than 3 million policyholders as of November 2022.

Auto-Owners Insurance has local agents who can offer one-on-one support. The company has over 48,000 licensed agents in 26 states as of November 2022. This enables the company to have an extensive local presence in the states where it operates. However, working directly with an agent rather than doing everything online may not be everyone’s preference.

Auto-Owners Insurance has an A++ rating from AM Best, an agency that ranks insurance companies according to their financial strength and creditworthiness. An A++ rating means that Auto-Owners Insurance has a superior ability to meet insurance obligations.

Year founded	1916
Types of coverage	Bodily injury liability Property damage liability Uninsured/underinsured motorist Medical payments and personal injury protection Comprehensive insurance Collision insurance Collision coverage advantage Loan and lease gap Diminished value coverage At-fault accident forgiveness Common loss deductible Rental car coverage Road trouble service Personal automobile plus package
Discounts available	Safety features discount Good student discount Student away at school discount Teen driver monitoring discount Multi-car discount Multi-policy discount Advance quote Positive payment history discount Paid-in-full discount Green discount
Where you can use it	The Auto-Owners Mobile app on Android and iOS devices The Auto-Owners Insurance website
Customer support	Send a message via the online contact form Call 800-346-0346 Operating hours between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET, Monday to Friday
Availability	26 states

What insurance does Auto-Owners Insurance offer?

A part of figuring out how to get car insurance from Auto-Owners Insurance involves going over the standard range of coverage options it offers to decide the level of coverage you need. The company also has additional coverage options that are optional.

Auto-Owners Insurance coverage

Liability insurance coverage includes:

• Bodily injury liability coverage: This helps cover the costs of the medical care a person may need due to injuries sustained in an accident you caused.
• Property damage liability coverage: This helps cover the repair cost of damage caused to someone’s property due to an accident you caused.

Personal protection coverage includes:

• Uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance: This kicks in if you get in an accident caused by someone who doesn’t have insurance or doesn’t have enough coverage. Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage helps cover the damage cost.
• Medical payments and personal injury protection: This helps you with the cost of medical care needed for an injury you sustained in an accident.

Vehicle coverage includes:

• Collision insurance: This helps cover the cost of repairing or replacing your vehicle if you’re involved in an accident. This Collision coverage is usually optional unless your car is financed or leased.
• Comprehensive insurance: This helps cover the repair or replacement cost of your vehicle in incidents other than collisions. Fire, theft, storms, and vandalism are a few examples of covered events with a comprehensive policy. Comprehensive coverage is optional when your car isn't financed or leased.
• Collision coverage advantage: This is a unique form of optional coverage. Having this coverage means Auto-Owners will waive your collision deductible if you get in an accident with another driver who has Auto-Owners Insurance.

Optional coverage includes:

• Loan and lease gap insurance: This helps cover the difference between the current market value of your car and the amount you still owe on your lease or loan if your car is totaled in an accident.
• Diminished value coverage: This helps compensate for your car's lost market value after making necessary repairs after an accident.
• At-fault accident forgiveness: This enables you to prevent your premiums from increasing following an accident if you haven’t had any violations in the past 36 months.
• Common loss deductible: This gives you a reduced auto deductible if you experience a loss that involves damage to a home and a car insured by Auto-Owners Insurance in the same event.
• Rental car coverage: This helps cover unforeseen accidents or damage while renting a vehicle.
• Road trouble service: This provides roadside assistance as an add-on to your policy. You can call 24/7 to get help with issues you face on the road, such as a dead battery, flat tire, or low fuel.
• Personal automobile plus package: This gives you several add-ons to your policy. These add-ons include coverage for identity theft, lock rekeying, cell phone replacement, and more.

Auto-Owners Insurance availability

Although Auto-Owners Insurance offers many types of coverage, one of its significant drawbacks is the limited availability of its policies. You can only get its auto insurance in these 26 states:

Alabama Arkansas Arizona Colorado Florida Georgia Iowa Idaho Illinois

Indiana Kansas Kentucky Michigan Minnesota Missouri North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska

Ohio Pennsylvania South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Utah Virginia Wisconsin

Additional insurance policies

Despite its name, Auto-Owners Insurance offers more insurance types other than auto insurance. You’ll also find the following options:

Homeowners insurance Renters insurance Condo insurance Rental dwelling insurance Mobile home insurance Flood insurance Farm insurance Property and valuables insurance Motorcycle insurance

Boat insurance Off-roading vehicles insurance RV insurance Trailer insurance Life insurance Term life insurance Universal life insurance Whole life insurance Annuity insurance

Disability insurance Pet insurance Umbrella insurance Business insurance Commercial auto insurance Workers compensation insurance Surety bonds Fidelity bonds Commercial umbrella insurance

Auto-Owners Insurance gives you discounts for bundling policies with your auto insurance. For example, you can bundle a life insurance product with your auto policy to get a discount. You may also be able to bundle other insurance policies, so make sure to talk to your agent about it.

Auto-Owners Insurance: How Cheap is it?

Auto-Owners Insurance only provides information about the cost of your insurance over the phone when you speak with an agent and ask for a quote. However, there are several discounts that may help you reduce your premium.

How to find discounts

Auto-Owners offers an average number of discounts that can help you reduce your monthly premium. Although you may not qualify for all of them, it’s worth going over the ones you qualify for with your agent:

• Safety features discount: Anti-lock brake systems (ABS), airbags, or anti-theft devices all make your car safer and can qualify you for a discount.
• Good student discount: Students who maintain a B average or higher can qualify for a discount on their policy.
• Student away at school discount: Students who attend school away from home without taking their car with them can qualify for this discount.
• Teen driver monitoring discount: A permanent GPS installed in a vehicle enables a teen driver to qualify for this discount. Alternatively, they can use a mobile app.
• Multi-car discount: Two or more cars that are added to one policy can qualify you for a discount.
• Multi-policy discount: Homeowners, renters, life, or other insurance products can be bundled with your auto insurance policy. This can qualify you for a discount.
• Advance quote: A request to get a quote before the effective date of your policy may qualify you for a discount.
• Positive payment history discount: On-time bill payments for at last 36 consecutive months can give you a discount.
• Paid-in-full discount: A full payment of your auto insurance policy each term may give you a discount.
• Green discount: Paperless bills and online payments help the company stay green and give you a discount.

How to maximize savings

There are several ways to lower your monthly premiums when you want to save money on car insurance. This includes:

• Raise your deductible. Increasing your deductible often reduces your monthly premium. However, when you raise your deductible, you’re taking on more responsibility for paying out-of-pocket should you get in an accident and need your insurance to kick in.
• Consider a low-mileage option. Auto-Owners Insurance has a more affordable policy option for drivers who drive fewer than 10,000 miles a year.
• Improve your credit score. One of the factors that affect car insurance rates is your credit score. Working on improving your credit score can qualify you for lower auto insurance rates.
• Consider the coverage you need. Most states require a certain minimum for auto insurance. If you drive an older car, you may find that the most comprehensive policy you can get doesn’t offer reasonable value.

How to get an insurance quote from Auto-Owners Insurance

Unlike many auto policy providers, Auto-Owners Insurance doesn’t provide an online option to get a quote. The only way to get a quote from Auto-Owners Insurance is by speaking to an agent.

If you live in one of the 26 states where Auto-Owners Insurance operates, you can find the closest agent by entering your zip code.

This gives you a list of nearby agents along with their contact information.

You can email, call, or visit the agent of your choice. The agent will help you get a quote for the auto coverage you want. Although it can be inconvenient to go through an agent just to get a quote, it does provide a more personalized experience.

Auto-Owners Insurance FAQs

Bottom line

Auto-Owners Insurance offers a wide array of auto coverage options, including a few extra options not regularly found with other insurance providers. The company focuses on offering its policies through local agents as it believes in providing personalized experiences.

However, Auto-Owners Insurance may not be suitable for you if you want to get an auto policy quote online. Explore the best car insurance companies to compare your options.

Methodology

FinanceBuzz researches a number of factors in each auto insurance provider to create our reviews. These factors include cost and discounts, complaints and customer satisfaction, coverage, and ease of use. We also gather information from sources such as J.D. Power, AM Best, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), and the Better Business Bureau to ensure we provide the most useful information to our readers.