Most motorists take comfort from being with one of the largest automobile insurance companies in the US and they are prepared to pay extra premiums to be covered by them. Also, they are less likely to shop around to find alternative offers once they choose one of them. What they don’t realize is that there is a huge price gap from one to the other even in this list of the most financially sound vehicle insurers.
So, it is important to point out that shopping around for the best prices and comparing quotes will allow drivers to find the cheapest rates and they don’t really have to go with some unknown company to get it. Furthermore, finding the best value vehicle insurance means they can now afford more coverage if they want to or reduce deductibles to increase their protection levels.
These days it is quick and easy to get a few quotes online and line the companies up however you want. It can get harder to finally settle on one when you have plenty of options. Indecision is probably more notable on people who had bad claim experiences in the past. Also, general distrust towards insurers can lead to even further scrutiny.
Hopefully, the below list of the largest auto insurance companies in the USA according to volume of business will help you make your mind easier. One of the downsides of comparing vehicle insurance companies is that it is easy to find plenty of information on bigger carriers but most great local ones may escape the radar of rating providers. For example, it is easy to find the following table that literally size up the biggest in the US.
Table: Comparison of the top 10 largest US car insurance companies by market share
| Rank | Company | Market Share % | AM Best Rating | J.D. Power Claims Ratings | Customer Score 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. | 16 | A++ | better than most | 85 |
| 2 | GEICO | 14 | A++ | about average | 83 |
| 3 | Progressive Corp. | 13 | A+ | about average | 82 |
| 4 | Allstate Corp. | 10 | A+ | about average | 81 |
| 5 | USAA Ins. Group | 6 | A++ | among the best | 93 |
| 6 | Farmers Ins. Group | 5 | A | about average | 80 |
| 7 | Liberty Mutual | 5 | A | the rest | 81 |
| 8 | Nationwide Mutual Group | 2 | A+ | about average | 83 |
| 9 | American Family Mutual | 2 | A | better than most | 83 |
| 10 | Travelers Companies Inc. | 2 | A++ | about average | 82 |
Source: NAIC 2015 data, III, Nerdwallet, S&P Global Market Intelligence.
There are only 10 names above but they collectively insure over 70% of the US automobiles. This should tell you a lot about their appeal and selling power. They are so big that it is difficult for others to compete against them. Most innovative policies are offered by one of these. They can also price policies highly competitively due to the volume of business.
The list provides all sorts of choices. Some people may like to deal with agents and State Farm, the biggest company in the US, has the largest agency network. Furthermore, it is a mutual company like several others in the list for motorists preferring such business. They all have digital presence through their websites as well.
Progressive, Allstate, Farmers, Nationwide and Liberty Mutual are some of the best usage-based vehicle insurance providers. USAA offers cheaper prices for military personnel and GEICO is known to offer great deals for many associations and organisations. Furthermore, some of these brands have diversified into different markets through their subsidiaries offering non-standard policies and dealing with high-risk motorists.
It is highly likely that one of these companies will offer the lowest car insurance rates in your zip code and perhaps for your circumstances. The easiest way of finding out which one is to get a few quotes from them. Then, you would have hardly any concern about the reliability of the carrier and can concentrate on purely price and coverage.
Motorists shouldn’t forget that there are many great small to medium size companies and they are known to provide very competitive rates in their region as well as providing excellent customer and claim handling services. So, they should give them a chance as well since it really doesn’t take long to get a few quotes using one of many comparison websites available on the Internet.