Car insurance coverage can vary widely from one company to the next, and carrying only the bare minimum often leaves important gaps. Oftentimes, the right policy goes beyond state requirements by giving you extra options to help protect both your vehicle and your finances.
To help you find the best car insurance coverage, Yahoo Finance analyzed 20 major insurers based on rates, the number of coverage types offered, and which add-ons were available. Below are the companies that rose to the top of our best car insurance coverage rankings.
Note: Our top five reflect the highest overall scores in this best coverage analysis, though several companies were close. Progressive, Safeco, and Travelers each earned 3.8 stars and performed well across many of the same coverage categories.
American Family earned a perfect 5 out of 5 stars for car insurance coverage types. Its lineup covers nearly every major protection drivers might look for, including new car replacement, gap insurance, rideshare coverage, OEM and custom parts coverage, accident forgiveness, and a diminishing deductible. It even offers optional pet injury coverage, which isn’t common among larger insurers.
American Family pros and cons
Pros
Offers the best add-on car insurance coverage based on our analysis
Has affordable rates for full coverage
Several discounts are available to lower rates even more
Cons
Average cost for full coverage car insurance: $151
Availability: Regional (Mostly the West and Midwest)
Crash Network grade for claims handling: C+
Coverage offerings: 11 options
Available discounts: 17 types
Digital experience score: 3.95 (out of 5)
Learn more: American Family auto insurance review
With 17 policy options, Farmers earns the second spot for best car insurance coverage. It offers more ways to customize a policy than most insurers we evaluated, including a usage-based insurance program (Signal) that can reduce your rates by up to 15% when you drive safely. Farmers also performed well on the digital front, with one of the highest-rated mobile apps in our analysis.
Farmers pros and cons
Pros
One of the largest selections of coverage types in our analysis
Highly rated mobile app with strong policy management tools
Rates for full coverage are around the national average
Cons
Claims handling scores are below average
No niche add-ons like mechanical breakdown, pet injury, or trip interruption coverage
Average cost for full coverage car insurance: $182
Availability: Nationwide
Crash Network grade for claims handling: C-
Coverage offerings: 17 options
Available discounts: 19 types
Digital experience score: 4.75 (out of 5)
Learn more: Farmers auto insurance review
Allstate offers a wide range of coverage add-ons that make it easy to build a highly customized policy. Beyond standard options, it includes unique protections like coverage for accidental damage to paint, tires, wheels, and interior fabric. Allstate also ranked well in our study for having affordable full coverage car insurance rates.
Allstate pros and cons
Pros
Broad selection of optional coverage add-ons for customization
Several discount opportunities for safe driving and bundling
Excellent NAIC complaint ratios, which indicate fewer customer complaints
Cons
No mechanical breakdown, OEM, or pet injury coverage
Claims handling and customer satisfaction scores are mixed compared to competitors
Average cost for full coverage car insurance: $180
Availability: Nationwide
Crash Network grade for claims handling: D
Coverage offerings: 15 options
Available discounts: 12 types
Digital experience score: 4.4 (out of 5)
Learn more: Allstate car insurance review
Liberty Mutual is a nationwide insurer with nearly 20 coverage options. Some of its more unique options include teacher’s car insurance, Mexico car insurance if you’re driving cross-border, and better car replacement coverage that’ll replace your total vehicle with a newer model. You’ll also find discounts for military members and students with good grades.
Liberty Mutual pros and cons
Pros
One of the largest selections of coverage types
Offers unique add-ons, like better car replacement coverage
Deductible Fund can help reduce your collision deductible over time
Cons
Full coverage rates are slightly higher than average
No mechanical breakdown, pet injury, or trip interruption add-ons
Average cost for full coverage car insurance: $216
Availability: Nationwide
Crash Network grade for claims handling: D+
Coverage offerings: 19 options
Available discounts: 13 types
Digital experience score: 4.7 (out of 5)
Learn more: Liberty Mutual car insurance review
The Hartford rounds out our list of best car insurance companies for coverage types. In addition to popular add-ons like accident forgiveness and diminishing deductibles, you’ll find RecoverCare coverage, which will reimburse for house cleaning and other home services if you’re unable to perform them after an accident. The Hartford also scored at the top of our analysis for the best teen car insurance and best senior car insurance companies.
The Hartford pros and cons
Pros
Unique coverages include RecoverCare for home services
Rates for full coverage tend to be below average
Has add-ons like accident forgiveness, diminishing deductible, and new car replacement
Cons
No rideshare, OEM, trip interruption, or pet injury coverage
Need to be an AARP member to unlock the most savings
Average cost for full coverage car insurance: $153
Availability: Nationwide
Crash Network grade for claims handling: C+
Coverage offerings: 13 options
Available discounts: 11 types
Digital experience score: 4.7 (out of 5)
Learn more: The Hartford auto insurance review
We evaluated 20 major insurance companies to determine which offered the best coverage for your needs. The top spot went to American Family, which earned 5 stars (out of 5). The runner-up was Farmers (4.4 stars), followed by Allstate (4.2 stars), Liberty Mutual (3.9 stars), and The Hartford (3.9 stars). Progressive, Safeco, and Travelers were just outside of the top five with a solid 3.8-star rating.
See the star ratings for all the insurers we analyzed for the best full coverage car insurance below.
Learn more: Best car insurance coverage
If you’re in search of the best car insurance coverage, you probably want more than just your state’s minimum requirements. Many of the best policies start with the basics — liability, collision, comprehensive, and any state-mandated medical coverage, like medpay and personal injury protection. But what really separates the top companies is the availability of add-ons.
Depending on the provider, these car insurance add-ons could include:
Diminishing deductible
Accident forgiveness
New car replacement coverage
Gap insurance
Roadside assistance
Trip interruption coverage
Rideshare coverage
OEM parts coverage
Custom parts coverage
Pet injury coverage
Full glass coverage
Mechanical breakdown coverage
Mexico car insurance
Custom equipment coverage
Rental car reimbursement coverage
Classic car insurance
Learn more: Most common types of car insurance explained
Because auto insurance costs vary by insurer, you have to comparison shop to find the lowest rates. Many of the companies in our top five tend to have full coverage policies at or below the national average.
Learn more: Cheapest full coverage car insurance
Anytime you get a car insurance quote, you may find that rates vary widely, even if you enter the same information for each one. That’s because each company weighs risk factors in its own way.
For instance, some insurers prioritize driving history and mileage. Others put more weight on credit-based insurance scores or vehicle type. Coverage choices (including limits and deductibles) also play a major role in what you’ll pay.
Here are the most common factors insurers use when calculating rates:
Learn more: Car insurance rates are climbing. Here are 4 reasons why and 11 ways to save.
Here are tips for finding the best auto insurance coverage — because it’s usually not the best idea to simply choose the cheapest quote or add every optional feature available.
Some insurance companies have upwards of 20 coverage options to add to your policy. But you probably don’t need all of them.
Start by thinking about what you’re actually trying to protect. If you drive a newer vehicle or still have a loan, you may opt for collision, comprehensive, and gap insurance. If you don’t want your rate to hike up after one accident, accident forgiveness may be important to you. The same goes for higher liability limits. If you’ve accumulated a lot in savings, investments, or if you own a home, state minimums may not fully protect your assets after a serious accident.
Learn more: How much car insurance coverage do I need?
Once you know which coverage types and limits you want, shop around with at least three companies to see who is offering what you want at a price you can afford. Comparing car insurance quotes is the best way to find the lowest rates.
Discounts can help offset the cost of stronger coverage. Some discounts are automatically applied as you fill out a quote form, but others you have to ask about. For example, you usually have to speak to an agent to get a good student discount or student away discount. Asking an agent if you’re eligible for discounts not already applied can help you find more ways to reduce your auto insurance premium.
Learn more: Car insurance discounts: 17 ways to save
Revisit your coverage at least once a year. As your vehicle ages, your commute changes, or your financial situation shifts, your coverage needs may change too. You may find yourself comparing quotes again or switching car insurance companies if it makes sense.
Learn more: Does buying car insurance online save you money?
“Full coverage” car insurance typically refers to a policy that includes liability insurance plus collision and comprehensive coverage. Liability pays for injuries or damage you cause others, while collision and comprehensive protect your own vehicle from accidents, theft, weather damage, and other non-collision events.
Insurers like American Family, Farmers, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, and The Hartford offer some of the broadest menus of coverage options and add-ons. These companies tend to stand out for drivers who want more customization options, including accident forgiveness, diminishing deductibles, roadside assistance, and specialty coverage.
Not necessarily. The best car insurance coverage is the amount that protects you from financial loss you couldn’t easily absorb on your own. While higher liability limits and add-ons will theoretically protect you more financially, paying for coverage you don’t need can raise costs without adding meaningful benefit.
A good rule of thumb is to carry liability limits that would protect your savings, income, and property if you caused a serious accident. Reviewing your policy with an agent can help identify gaps.
Tim Manni edited this article.
To identify the best car insurance companies for coverage types, Yahoo Finance evaluated 20 insurers across rates, breadth of coverage offerings, and the availability of key protective add-ons. Each company was scored using a standardized rubric designed to reflect what matters most to drivers who want customizable, well-rounded protection — not just the bare minimum.
All factors were converted to a standardized point scale and combined into a composite score for each insurer. The availability of specific, high-value coverage add-ons carried the greatest weight, followed by rate competitiveness and the overall number of coverage options offered.
1. Specific add-on coverage availability: 50% of score. Half of each insurer’s total score was based on whether it offered 10 widely sought-after coverage add-ons that help drivers customize their policies and reduce financial risk. Insurers earned equal points for each of the following coverage types if offered:
Each available add-on contributed incremental points toward the insurer’s total score. Companies that offered a broader set of these protections earned higher ratings.
2. Rate competitiveness: 30% of score. Average rate estimates were provided by Savvy Insurance Solutions (“Savvy”). Savvy operates a marketplace for home and auto insurance, plus an agency licensed in all 50 states. Estimates are generated using Savvy’s in-house machine learning models based on over 3 million data points and include more than 15 of the largest insurance companies in Savvy’s nationwide data set. For this analysis, rates were modeled using a standard “full coverage” profile. Full coverage car insurance includes liability insurance, any state-required coverage, plus collision and comprehensive coverage. Insurers with more competitive full coverage rates earned higher scores.
3. Total number of coverage offerings: 20% of score. We evaluated each insurer based on the total number of coverage options available. This included standard coverages, optional endorsements, and specialty protections. Companies that offered a wider selection of policy options earned more points, reflecting greater flexibility for drivers who want to tailor their protection.
Unless stated otherwise, the estimates above are provided by Savvy Insurance Solutions (“Savvy”). Savvy operates a marketplace for home and auto insurance, plus an agency licensed in all 50 states. Estimates are generated using Savvy’s in-house machine learning models based on over 3 million data points, and include more than 15 of the largest insurance companies in Savvy’s nationwide data set. This includes data from more than 2 million insurance accounts connected through Trellis Connect, an in-house technology allowing consumers to “link” their insurance accounts before searching for insurance, and tens of thousands of policies bound by Savvy’s own agents. It takes into account a myriad of factors to create predictions, such as:
Policyholder age
Number of vehicles
ZIP code
Vehicle age
Insurer
…and more
Savvy creates estimates by running models against multiple inputs to the parameters of interest. For instance, the “teen driver” estimates were created by adjusting the policyholder age input into the pricing model while keeping all other variables steady from the baseline for “full coverage.” The models enable hyper-personalized estimates that take into account a plethora of user attribute permutations (e.g., teen drivers in specific states, teen drivers with new vehicles, teen drivers in specific states with new vehicles) to provide individuals with a unique and tailored experience. The charts above are a subset of the kinds of personalization Savvy can do.
The following are definitions used by Savvy when providing its rate estimates for various types of coverage.
Full coverage car insurance: A policy with comprehensive, collision, and liability coverage.
Average policyholder: A 48-year-old driver who owns a 13-year-old vehicle and lives in an average-income ZIP code.
Senior driver: A 70-year-old policyholder with full coverage car insurance.
Good driver: Drivers across all coverage types, vehicle types, and locations who have no tickets, accidents or DUIs.
