Ten to twenty percent under State Farm's averages. That is where published studies put Auto-Owners, a carrier sold in just twenty-six states and only through independent agents.
General information, not professional financial, tax, legal, or insurance advice. The Dreamy Leads Research is an editorial and data team, not a licensed advisor.
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Chapters
- 0:00 Seven car insurers, one lane each, and no blended score.
- 0:13 I. The lowest-profile carrier
- 0:30 II. Seven carriers, seven lanes
- 1:00 III. The regional carrier
- 1:16 IV. Two narrower lanes
- 1:35 V. Quotes over rankings
- 1:52 VI. How the lanes are set
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The figures in this explainer come from our live dataset. Explore them for your own state or metro:
Full transcript
I. The lowest-profile carrier
Auto-Owners carries an A double plus rating from AM Best, and the research reports a clean NAIC complaint record. The catch is access: it writes in twenty-six states, so many drivers never see its quote at all.
II. Seven carriers, seven lanes
Our auto insurance companies page does not blend scores. It gives each of seven carriers one lane. State Farm holds agents and claims, GEICO holds clean-record price, and Progressive holds high-risk records, where its filed rates after a serious violation often come in lower. Erie is the regional carrier, Auto-Owners is claims-day value, and Allstate covers low-mileage drivers.
III. The regional carrier
Erie writes in twelve states. Inside them, the page puts its rates in the sixteen hundreds, with a clean complaint record and a Rate Lock feature that freezes the premium until a driver's circumstances change.
IV. Two narrower lanes
The last two lanes are narrower. Travelers carries AM Best's A double plus rating and writes true gap coverage, which few carriers do. Allstate's Milewise is pay-per-mile pricing, and the page ties it to cars driven under about ten thousand miles a year.
V. Quotes over rankings
Lanes are not quotes, though. Our quote-spread research found identical coverage priced two to four times apart in a single ZIP code, so the page's own guidance is at least three quotes, on the same day, with the same limits.
VI. How the lanes are set
Each lane comes from fourteen head-to-head comparisons, and no carrier pays for its placement. The full page is free at Dreamy Leads Research. What state do you drive in, and how many car insurance quotes did you get the last time you shopped? Tell us in the comments.
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