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Safeco Auto Insurance has been protecting individuals and families with comprehensive vehicle insurance coverage since 1923.

The firm became a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual in 2008, which provided it with the financial backing needed to become a significant player in the personal insurance field.

Safeco encourages community involvement with its Make More Happen awards that are bestowed on insurance agents who have made a difference in nonprofit projects.

safeco auto insurance

This Safeco Auto insurance review provides information about the company’s auto insurance ratings and financial health.

Safeco Insurance

Safeco Auto offers four types of auto insurance options in addition to the traditional comprehensive, collision, and liability coverages.

Roadside Assistance: This covers towing to the nearest qualified repair shop and other basic emergency services, including changing a flat tire or delivering gas, oil, or other essential auto fluids.
Rental Car Reimbursement: When your car is in the shop for repairs after a covered accident, you can use rental car reimbursement to cover the cost of driving a rental until yours is fixed.
Emergency Assistance Package: This coverage option includes all the benefits of Roadside Assistance plus up to $100 for expenses and up to $500 for meals, lodging, and transportation if you’re involved in an accident more than 25 miles away from home.
Loan and Lease Coverage: If your vehicle is declared a total loss as the result of an accident, and you still have a loan or lease on the vehicle, this coverage helps pay for the possible difference between how much is left on your loan or lease and the depreciated value of your car.

Safeco Pricing

The cost of insurance varies tremendously from person to person because it’s based on a number of factors, including:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Type of your car you drive
  • Where you live
  • Your credit score
  • Your driving history

Each insurance company has a proprietary formula or algorithm that determines your premium rates based on your individual situation.

For this section, we’re going to look at Safeco Auto Insurance review pricing based on the following two scenarios:

1. Single female (licensed 9 years): One car, one violation and one no-fault accident in the preceding 3 years, work driving use 12,000 miles per year, and living in Miami-Dade County, Florida
2. Single male (licensed 9 to 15 years): One car, Toyota Camry, no violations, driving around 12,600 to 15,000 a year, and living in San Francisco, California.

For scenario one—the female driver living in Florida—Safeco Auto insurance rates would break down like this:

  • Individuals are required to carry coverage for up to $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and $10,000 in Property Damage (PD) in Florida. The combined monthly premium for this driver in Florida with this minimum coverage would be $1,281 annually.
  • Individuals who purchase more than the minimum required coverage, such as Bodily Injury, Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists, and Medical Payments, for instance, can expect their annual premiums to be around $3,861 with Safeco Auto.

For scenario two—the single male driving a Toyota Camry and living in California—Safeco Auto insurance rates would be as follows:

  • This male driver can expect to pay $1,070 in annual premiums for basic liability coverage. This assumes he lives in the Sunset District of San Francisco.

In this scenario, Safeco resides about in the middle of the pack in regard to premium costs. The company’s rates are slightly higher than Hartford and State Farm but lower than Nationwide and Allstate.

Safeco Claims Satisfaction

Claims servicing is one of the top drivers of customer satisfaction with an insurance company, as it’s one of the primary ways that consumers interact with their insurance providers.

After all, nobody thinks about contacting their insurance company unless there’s a problem, and that’s when claim servicing comes into play.

Safeco Auto is rated fairly low in the areas of claim servicing, according to a U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study from J.D. Power. Safeco received a 2 rating across the board, including the areas of Overall Satisfaction and Claim Servicing.

Other categories in which Safeco Auto received low auto insurance reviews include:

  • First Notice of Loss
  • Estimation Process
  • Repair Process
  • Rental Experience
  • Settlement

These Safeco Auto insurance ratings are nominal compared to Safeco Auto’s competitors, including Progressive, who received mostly 3 ratings (aside from a 4 in Rental Experience), and Esurance, who also received primarily 3 ratings. Amica Mutual received the highest ratings of all, with either 4 or 5 ratings in all auto insurance claims areas.

Three KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) were examined for the J.D. Power claims satisfaction rating:

  • Communication
  • Ease of Service Interaction
  • Timeliness

These three KPIs are important for good claims servicing, and Safeco Auto ranked poorly in these areas, which contributed to its overall rating of 820 points on a 1000-point scale.

Overall Customer Satisfaction Ratings

While handling claims quickly, fairly, and efficiently has a significant effect on customer satisfaction, there are many other elements that contribute to a harmonious relationship between a consumer and an insurance company.

J.D. Power’s Insurance Shopping Study shows Safeco Auto insurance ratings as generally mediocre compared to its competitors.

Safeco Auto received an overall 3 rating in the areas of:

  • Policy offerings
  • Pricing
  • Overall satisfaction

It did score fairly well for positive interactions with local agents and staff, as it received a 4 in this category. While Safeco Auto insurance did do better than its larger competitors, such as MetLife, Allstate, and State Farm, it didn’t do as well as USAA or Erie Insurance, which received higher marks in the shopping study for Policy Offerings, Pricing, Local Agent, Call Center Representative, and Insurer’s Website.

Complaints

According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Safeco Auto insurance reviews show a history of several complaints in multiple states, including:

  • New Hampshire
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Oregon
  • Texas

Data from the 2017 California Consumer Complaint Study, which studied the number of complaints against 50 auto insurance companies in California, reports that Safeco was ranked 32 on a list of 50 insurance companies.

California was selected for comparison because it is the most populous state in the U.S. Safeco Auto writes 345,346 auto insurance policies in California and has a ratio of 6.1 complaints per every 100,000 policies, which is less than Farmers Insurance at 7.2.

Financial Strength

While financial strength might not be the first thing you think about when evaluating insurance companies, it definitely should be considered.

An auto insurance company’s financial strength is a good indicator of how certain you can be that the company will honor its policy obligations, even in times of heavy claims experience (such as during a major disaster).

To test the strength of an insurance company, you can turn to one of five independent agencies, whose purpose it is to evaluate the financial strength of insurance companies.

Standard and Poor’s last outlook on Safeco Auto was determined to be “stable” and S & P also confirmed Safeco Auto’s “BBB+” rating on the Better Business Bureau. Fitch has given Safeco (as a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual) an A- (strong) and has increased the firm’s outlook from stable to positive.

As you study this Safeco Auto insurance review, remember to take an objective look at all the determining factors. This helps you make an informed decision about the best insurance for your situation.