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Overview

American Family Insurance (AmFam) is a privately held insurance company that offers property, casualty, and auto insurance for both businesses and individuals. Along with their standard auto insurance policies, AmFam also offers coverage for classic cars, motorcycles, boats, motor homes, and snowmobiles. The company, founded in 1927, is based in Wisconsin and serves 19 states: Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. Despite not operating in all 50 states, AmFam is the 13th largest insurer in the country and has been classified as a Fortune 500 company for over two decades. (For more information, read our “Cheap Car Insurance In Indiana“).

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Choose ifYou plan to insure the whole family including teen drivers.
Skip ifSingle and not planning to insure more than one vehicle.
DiscountsMultipolicy, Steer Into Savings, Early Bird, Low Mileage, Loyalty, Payment Methods (Auto Pay, Full Pay, Paperless), Good Student, Teen Safe Driver Program, Away at School, Young Volunteer, Generational, Safe Drivers
States ServedAZ, CO, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, MN, MO, ND, NE, NV, OH, OR, SD, UT, WA, and WI
Founded in1927
Notable FeaturesDreams Restored Program provides a network of repair shops providing lifetime warranties on repairs.
TeenSafe Driving App monitors teen’s driving habits, scoring their behavior on the road, and providing discounts once the teen has driven 3,000 miles or used the app for one year.
Glass Repair Program offers mobile auto glass repair.
Steer Into Savings offers discounts for switching over from a competitor.
Know Your Drive provides a user-installed device that tracks your driving habits, rewarding safe on-the-road behavior with a maximum 40% discount.

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Coverage & Discounts

Along with the standard offerings of comprehensive, collision, property damage, and bodily injury, AmFam offers an array of optional coverage you can add onto your policy.

american family insurance logo

These include medical expense and personal injury, underinsured and uninsured motorist, and accidental death and dismemberment. A big plus in AmFam’s column is the optional Gap Coverage, which can help bridge the difference between what the car is worth and what you still owe to the bank. (For more information about car insurance policies, click here.) The company provides a Glass Repair Program which provides an expedited claims process and mobile glass repair unit. AmFam also has an impressive list of discounts. Like most insurers, it offers discounted rates for having multiple policies with them, an easy feat given that they also provide coverage for homeowners, renters,  life and health, among others. It also offers specialized discounts for teen drivers, including a generational loyalty discount for teens whose parents are policyholders and a TeenSafe driving app. The app, which should be downloaded onto both the parents and the teen’s phones, monitors the teen’s behavior on the road, giving them a score depending on how safely they drive. After 3,000 miles driven or one year of using the app, whichever comes first, the policyholders would be eligible for a discount up to 10% of the total premium. The app, which records distracted driving, high speed, and hard braking, among other unsafe driving habits, could help teens avoid the likeliest causes of accidents in that age group. AmFam also provides discounts for drivers under 25 who do at least 40 hours a year of volunteer work, as well as for those maintaining at least a B average at school. (For more information, read our “Best Car Insurance for Teens“).

Current American Family Insurance Costs

Every insurance company uses its own particular math when it comes to determining how much of a risk a driver presents and, consequently, how much they will charge for coverage. It’s important to note that although price is always an essential consideration, it should not be the determining factor in choosing insurance providers or coverage. After all, lower rates often mean less coverage, which can result in costly repairs and/or expensive medical bills if you were to get into an accident.

American Family Insurance Breakdown

Insurance rates depend on many factors, including age, gender, and location. To provide a sample of rates, we used two different scenarios provided by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. For both scenarios, we used one of the state’s most populated cities, Aurora, as a reference. Scenario 1: A 35-year-old married male, who drives less than 15 miles to work each way. He has not had an accident or traffic convictions within the last three years. For this driver, American Family Insurance would offer an approximate rate of $1,239, while comparable companies Amica and State Farm would offer $1,724 and $1,112 respectively. Overall, AmFam compares favorably to other insurers in this scenario, with its offered rate being slightly below the average found for this location and type of driver. Scenario 2: A 21-year-old single woman, who drives less than 10 miles to work each way and has not had an accident or traffic conviction within the past three years. Under this scenario, AmFam’s rate would be approximately $2,409, while Amica and State Farm would offer $2,320 and $1,867. Additionally, when comparing it against the close to 70 companies listed for Colorado, AmFam’s rate for this scenario is above the average price for the location and type of driver.

Consumer Satisfaction

American Family Insurance receives an A+ grade from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), but averages just slightly above 1 star in consumer reviews. As of the end of 2018, more than 290 complaints against the company have been closed within the previous three years, which is a moderate amount given the size of the company and the millions of policies it issues per year. Most complaints centered around delays or refusals to pay claims and rising premiums. Another way of gauging consumer satisfaction is by taking a look at the company’s ratio of complaints filed with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, an organization comprised of insurance regulators across the country and which establishes the insurance industry’s standards. In the case of AmFam, its complaint ratio is significantly below the median for comparable insurers. JD Power’s Insurance Shopping Study for 2018 gives American Family a 4 out of 5 score (“Better than Most”) across all categories, including overall customer satisfaction, policy offerings, pricing, and local agent experience.

American Family Insurance Nitty Gritty

Although AmFam operates in only 19 states, it can still compete with the national insurers for many reasons. Along with their policies covering the basics, their extensive list of optional coverage allows drivers to truly customize policies in a way that works for them. There’s also their TeenSafe program, which rewards teens for safe driving behavior and can give parents not only a discount, but a way to monitor their child’s driving and flag potential safety issues. Read more: The Best Car Insurance For Parents Of Young Drivers

And, finally, there’s another big plus in their column: a network of repair shops that offer lifetime guarantees on their work. All this, along with competitive pricing, make American Family a great choice in the states it serves.

American Family Insurance Phone Number & Additional Details