The Hartford Auto Insurance Review [2025]: Savings for AARP Members

We recommend The Hartford insurance company for AARP members, primarily because it's only available to AARP members, but also because it offers a range of car insurance coverages along with home and other insurance types at prices that are favorable to those looking to minimize costs as they approach or begin retirement.

The company ranks high for customer satisfaction, but isn't the cheapest provider out there. The Hartford's major drawback is that non-AARP members and people under 50 can't buy policies from the company. You can get a quote without joining AARP, but to accept it, you'll have to pay the organization's $15 first-year membership fee ($20 per year after that).

AARP membership comes with a variety of perks and discounts, though, so along with what you might save on insurance by using The Hartford, the AARP membership fee can be easily justified.

How we evaluate products

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 Insurify, 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.

The Hartford pros and cons

How much does The Hartford cost?

In general, The Hartford is more or less in line with national average rates across driver types and age groups. But in some cases, you'll be able to get a better deal with The Hartford than you might be able to elsewhere. The company offers drivers with a DUI and senior drivers quoted rates that are much lower than the national average, for example. Overall, though, you'll likely be able to find cheaper insurance out there if you look for it.

Here's how much The Hartford costs for liability-only car insurance, based on data for average quoted prices from Insurify.

Check these against the national averages below to get an idea of how much The Hartford costs relative to its competitors.

Is The Hartford car insurance good?

Company ratings:

• AM Best: A+
• J.D. Power claims satisfaction: 701/1,000
• BBB: A+
• NAIC complaints: 1.17 (Private Passenger)

In addition to earning a resounding A+ from the Better Business Bureau, The Hartford made the top ten in J.D. Power's 2024 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study, scoring 701 against the study's 697 average. The study ranks insurers on a 1,000-point scale, but for reference, consider that the top ranking company, NJM, only scored 782 out of 1,000, and the fifth-ranked insurer, Liberty Mutual, only scored 717.

For more context, let's look at The Hartford's performance on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index. The NAIC complaint index compares insurance providers based on how many complaints they receive relative to a given year's study average across the industry. The NAIC calculates this by dividing the company's share of complaints by the total countrywide.

According to the NAIC, The Hartford scored a 1.17. The national complaint index is set at 1.00, meaning that a company with an index of 2.00 would have twice the expected number of complaints.

The Hartford sits just above the national index when it comes to the number of complaints made against it, with complaints having been overwhelmingly focused on delays in claim handling. This rating, considered alongside the company's other performance metrics shows that The Hartford offers a generally above-average experience, but with some of the expected frustrations of working with an insurance company.

Discounts

The Hartford offers a pretty standard roster of discounts with a few exceptions that make sense based on the provider's target market.

For example, you won't be able to get a good student discount or similar discounts aimed at younger drivers as you must be at least 50 years of age to get a policy with The Hartford. A senior discount is pretty much built in, since you could get up to 10% off as an AARP member, which you need to be to get a policy in the first place.

Insurer discounts are a great way to save money on car insurance, and you should always work with your agent to see how many you're eligible for.

Discount	Does The Hartford have it?	State Farm	GEICO
Loyalty	No	Yes	No
Multi-policy/bundling	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multiple vehicle	No	Yes	Yes
Airbag	Yes	Yes	Yes
Anti-lock brakes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Anti-theft	Yes	Yes	Yes
Safe driver	Yes	Yes	Yes
Good student	No	Yes	Yes
Away-from-home student	No	Yes	Yes
New car	No	No	Yes
Pay in full	Yes	Yes	Yes
Automatic payments	No	No	Yes
GAP insurance	Yes	No	No
Senior	Yes (AARP member discount)	No	No
Military	No	Yes (select states)	Yes
Defensive driving course	Yes	Yes	Yes

TrueLane program

TrueLane is The Hartford 's telematic, usage-based insurance program. New policyholders have 60 days from their initial policy effective date to purchase a policy enrolled in TrueLane to qualify for up to 15% off their premium.

Policyholders must then download and activate the TrueLane app and bring their smartphone with them whenever they drive. If, over the course of your initial policy's duration, you demonstrate safe driving habits as registered by the TrueLane app, you could get as much as 40% off your policy when you renew. If the app registers riskier driving habits, The Hartford warns, your premium is liable to increase.

Coverage

The Hartford offers a standard suite of coverage options comparable to most major insurers on the market. The Hartford offers the following types of coverage:

• Bodily injury liability
• Property damage liability
• Collision
• Comprehensive
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist
• Medical payments
• Personal injury protection (PIP)
• Auto glass
• Roadside assistance/towing
• Gap
• Rental car reimbursement
• Rental car
• Classic car and other vehicle types

Beyond these more common coverages, The Hartford partners with its subsidiary the Nutmeg Insurance Agency to provide vehicle-specific policies for classic cars, ATVs, RVs, boats, snow mobiles, and even golf carts. So if you're spending your retirement out on the links, RVing around the country, or rediscovering your adventurous side, The Hartford's got the policy for you.

The Hartford vs. competitors

The Hartford's rates are on the higher side compared to its major competitors, but it still falls well below the national average for both full-coverage and liability only rates. Both GEICO and State Farm, for example, offer more competitive rates than The Hartford, but don't offer GAP insurance or a senior discount.

In fact, according to Insurify, The Hartford's monthly liability-only rates for senior drivers are much lower than the national average of $81, coming in at $57. Even so, GEICO quoted seniors $42 per month on average for liability-only insurance — so, The Hartford may not be the most affordable choice for seniors, despite being marketed to them specifically.

The Hartford vs. GEICO

GEICO is likely to offer lower rates than The Hartford to most drivers, and with all metrics considered, you're likely to have a similar customer service experience across both companies.

While The Hartford easily beat out GEICO in J.D. Power's 2024 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study, with the former ranking above the study average, and the latter ranking well below, GEICO does receive fewer customer complaints than The Hartford according to the NAIC complaint index.

GEICO's rates are cheaper across the board. On average, liability insurance from The Hartford will run you about $93 per month, while GEICO policies only cost $55 per month on average. The Hartford may offer some discounts and coverage you won't find at GEICO (a senior discount and GAP insurance, for example), but overall their offerings are comparable.

The Hartford vs. State Farm

As with GEICO, State Farm also offers lower rates than The Hartford overall, with State Farm averaging $55 per month for liability-only coverage against The Hartford's $93.

State Farm also outperforms The Hartford on the NAIC complaint index and the 2024 J.D. Power U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction study, but only slightly so, with State Farm scoring 710 to The Hartford's 701 on the J.D. Power study, and a NAIC complaint index of 0.84 to The Hartford's 1.17, indicating that State Farm receives fewer complaints than expected, while The Hartford receives more.

FAQs

Bottom line

The Hartford has been in business for over 200 years and is the exclusive car insurance provider for AARP. Many people become AARP members for the range of discounts it gets you, and those perks extend to savings on policies with The Hartford as well.

If you look at the numbers, you're likely going to be able to find cheaper car insurance elsewhere, though The Hartford is still generally in line with national averages. But price isn't everything, and company's strong performance on customer satisfaction surveys is something worth considering.

While it may not be among the best car insurance companies out there, The Hartford is certainly not a bad one — just make sure you're getting the coverage you need for a price that works for you.