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Founded in 1925, Erie Insurance has since grown to become the 11th-largest auto insurer in the United States, a big accomplishment for a company that only serves 12 states and the District of Columbia.

It made the 2018 Fortune 500 list and Ward’s 50 List of Top-Performing Property and Casualty Insurers for 2018, for the 18th time since 1991.

Check out this Erie Auto Insurance review to see how it compares to the competition.

When you create a policy with Erie Auto Insurance, you’ll discover that the company has quite a few options available, including some unique extras.

Erie Insurance Review: Satisfaction, Pricing, Financial Strength

  • Liability Coverage: Your liability coverage protects you against property damage and personal injury claims in the event of an at-fault accident. This is the portion of your policy that most states require you carry by law.
  • Collision and Comprehensive Coverage: Comprehensive and collision insurance pay for damage to your vehicle in the event of an at-fault accident or a loss that was beyond your control such as theft, vandalism, and hail damage.
  • Pet Coverage: Add this option to your policy if your pet frequently rides with you. If they are injured in an accident, your policy pays for up to $500 of your vet bills.
  • Personal Item Coverage: Your personal item coverage pays for the loss of personal items left in your car up to $350.
  • Locksmith Services: This option reimburses you for locksmith charges up to $75 if you lock your keys in your car.
  • Emergency Roadside Assistance: This option covers the cost of towing and on-site labor expenses in the event your car breaks down, you have a flat tire or run out of gas.

Claims Satisfaction

erie insurance logo

When you read through the Erie Auto insurance reviews online, claims satisfaction is one of the most important categories to review.

This is because once you purchase a policy, the only contact you’ll likely have with the company will be if and when you have to file a claim.

We believe that you can sum up claims satisfaction with three key performance indicators: timeliness, communication, and ease of service interaction.

However, the J.D. Power 2017 Auto Claims Satisfaction Study breaks the claims process down even further, giving you a really detailed glance at how well each company on the list handles claims.

Erie Auto landed in third place, beating out some of the industry’s major players including Geico, Nationwide, and Allstate.

Amica Mutual and Auto-Owners Insurance were the only two companies to achieve higher scores.

When you look at the scores for each individual category, you’ll find that Erie Auto insurance reviews show a Better Than Most rank for the categories First Notice of Loss, Claim Servicing and Settlement.

It ranked even better in the Estimation Process, Repair Process, and Rental Experience categories, scoring an Among the Best (the highest possible score) for each one.

Overall Customer Satisfaction

Before committing to a policy, you should check out the Erie Auto Insurance ratings for overall satisfaction as well.

After all, even though claims satisfaction is important, it’s not the only factor.

Ideally, you should choose an insurance company that provides excellent customer service, makes the buying process as simple as possible, and has a good method in place for handling customer complaints.

Fortunately, with Erie Auto Insurance, you don’t have to worry about the buying process.

The J.D. Power 2018 Shopping Study gave Erie the highest-possible rating for overall satisfaction, beating out both USAA and Auto-Owners Insurance.

The study digs even further, though, scoring companies in individual categories.

Erie scored an Among the Best rating in the Pricing and Local Agent categories and a Better Than Most rating in the Policy Offerings category.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)’s complaint database shows consumers how many complaints an insurance company has within a specific time frame, as well as how the company’s average number of complaints varies over the years.

This can give you a fairly idea of how well insurance companies handle complaints with customers, though, since these are typically handled internally.

Very disgruntled customers are usually the only consumers who take the time to file a complaint with the NAIC. Regardless, Erie (NAIC #26263) has a low complaint ratio of 0.77, which is below the national average of 1.00.

Also, when you look at the number of complaints filed against the company from 2015 through 2018, you’ll see a drastic decrease.

The company had a total of 85 complaints in 2015, but that amount decreased to only 23 complaints in 2018—a staggering 66 percent drop.

Pricing

A lot of different variables can go into determining an auto insurance premium.

This is why most companies have complicated algorithms in place to weigh the pros and cons of insuring each prospective customer.

Some of the things they consider include your age, how long you’ve been a licensed driver, where you live, the type of vehicle you drive, and your gender.

And of course, they also take into account your driving history, and whether you’ve been in accidents or collisions.

When shopping for insurance, it’s important to remember that your personal information and driving history differs from your friend’s, family member’s, or neighbors.

This means that what they pay for auto insurance will probably differ considerably from what you would pay for a policy from the same company.

For example, a single male who has been licensed 8 years, drives a Honda CR-V, lives in Alleghany County, Maryland, and has no violations on his record, would pay $2,850 for full coverage that includes collision and comprehensive.

This is considered a mid-range premium for this scenario, comparable to State Farm at $2,636 and Amica Mutual at $2,956.

Cincinnati Insurance shows a reduced rate of $1,451 and Dairyland Insurance offers one of the highest at $5,272.

The good news is that the Erie Auto Insurance reviews collected during the J.D. Power 2018 Shopping Study shows a rating of Among the Best in pricing.

This is the highest rating possible, so there’s a good chance you’d receive a fair rate with Erie Auto, regardless of your personal driving history and other factors.

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Financial Strength

You should always assess an insurance company’s financial strength before purchasing an insurance policy.

This way you know that you’re purchasing a policy from a company that has enough assets to pay for any claim you file, even in the case of some sort of catastrophe, with multiple claims coming in around a short time period.

Erie Auto Insurance’s ratings for financial stability are pretty good.

The company received an “A+” Financial Stability Rating (FSR) and an “AA” long-term insurer credit rating (Long-Term ICR) from A.M. Best, which also has the financial outlook for the company listed as stable.

Fitch Ratings also gave Erie Auto Insurance a high score “A” for financial stability.

As you can see from these Erie Auto Insurance reviews, a variety of studies come into play when evaluating a company.

Use this review to decide if Erie Auto Insurance is the right company for your needs and budget.