Provide Car Insurance Review [2024]: It Saved Me $360 Annually

Provide Insurance is a marketplace that connects you with car insurance companies. You enter some personal information, give permission to share the information you entered, and within literal minutes, you start receiving calls and emails from Provide and the companies it partners with. Each email from Provide led me to a different website, including Insurify, another website where you can get multiple quotes, and Progressive.

In fairness, this is typically how these types of insurance portals work. You provide your information, you get emails and calls, and you provide your information again.

In the end, the quote I got from Progressive was cheaper than my current coverage, so the site did what it promised. Given how much car insurance rates have been skyrocketing, it’s impressive that I was able to connect with a provider that could offer me a cheaper quote.

Overall, if you’re someone who wants insurance companies to come to you rather than doing extensive research yourself, Provide Insurance could be a valuable tool.

Provide Insurance basics

Year founded	2008
Where you can use it	Provide Insurance’s marketplace is only available via desktop or web browser; apps are not available at this time.
Customer support	Provide Insurance general information phone number: 855-522-3444 Customer service for insurance company partners can be found on the partner's website.
Availability	All U.S. states are eligible to use the Provide Insurance search form, but coverage availability and requirements may vary.

My experience with Provide Insurance

Provide Insurance is a free — and commitment-free — way to get auto insurance quotes from several leading providers simultaneously. It claims to be able to drop your car insurance rate, and in my experience, it lived up to that claim. I did have to wade through the emails from Provide to get there. I eventually got a quote from Progressive. I had to re-enter a lot of my information on the Progressive website and manually change the quote so it lined up with my current coverage.

To start, I filled out the online form with some basic profile information. This included my address, date of birth, driving history, and the make, model, and year of my vehicle. If you’re like me and can’t remember your vehicle’s model and year, make sure you have that information handy to streamline the process.

Completing my profile with Provide Insurance took less than 5 minutes. Based on the information I shared, I had two phone calls from agents and insurance companies within minutes and four calls total within an hour of submitting my information. This felt a little overwhelming, especially since some of the phone calls were repeats. I sent the calls to voicemail, though.

I also received seven emails spread over the next week. And 1-2 emails per week after that. I personally find that manageable since you can check email when and if you feel like it, but some might find it overwhelming.

These emails and calls didn't provide a quote, however. I needed to provide more information and/or complete the company's forms to get a full quote. That aspect I did find a bit frustrating since I was repeatedly entering the same information.

What was especially interesting to me is that at least seven of the emails I’ve received since I initially got a quote have been follow-ups from Provide.

Each time I clicked the button in the email to get my quotes, I was led to different options. In the email above, when I clicked the first time, it took me to a page to get quotes from Progressive and Insurify.

When I clicked on the same button in the same email a second time, I was taken to a page to get quotes from Progressive and Pretected.

So I’m not sure how “personalized” my quotes actually were. I did follow the Progressive link, where I re-entered information. I also had to dig up my current policy information so I could adjust the quotes to make an accurate comparison, so I’d recommend having that handy as well.

My Progressive quote came out to an initial payment of $35 and $90 per month for five months after that. That’s less than the $120 per month I’m paying now.

I stopped there, but I could easily have back-tracked and gotten quotes through Insurify, Pretected, American Family Insurance, and other companies routed to me by Provide.

One thing I liked about shopping with Provide Insurance is that because the company functions solely as a marketplace, I was never obligated to purchase anything. Provide connected me with insurance companies and send follow-up emails, but it won’t push me to purchase or make a hard sell.

Insurance coverage options

When I was shopping for insurance with Provide, I was looking for full coverage and a relatively low deductible, and I was able to find that with Progressive. When you’re getting quotes through Provide, be sure you’re getting an apples-to-apples comparison by making sure the coverage is the same as your current policy. From there, you may want to tweak your coverage to include options you don’t currently have.

For example, you may want to add or drop collision and comprehensive coverage depending on the age of your car and whether it’s financed.

If you need a quick refresher, here are common types of required coverage:

• Liability
• Collision
• Comprehensive
• UM/UIM
• PIP coverage

Additionally, many insurance companies affiliated with Provide offer optional coverages to customize your policy:

• Rental reimbursement: This optional policy helps cover the cost of renting a car if your vehicle is damaged in a covered accident. I like having this coverage since the cost of a rental car can add up quickly.
• Roadside assistance: Roadside assistance coverage helps make sure someone is always available to tow your car, jump the battery, repair a flat tire, deliver fuel, or provide locksmith services while you’re on the road. I typically don’t get this coverage since I have AAA, and that has significantly better roadside assistance services plus travel discounts.
• Rideshare insurance: Rideshare insurance helps rideshare drivers fill in the gaps in their standard car insurance. While rideshare companies may offer their contractors insurance coverage, it may not provide as much protection as you’d hope, and your personal car insurance doesn’t usually apply to rideshare services. I would definitely recommend getting this coverage if you drive for a rideshare service.

Progressive, for example, offered options for all three of these types of coverage.

How to find discounts

You may receive additional discounts from the insurance partners that Provide Insurance works with.

Just like with coverage options, discounts vary by insurance company and location, but some of the more common discounts include:

• Multiple policies
• Multi-car
• Going paperless
• Setting up automatic payments
• Good student
• Defensive driving

Alternatives

While I had a good overall experience with Provide Insurance, it might not be a good fit for everyone. Two popular alternatives are The Zebra and Jerry. The Zebra provides quotes directly through its website, and you may even be able to buy a policy directly from The Zebra site.

Jerry also directly provides quotes, but you're required to download the mobile app to see them. Jerry also differentiates itself from Provide by offering a DataLock Guarantee, which means only Jerry contacts you, and you won't get phone calls and emails from providers.

I didn’t mind getting phone calls and liked the options I got from Provide, so it was a good option for me. If you hate your phone ringing or your inbox being busier than usual, Jerry could be a better option.

FAQs

Bottom line

I think Provide Insurance can be a helpful tool in your search for the best car insurance if you know what to expect — multiple calls and emails, and that you need to re-enter your information with Provide's insurance partners. The advantage with Provide is that the information comes to you, and you can decide whether or not to move forward. At the end of the day, I was able to save $360 per year and give my budget a little more breathing room.

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

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