Ameriprise Auto Insurance Review

Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance is the marketing name of IDS Property and Casualty Insurance Company and Ameriprise Insurance Company, both of which are subsidiaries of Ameriprise Financial.

It prides itself on maintaining high-quality customer service and handling all of its customers “with care.”

But before you start researching their insurance products and premium prices, you should check out this Ameriprise Auto insurance review to make sure that this insurance provider is truly a good fit for you and your family.

Ameriprise Auto Insurance

Ameriprise’s online quote feature lets you create a policy that has the coverage you need quickly.

The company offers a wide range of auto insurance coverage options including to a policyholder such as:

Liability Coverage

In most states, it’s required by law to carry a minimum amount of liability car insurance. This type of auto policy protects you from paying for property damage or personal injury claim expenses out of pocket in the event you’re involved in an at-fault accident with another motorist.

Gap Coverage

If you happen to be in an accident and need to replace your car, Ameriprise offers gap coverage. This covers the cost of the difference left between your lease or loan and your new car replacement. This is a great addition to your policy if you have a new or newer car.

Roadside Assistance and Towing

Ameriprise lets you add roadside assistance and towing directly to your auto insurance policy, which means you don’t have to maintain an additional auto club account to get the help you need if your car breaks down.

Essentially this covers the policyholder with accident travel expense coverage, making sure you and your family are protected while traveling. Some of the common items covered are tire changes and replacements, battery boosts, and even unlocking your car if you’re unable.

This coverage option offers lifetime renewability and rental car reimbursement, paying for the rental car while your car is being repaired or replaced.

Medical Payments Coverage

Also known as personal injury protection (PIP), medical payments coverage pays the cost of medical expenses for anyone in your vehicle at the time of an at-fault accident.

Comprehensive and Collision Coverage

This option pays for damage to your vehicle. If you’re financing your vehicle, there’s a good chance that your lender requires this type of coverage. Collision covers you if you collide with another object. Comprehensive insurance covers an Ameriprise customer from collisions as well as hail, fire, or acts of vandalism.

Discounts Offered

Ameriprise partners with Costco, offering discounts to Costco members such as free windshield replacements and stolen key coverage. Just like other insurance companies like Geico and Allstate, Ameriprise offers several driver discounts:

• Good Student: If you have a full-time student with good grades, check out the good student discount.
• Multi-vehicle: Have multiple cars to cover? Ameriprise offers a multi-car discount, covering all your vehicles at an overall discounted rate.
• Safety Features: Be sure when gathering an insurance quote, you mention any safety features your car contains. For example, anti-lock brakes, air bags, and theft deterrents, like garaging, are some of the most common discounted features.
• Bundling: Ameriprise also offers other types of insurance coverage like homeowners insurance, renters, and life insurance. It’s a great idea to speak to an Ameriprise financial advisor about how you can obtain life insurance through their subsidiary, Riversource. Ameriprise Financial Services is the specific name of the financial planning arm of the company. If you purchase a homeowners policy, you will be covered from identity theft, credit card fraud, lock replacement, and even food spoilage. Once you gather all your insurance needs at Ameriprise, your overall premiums will be discounted.
• Safe Driving: Insurance underwriters reference your driving record before assigning rates. You can qualify for several safe driving discounts for having a clean driving record. Ameriprise also offers policyholders accident forgiveness if you have three years of safe driving.

 

Claims Satisfaction Ratings

When you read through Ameriprise Auto insurance reviews, you should pay close attention to how well the company handles claims.

Most people think the company’s prices are the most important thing to reference, but you should also make sure that you choose an auto insurance company that processes claims quickly, efficiently, and fairly.

For the most part, we think claims satisfaction can be summed up by looking at three key performance indicators:

1. Timeliness
2. Communication
3. Ease of Service

While Ameriprise wasn’t listed in the 2017 Auto Claims Satisfaction Study completed by J.D. Power, its 2018 U.S Auto Insurance Study for the state of California gave the company a “Better Than Most” score for the Claims category.

This means that customers in California who participated in the survey indicated they had a positive experience when reporting losses to the company.

The company has a streamlined claims process that includes fast response times.

In fact, at Ameriprise, you have the option to file a claim online or over the phone, and once your claim is reported, a claims adjuster contacts you within one business day to kick things into gear.

The company’s website also provides you with detailed answers to the most common claims-related questions to help ease your mind. The BBB, or Better Business Bureau, gave Ameriprise an A+ award.

Ameriprise has a one-business-day response time, streamlined claims process, a large amount of claim-related information on its website, and customers are sure to notice.

Customer Reviews

Striving to provide great customer service is great, but do Ameriprise Auto insurance reviews reflect high levels of customer satisfaction overall?

To determine that, you need to examine more than simply how well Ameriprise handles claims.

Things like the policy purchasing process, handling complaints, and basic customer service are extremely important as well.

Even though the J.D. Power 2018 Shopping Study doesn’t provide Ameriprise Auto insurance ratings for the purchasing process, the company’s method seems simple and effective, featuring the dual option of getting a quote online or over the phone.

While you can’t start your policy online, the system does save your quote information, so when you call in to activate the policy, everything needed is already there. This procedure is pretty standard in the auto insurance industry.

In California, one of the most populous states in the U.S., consumers seem to be very satisfied with Ameriprise and all it has to offer.

In fact, the 2018 U.S. Auto Insurance Study for California placed Ameriprise at the top of the list.

The company received near-perfect scores in every category and an overall rating of “Among the Best.”

The Claims category showed Ameriprise’s lowest ranking, but they still received a 4 out of 5, which is considered “Better Than Most.”

Complaints

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)’s complaint database gave Ameriprise (NAIC #12504) a complaint ratio of 1.23. This is a bit higher than the national average of 1.00. However, since 2015 the total number of complaints filed has steadily decreased. In 2016, the NAIC received a total of 18 complaints nationwide about the company. This number decreased to 7 in 2017 and 4 in 2018.

Nevertheless, the 2017 California Consumer Complaint Study ranked IDS Property and Casualty Insurance Company at number 42 out of 50.

It shows a total of 39 justified complaints against Ameriprise in 2016. When compared with the company’s average exposure total for the year, 352,359, this left the company with a staggering 11.1 complaint ratio in the state.

It’s important to keep in mind though, that looking at the number of complaints filed doesn’t really give you the whole picture.

After all, Ameriprise topped the Overall Customer Satisfaction list in California, so even though complaints were filed, there’s probably a good chance the issues were resolved fast.

Pricing

Numerous variables go into determining the price of an auto insurance policy, but some of the main factors include your age, your gender, the number of violations you have, and where you live.

The California Department of Insurance has a rate estimation tool that lets consumers compare average annual premiums for different scenarios across a wide range of companies.

Comparing Costs to Other Top Providers

When you look at the average annual premiums for a single male living in San Francisco, California who drives a Toyota Camry, has been licensed between 9 and 15 years, has no violations on his record, and drives between 12,000 and 15,000 miles per year, the study shows that the annual premium for a basic liability policy written by IDS is $1,318.

This falls in the higher third of comparable carriers’ premiums.

It’s slightly higher than Liberty Mutual at $1,290 and a little bit lower than Farmers’ premium, which sits at $1,331.

If you take the same driver and move him to Long Beach, the IDS premium lowers to $1,058, which is a lot lower than Liberty Mutual’s premium of $1,452 and Farmers’ $1,344 premium.

On the other hand, if you add one traffic ticket to this guy’s record, his auto insurance cost jumps up to a whopping $1,674 per year.

In the same scenario, a female driver with one traffic ticket shows an annual premium of $1,568.

This is just one example of how insurance rates vary. Ameriprise insures drivers in several states. Because the location is one of the major variables used to calculate annual auto insurance costs, you should obtain a quote directly through Ameriprise to see your exact rates.

Financial Strength

People don’t often think about the financial strength of an insurance company when they look for a policy. However, it’s just as important to assess an insurance company’s financial health as it is to compare prices. You should choose a company with a strong financial outlook.

This way, if a major catastrophe occurs and a large number of claims are filed, you don’t have to worry about whether the company has enough money to pay yours.

Company Ratings

A quick look at Ameriprise Auto insurance reviews online shows that the company’s finances are in good shape. In fact, Ameriprise was bought out by American Family in 2019, widening the coverage range possibilities substantially. Ameriprise is located in Minneapolis and the auto and home insurance offices can be found in De Pere, Wisconsin.

A.M. Best lists the company’s financial outlook as stable.

It gave Ameriprise Insurance Company and IDS Property and Casualty Insurance Company A (Excellent) ratings for financial stability and A+ (Superior) long-term individual credit ratings.

S&P Global also gave the company an “A” rating and noted its financial and credit outlook as stable.

If you look beyond the Ameriprise Auto insurance ratings, you find that the company has over $800 billion in assets, and is a global financial leader that’s survived both the Great Depression and the Great Recession.