Auto-Owners is one of Jerry’s top-rated insurers, with a reputation for affordable coverage and a wide array of customization and discount options. This coverage is worth considering if you’re in one of the 26 states where it’s offered.
Pros
Reputation for affordable coverage.
Many insurance add-ons available.
Ample discount offerings.
Fewer-than-average customer complaints.
Cons
Only available in 26 states.
No online quotes.
Auto-Owners car insurance review
Jerry rates Auto-Owners 4.9 stars out of 5. This score is higher than many other insurers that Jerry rates and takes into account industry ratings, consumer ratings, financial strength and national complaint data.
Auto-Owners provides quality car insurance that’s worth considering if you’re in one of the 26 states where the company does business. The insurer’s coverage is relatively customizable compared to others, and plenty of discounts are available to policyholders.
Likewise, Auto-Owners does well with customers and industry experts alike, maintaining a relatively low (good) consumer complaint index with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), a high financial strength rating and a solid standing in industry reports.
Is Auto-Owners a good insurance company?
With a reputation for affordable and customizable coverage, Auto-Owners may be a good option for drivers from all backgrounds. The insurer works best for customers who:
Live in one of the 26 states where the insurer does business.
Prefer to buy coverage with an agent, rather than online.
Want to take advantage of some of Auto-Owners’ unique offerings, like diminished value and rental coverages.
Auto-Owners has a reputation for charging below-average rates to drivers with different driving records and coverage levels.
Your premium is determined by a number of factors, including your age, location, the type and age of vehicle you drive, your driving record, other drivers on your policy and the amount of coverage you buy.
Auto-Owners car insurance discounts
Drivers who carry Auto-Owners can get a rate discount for:
Insuring multiple vehicles on one policy.
Having multiple policies with the insurer.
Adding safety features to the insured vehicle.
Insuring a student who maintains a B average or better.
Going paperless.
Paying the full premium up front.
Getting a quote before the current policy ends.
Making on-time payments for 36 months or longer.
Auto-Owners car insurance coverage options
Like most insurers, Auto-Owners offers collision, comprehensive, liability for bodily injury, liability for property damage, medical expense, personal injury protection and uninsured/underinsured motorist.
Who it pays: The other person, for injuries when you’re at fault in a crash.
What it covers: Medical bills, lost wages and legal costs for people injured in an accident you cause.
How it pays: Up to your policy limits, shown as two numbers. For example, 50/100 means $50K per person and $100K per accident.*
Do you need it? Required by law in every state except New Hampshire. Your state sets a minimum, but Jerry recommends considering limits of at least 100/300.
Who it pays: The other person, for property you damage in a crash.
What it covers: Costs to repair or replace another person’s car, fence, mailbox or other property you hit.
How it pays: Up to your policy’s limit. For example, $50K.*
Do you need it? Required by law in every state except New Hampshire. Your state sets a minimum, but Jerry recommends considering limits of at least $100K.
*Bodily injury liability and property damage liability are typically shown as three numbers on your policy, like 100/300/100. The first two numbers represent your bodily injury limits per person and per accident, while the third number represents your property damage limit.
What it covers: Costs to repair or replace your own car after a crash with another car or object, like a guardrail or pole.
How it pays: You pay a deductible first, then insurance covers the rest, typically up to your car’s current market value.
Do you need it? Required if you’re financing or leasing your car. Optional otherwise, but recommended if your car is worth more than $5,000. May not be worthwhile for older, lower-value cars.
What it covers: Damage from non-crash events like theft, vandalism, hail, flooding, falling trees, fire or hitting an animal.
How it pays: You pay a deductible first, then insurance covers the rest, typically up to your car’s current market value.
Do you need it? Required if you’re financing or leasing your car. Optional otherwise, but recommended if your car is worth more than $5,000. May not be worthwhile for older, lower-value cars.
Who it pays: You and your passengers, for injuries and property damage.
What it covers: Your own injuries and property damage when the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough to cover your costs, including hit-and-runs in many states.
How it pays: Up to your chosen limits, which often match your BI limits. There’s usually no deductible for UM, but UIM may have one.
Do you need it? Required in some states, but Jerry recommends every driver get it, since about 1 in 8 drivers does not have car insurance.
Who it pays: You and your passengers, for medical bills.
What it covers: Medical expenses after an accident, regardless of fault.
How it pays: No deductible. Pays up to your policy’s limit.
Do you need it? Optional in most states, but can be valuable if you don’t have health insurance or have a high-deductible health plan.
The insurer also provides the following coverages:
Roadside assistance can pay for services such as a locksmith, fuel delivery or a battery jump when you’re away from home.
Gap insurance is for financed or leased cars, in case they’re totaled in an accident. If that happens, gap insurance pays the difference between the vehicle’s cash value and the money you owe on it.
Diminished value coverage compensates you if your vehicle’s market value is lower after an accident, even if the car is fully repaired.
Additional expense insurance pays your costs to travel while your vehicle is being repaired after an accident. This coverage includes the cost of a rental car, and if you’re far away from home when your car becomes undriveable, it also covers expenses like food and lodging.
Rental gap extends coverage to a rental vehicle.
Modified vehicle coverage covers custom equipment that wasn’t installed by the original manufacturer, including driver control modifications and wheelchair lifts.
Auto-Owners performs well in industry reports and customer ratings alike, maintaining a relatively low number of consumer complaints, high financial strength rating and landing about average in consumer satisfaction.
Rating
Auto-Owner’s score
NAIC consumer complaint index
Low.
CRASH Network report card
B.
J.D. Power auto insurance shopping study
No. 8 of 17.
J.D. Power auto insurance claims study
No. 13 of 21.
AM Best
A+.
NAIC
Auto-Owners’s private passenger policies had a moderately low complaint index with the NAIC from 2021 to 2023, meaning the company had fewer complaints than expected for a company its size all three years. The insurer’s index has steadily lowered over time.
Qualitative rating
3-year consumer complaint index
High
Above 1.5.
Moderately high
1 to 1.5.
About average
Near 1.
Moderately low
1 to 0.5.
Low
0.5 to 0.
The NAICis the member group for state insurance commissioners in the United States. It makes recommendations, analyzes insurer financial filings, maintains reporting and more for insurance regulators.
CRASH Network
CRASH Network, an automotive trade publication, gives Auto-Owners a B in its 2024 Insurer Report Card. This is a higher grade than many other insurers that Jerry reviews. The report card asks more than 1,000 collision repair professionals across the United States how well an insurer’s claims handling policies, attitude and payment practices ensure quality repairs and customer service for drivers.
Auto-Owners ranks No. 17 of 88 insurers listed on the report card.
For 2026, the CRASH Network’s survey received responses from 1,107 repair professionals. Insurers that received a grade from at least 35 respondents were included in the 2026 report card. Read more about the report card methodology on the CRASH Network’s website.
J.D. Power
Between J.D. Power’s insurance shopping and claims satisfaction studies, Auto-Owners performed about average. The insurer received above-average marks in the 2024 Insurance Shopping Study, ranking No. 8 of 17 with a score of 679 out of 1,000.
J.D. Power is a market research company that evaluates customer satisfaction and industry performance across multiple sectors.
AM Best
Auto-Owners has a financial strength rating of A+ with AM Best, one step below the highest rating an insurer can achieve. This means the company has a superior ability to pay out claims.
AM Bestis a credit rating agency that specializes in insurers’ ability to meet their financial obligations.
How to contact Auto-Owners
Policyholders can pay bills and report claims online. Current and prospective customers are encouraged to contact a local agent, but customers can fill out a form on the Auto-Owners website (https://www.auto-owners.com/about/contact-us) or reach customer service at 800-346-0346.
Methodology
We looked at over 400,000 actual policies quotes from real Jerry customers during 2024 across 24 different insurance companies. The pricing data included both those with clean driving records as well as those with a violation.
How we rate car insurance companies
Jerry’s team of car insurance expert writers and editors analyze real customer ratings and industry reports to get a holistic view of an insurer’s performance. Our rubric emphasizes the shopping and claims experiences, customer complaints and reviews, repair shops’ evaluations of insurers, policy and quote pricing, and state availability.
We regularly reassess insurers’ star ratings and fact-check these reviews to ensure they’re accurate and up-to-date. These individual factors roll up into one weighting system as follows: 20% Financial strength. 20% Complaints. 20% Industry ratings. 20% Customer ratings. 20% Cost and discounts.
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Our experts
Annie Millerbernd
Annie is a writer and editor at Jerry with more than a decade of experience writing and editing digital content. Before joining Jerry, she was an assistant assigning editor at NerdWallet. Her past work has appeared in the Associated Press, USA Today and The Washington Post. Her work has been cited by Northwestern University and Harvard Kennedy School. Annie served as a spokesperson for NerdWallet during her time at NerdWallet and has been featured in New York Magazine, MarketWatch and on local television and radio stations.
Previously, she worked at USAA and newspapers in Minnesota, North Dakota, California and Texas. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota.
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Lacie Glover
Lacie Glover is a Lead Writer and Editor with sixteen years’ experience in the insurance category. Prior to Jerry, she spent more than a decade on NerdWallet’s content team writing, editing and then overseeing the auto insurance category, as well as dabbling in other insurance and automotive topics. Prior to her career in the online personal finance content space, Lacie spent time in the hard sciences, in clinical research and chemistry labs. She has a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University.
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†Over the past 12 months, 25% of drivers who switched with Jerry paid $89 or less per month. Not
all customers find savings. Savings depend on state, policy features, coverage, driving history and other factors.
Editorial Note: This article was written by a paid member of Jerry’s editorial team. Statements in this article do
not constitute advice or recommendations. You should consult with an insurance professional about your specific
circumstances and needs before making any insurance decisions.
