Auto-Owners Insurance Review

Auto Owners Insurance earned an overall score of 5/5 in The Zebra's review. Read more below to find out if they're the right carrier for you.

or
Location pin icon
No junk mail. No spam calls. Free quotes.

Why you can trust The Zebra

The Zebra partners with some of the companies we write about. However, our content is written and reviewed by an independent team of editors and licensed agents. Reference our data methodology and learn more about how we make money.

Author profile picture
By Ross Martin Info icon
Updated March 29, 2023
Author profile picture

Ross Martin

Manager, Content Quality

Credentials
  • Licensed Insurance Agent — Property and Casualty

Ross joined The Zebra as a writer and researcher in 2019. As a licensed insurance agent, he specializes in writing insurance content to help shoppers…

View full profile Right arrow icon
Author profile picture

Renata Balasco

Content Strategist

Credentials
  • Licensed Insurance Agent — Property and Casualty

Renata joined The Zebra in 2020 as a Customer Experience Agent. Since 2021, she has worked as licensed insurance professional and content strategist.…

View full profile Right arrow icon

Auto-Owners Insurance at a glance

Pros: Cons:
Extensive list of discounts and coverage options available Not available nationwide
High JD Power scores
Positive customer satisfaction results

Table of contents:

  1. Auto-Owners car insurance review
  2. How much does Auto-Owners insurance cost?
  3. Auto-Owners car insurance discounts
  4. Bundling options
  5. Auto-Owners home insurance review
  6. Auto-Owners home insurance discounts
  7. Customer Satisfaction Survey results
  8. Is Auto-Owners right for you?

Auto-Owners Insurance review

100% filled Star icon 100% filled Star icon 100% filled Star icon 100% filled Star icon 100% filled Star icon

5 Rating from The Zebra Question mark icon

Headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, Auto-Owners Insurance Company has provided insurance for more than 100 years. The company is active in 26 states and is represented by thousands of independent agents. Though its name might imply otherwise, Auto-Owners Insurance actually offers a wide variety of insurance products. Its car insurance products are consistently top-rated, according to JD Power, and the company's home, life, and business insurance options continually receive great reviews.

Continue reading our Auto-Owners Insurance review to learn more about coverage options, customer satisfaction, and available discounts.

Get a Quote

Claims satisfaction (J.D. Power) — Average: The company received an above-average rating for overall claims satisfaction from rating agency J.D. Power in 2021.

Customer satisfaction (J.D. Power) — Above average: Auto-owners customers responded with an above-average rating for overall levels of satisfaction in the J.D. Power 2021 study.

Financial strength — Superior: AM Best rated the company as an A++, indicating it is in great financial shape and will be able to pay claims.

NAIC Rating — Excellent: The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) received relatively few customer complaints regarding Auto-Owners Insurance compared to the market average.

Get a Quote

Auto-owners state availability

Insurance company Available states
Auto-Owners AL, AZ, AR, CO, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NE, NC, ND, OH, PA, SC, SD, TN, UT, VA, WI

Auto-Owners car insurance options

Thanks to Auto-Owners' status as one of the best car insurance companies in terms of customer satisfaction, policyholders can expect a variety of coverage options and a smooth claims process. The company offers standard coverages such as liability, collision, comprehensive, uninsured/underinsured motorist, medical payments and personal injury protection (PIP). However, the company also offers a variety of options policyholders can add to further personalize their coverage, which you can read about below.

Roadside
Roadside service

Auto-Owners' 24-hours-a-day roadside assistance service covers you in a variety of situations, including if you lock your keys in your car or suffer a flat tire or dead battery. It extends to all 50 states and Canada.

Additional expenses
Additional expenses

This coverage steps in to help pay for a rental car or expenses incurred if you are stranded away from home. This can include costs like food and lodging.

Gap coverage
Gap coverage

Because of depreciation, a leased car is often worth less than the amount that you owe on it. Gap coverage pays the difference between what you owe and what your vehicle is worth.

Diminished value
Diminished value

The resale value of your vehicle can be severely affected if you are in an accident. This coverage ensures that you are compensated for the full value of your vehicle.

Personal automobile plus package
Personal automobile plus package

This package includes a number of additional benefits to protect you from identity theft, and coverage for getting new keys and even replacing your cell phone.

Specialty auto insurance options at Auto-Owners

Sometimes vehicles fit into a unique category. Auto-Owners Insurance offers special coverage types for the following classes of automobiles:

Classic cars

Classic cars need different coverage than more modern vehicles. A classic car auto policy can be much cheaper and offer the protection that your vintage auto needs.

Modified vehicles

Automobiles that have been converted or otherwise modified can sometimes be hard to insure. Whether it’s adding a wheelchair lift or another mobility modification, Auto-Owners Insurance provides coverage options that suit unique needs.

Compare auto insurance options and get the best value from your next policy.

or
Location pin icon
No junk mail. No spam calls. Free quotes.

How much does insurance coverage through Auto-Owners cost?

The tables below highlight the average cost of car insurance through Auto-Owners, as compared to other top competitors. You can also see what the average rates are based on the age group of the driver, as well as if there are past violations.  

Cost of Auto-Owners Car Insurance vs. Competitors
Company Avg. Monthly Premium
Auto-Owners $99
Travelers $112
GEICO $129
American Family $131
State Farm $131
Acuity $143
Progressive $157
MetLife $184
Allstate $201
Updated: 03/28/23.

Dynamic auto insurance data methodology

Methodology: The auto insurance rates displayed above and throughout this page are dynamic, meaning the data will refresh when the most recent information is made available. Rates are based on a sample driver profile — a 30-year-old single male driver with a Honda Accord and full coverage. This profile was adjusted based on common pricing factors used by major car insurance companies, like age, coverage level, driving record and others.

Average Cost of Auto-Owners Car Insurance by Age Group
Age Group Avg. Monthly Premium
Teens $304
20s $145
30s $100
40s $97
60s $93
50s $92
Updated: 03/28/23.
Average Cost of Auto-Owners Car Insurance by Violation
Accident/Violation Avg. Monthly Premium
DUI $197
At-fault accident - greater than $2000 $134
Speeding 16 - 20 MPH over limit $132
Updated: 03/28/23.

Auto-Owners car insurance discounts

Auto-Owners Insurance offers a number of ways to save money on your auto policy. Below, you’ll find a rundown of their discount options. 

  • Multi-policy discount: Bundle multiple policies with Auto-Owners to find savings on your premiums. 
  • Life multi-policy discount: Save money by pairing an Auto-Owners life insurance policy with your auto policy.
  • Payment history: If you’ve paid your premium on time for at least 36 months, you can receive a discount.
  • Paid-in-full discount: Pay your annual premium in full at the beginning of your policy to find savings.
  • Green discount: If you go paperless with your billing and make payments online you could receive a discount.
  • Advance quote: Any new applicant who requests an insurance quote prior to their policy’s effective date can receive a discount.
  • Multi-car: Having more than one vehicle on your policy can mean a lower premium.
  • Safety feature discounts: Safety features like anti-lock brake systems (ABS) or anti-theft devices could qualify you for a discount.
  • Deductibles: If you choose a higher deductible, you could see a reduced policy premium.
  • Favorable loss history: If your driving history is relatively clean, you could see big savings.

Auto-Owners student discounts

Insuring young drivers on your policy can lead to more expensive monthly premiums. However, Auto-Owners Insurance offers the following discounts for policyholders with teenage and young adult drivers. See more info about car insurance for students here.

  • Good student discount: Students with grade-point averages of “B” or better could save up to 20% with this discount. 
  • Student away at school discount: If your student is attending school more than 100 miles from your home, and doesn’t have a vehicle, you could be eligible for a discount.
  • Teen driver monitoring discount: Install a Global Positioning System (GPS) in your teenager’s vehicle to see potential savings.

Additional lines of insurance

As stated above, Auto-Owners Insurance doesn’t limit itself to car insurance. Below you’ll find a number of other insurance products available from the company. 

 

Property Personal Other
Renters insurance Life insurance Farm insurance
Condo insurance Umbrella insurance Pet insurance
Mobile home insurance Flood insurance

Auto-Owners homeowners insurance review

100% filled Star icon 100% filled Star icon 100% filled Star icon 100% filled Star icon 100% filled Star icon

5 Rating from The Zebra Question mark icon

Auto-Owners Insurance provides all the standard home insurance options that you would expect from a major carrier. This includes coverage for your primary dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, and personal liability. 

The company generally receives favorable reviews for its homeowners insurance product. One of the many strengths of Auto-Owners Insurance homeowners coverage is how customizable it is. Policyholders can add a number of endorsements to their coverage to fit their personal needs. Find below a rundown of Auto-Owners' coverage options, including homeowners insurance for high-value homes. 

Get a Quote

Customer satisfaction (J.D. Power) — Above average: Auto-owners customers responded with an above-average rating for overall levels of satisfaction in the J.D. Power 2021 Home Insurance study.

Financial strength — Superior: AM Best rated the company as an A++, indicating it is in great financial shape and will be able to pay claims.

NAIC Rating — Superior: The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) received significantly fewer customer complaints regarding Auto-Owners Insurance compared to the market average.

Get a Quote

How much does home insurance from Auto-Owners cost?

The rates below compare average homeowners insurance costs from Auto-Owners with those of competitor companies.  

Cost of Auto-Owners Homeowners Coverage vs. Competitors
Company Avg. Monthly Premium
Acuity $98
Auto-Owners $106
USAA $115
State Farm $124
MetLife $145
American Family $147
Travelers $223
Updated: 03/28/23.

Homeowners insurance data methodology

The homeowners insurance rates published in this guide are based on The Zebra's analysis of the cost of home insurance in every U.S. ZIP code. These rates are based on a sample user profile: a 45-year-old married homeowner living in a 2,500-square-foot single-story home built in 2011 with these coverage levels:

  • $200,000 for the dwelling
  • $20,000 for other structures
  • $100,000 for personal property
  • $100,000 for personal liability
  • $1,000 deductible

To generate pricing for particular rating factors, we adjusted the homeowner profile based on common pricing factors used by major home insurance companies. These factors include location, coverage limits, claims record and others.

Optional homeowners insurance coverage

Here are additional coverage options that can be added to an Auto-Owners home insurance policy:

Homeowners plus

This package covers extra damages related to appliance failure and increases limits for a variety of other coverages.Home_01 copyFreeform_Icons_trp.png

 
Guaranteed home replacement cost

Sometimes the cost to rebuild can be higher than your homeowners insurance coverage limits. This addition ensures that you can have your home rebuilt to the same standard it was before.

 
Water backup of sewers or drains

While backups from sewers or drains aren’t typically covered by standard homeowners insurance policies, adding this coverage can help in a variety of situations involving water damage.

 

Special personal property coverage

This expands coverage for your personal property.

 

Ordinance or law coverage
icon-unfairly-discriminatory.width-200.png

 

Sometimes, local ordinances or laws regulate the construction, repair, or demolition of your property. This coverage pays if local ordinance or law require you to make significant changes to your property.

 

 

 

Equipment breakdown

This coverage kicks in when mechanical or electrical issues cause the failure of equipment such as major appliances, computers, or air conditioning units. 

 

Identity theft expense coverage

If you're a victim of identity theft, this coverage will provide up to $15,000 for expenses related to restoration.

 

Auto-Owners insurance coverage options for high-value homes

Some homes have unique insurance needs. This is especially true when the home is of significant value. Along with the endorsements above, Auto-Owners Insurance has special coverage options for high-value homes, including the following:

Increased cost endorsement
Increased cost endorsement

In the event that your limits aren’t enough to cover the full cost of the replacement of your home, this coverage ​​​​provides up to an additional 25% of your coverage amount for repairing or replacing your home.

Personal property and valuables
Personal property and valuables

This covers high-value items such as fine art, jewelry, and collections at what’s known as an agreed value loss settlement.

Service lines
Service lines

Underground service lines are protected in the event they are damaged by rust, general wear-and-tear, or other perils.

Special personal property coverage
Special personal property coverage

Provides expanded coverage for your personal possessions, including additional causes of loss such as misplacement.

Auto-Owners home insurance discounts

Auto-Owners Insurance offers customers a number of discounts to help you save on a homeowners insurance policy. 

  • Multi-policy discount: Receive discounts when you have other qualifying policies with Auto-Owners.
  • Life multi-policy discount: Save on your premiums when you have a life insurance policy with Auto-Owners.
  • Payment history: Pay on time and see savings.
  • Paid-in-full discount: Save more if you pay your annual policy premium in full.
  • Green discount: Paperless billing and online payments can help you save.
  • Advance quote: Get a quote before your policy starts and you could be eligible for a discount.
  • Protective devices discount: Devices like smoke detectors and fire extinguishers could make you eligible for this discount.
  • Water shut-off system discount: Installing a system that automatically turns off your home’s water supply when a leak is detected could lead to savings.
  • Automatic backup generator discount: Discounts could be available for those with a generator. 
  • Mortgage-free discount: If your home is paid off, you could see savings on insurance. 
  • Deductibles: Higher deductibles lead to lower insurance rates.
  • Favorable loss history: Keep your claims few and far between to see savings on your policy.

Key customer satisfaction survey findings — Auto-Owners

Overall takeaways

Auto insurance

The Zebra conducted a survey with the intention of understanding carriers from a customer's perspective. We asked how each major carrier held up in online experience, claims satisfaction, ease of use, customer service, trustworthiness and willingness to recommend. In the overall auto categories, Auto-Owners insurance received a consistent star rating of above 4.0. This carrier excels in claims satisfaction and received higher scores overall from respondents age 30 and above than from their younger counterparts. Of the 15 carriers surveyed, Auto-Owners ranked low in online satisfaction, suggesting that younger generations were less pleased with this carrier due to its lack of online usability. 

Homeowners insurance

In the overall home insurance category, Auto-Owners ranked in 6th place with a star rating of 4.4. This carrier saw a consistent 4.3+ star rating in every category from all respondents. Male participants favored this carrier over females, and again the older customers favored this carrier for homeowners insurance than younger ones. 

highlights

Survey highlights

  • Respondents age 30 and above were the most satisfied with Auto-Owners.. 
  • Online satisfaction scores were low in comparison to the other carriers surveyed. 
  • Gen X ranked Auto-Owners home insurance first in online satisfaction, contrasting the scores received for auto insurance.

The Zebra Customer Satisfaction Survey methodology

Findings are based on an online quantitative survey of 4,134 current U.S. auto and home insurance customers, with Census-balanced sampling by age, gender and region. Categories with n=<20 responses are considered insufficient sample size and are not reported. This survey was developed by The Zebra and executed by independent research firm Maru/Blue in 2022.

Is Auto-Owners Insurance right for you?

In general, those with Auto-Owners policies tend to be fairly happy with their coverage. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the right company for you. If your priority is to simply find the cheapest insurance rate, you may be able to find more affordable coverage elsewhere. 

It never hurts to shop around when searching for a new insurance policy. Take some time to look into coverage options and customer reviews of multiple carriers, and remember that you can get free insurance quotes that can lead you to an insurance policy that’s right for you. The Zebra is a convenient way to compare over 100 insurance quotes at the same time. Simply enter your ZIP code below to get started.

Find the right policy in only a few minutes.

or
Location pin icon
No junk mail. No spam calls. Free quotes.

Related content

About The Zebra

The Zebra is not an insurance company. We publish data-backed, expert-reviewed resources to help consumers make more informed insurance decisions.

  • The Zebra’s insurance content is written and reviewed for accuracy by licensed insurance agents.
  • The Zebra’s insurance content is not subject to review or alteration by insurance companies or partners.
  • The Zebra’s editorial team operates independently of the company’s partnerships and commercialization interests, publishing unbiased information for consumer benefit.
  • The auto insurance rates published on The Zebra’s pages are based on a comprehensive analysis of car insurance pricing data, evaluating more than 83 million insurance rates from across the United States.