The 6 Car Insurance Companies Customers Leave The Most, According To Consumer Reports

Are you a switcher? More and more drivers are shopping around and switching their auto insurance companies when they find a better deal. Consumer Reports surveyed 40,000 policyholders last year and found that 30% had switched carriers sometime in the last five years. JD Power reported that well over half of policyholders in 2024 shopped around. (In fact, many people are cutting or even dropping their car insurance — though you shouldn't do that — to save money.) According to Consumer Reports, people often save significantly when they do switch.

What's surprising, though, is which companies consumers are switching away from. The companies with the worst switching ratios (percentage of customers switching to/percentage of customers switching away), according to Consumer Reports, are Liberty Mutual (43%/57%), Hanover (41%/59%), Geico (40%/60%), Kemper (35%/65%), Farmers (34%/66%), and Nationwide (28%/72%). One would think from how well known most of those names are that they wouldn't be hemorrhaging clients.

Consumer Reports has long recommended shopping around insurance rates every year or two. That advice certainly makes sense from a financial standpoint. It's no coincidence the companies with the worst switching ratios are often more expensive compared to other carriers, especially the ones with the best switching ratios. A lot of people don't realize that shopping around could save them money, even after an accident, speeding ticket, or DUI. At the very least, it's worth a few phone calls or checking online.

It's never good when more of a company's customers switch away than sign up. That's the case with all of the companies on our list, though Liberty Mutual isn't the worst exammple. Still, 43% of Liberty Mutual customers who made a change during those five years switched to them, as opposed to the 57% who switched away.

Why have the customers switched away? There can be a number of reasons, though Consumer Reports makes the point that two-thirds of the 40,000 customers it surveyed (not just Liberty Mutual customers) switched away from their former carriers for cost-related reasons. Liberty Mutual's rates are in line with that reasoning. The company on average, charges drivers in their 30s $2,686 per year for full coverage, which is $400 above the national average, and $1,100 higher than State Farm, a large nationwide competitor. Liberty Mutual raised its rates by 31.1% between 2022 and 2023, right in the middle of the time period specified in the survey. 

Might there be other reasons customers have switched away? According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, most complaints filed with state agencies about Liberty Mutual had to do with claim handling, including delays and adjuster handling. We expected more from you, LIMU Emu.

Geico is sort of a surprise entry on this list, and not because of how cute that little gecko is. The company's rates are lower than most of its competitors and generally lower than the national average, especially when it comes to minimum (liability-only) coverage. Teen drivers, for instance, are charged on average just $152 per month for liability, as opposed to the national average of $190.

Geico seems to be one of the more forgiving insurance companies, too, with lower-than-average liability rates for drivers with a DUI, a speeding ticket, or an at-fault accident. It also offers significant discounts for things like airbags and having an anti-theft system, although in 2024, it notified several customers that it would not renew the policies on their Cybertrucks.

Yet for some reason, Geico's switching to/switching away ratio, 40% to 60%, was even worse than Liberty Mutual's. Why might customers be switching away? Well, even though it has some of the lowest rates, it did raise its rates between 2022 and 2023 by 29.1%. Customers have a tendency to switch when that happens, even when those rates are still lower than the national average. 

A commenter at Insurify, Brian, said Geico raised his rates by $145 a month only five months after he signed up for a policy, prompting him to switch. Another commenter, Audrey, said she had been with Geico for over 10 years, yet has decided it's time for a change, since the carrier's rates "keep going higher and higher".

For every customer who has switched to Farmers in the last five years, nearly two have switched away. It has the second-worst switching ratio on the list, with 34% of Farmers customers in the survey having switched to the company in the past five years, and 66% having switched away. In other words, it's been bleeding customers.

It's not hard to imagine why drivers have been fleeing this company, given its pricing. On average, Farmers charges a 35-year-old driver with a clean driving record over $4,000 a year for full-coverage. That's about twice as much as several other major insurers. The company charges on average $102 per month or $1,218 per year for liability only. Compare that to a national average of $626 per year. And check your credit score before signing up; poor credit will get you an annual premium of $7,523 for full coverage on average.

High prices may not be the only reason people have been switching away from this carrier. Farmers made Consumer Reports' 2024 lowest-rated car insurance list, as did all of the other major carriers we list here except for Nationwide. It scored low in overall customer satisfaction, coverage, help and advice, policy review, and service. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, most complaints filed with state agencies against Farmers have had to do with policyholder service and claim handling, but "premium & rating" and "premium notice/billing" were also high on the list.

Nationwide's switching ratio is so bad (28% switched to/72% switched away), it's a wonder the company manages to stay in business. Its market share has certainly slipped in the past several years. In 2009, it was in sixth place, dropping to eighth place by 2018, then out of the top 10 altogether by 2024.

Predictably, it's one of the more expensive insurance carriers, though not as expensive as Farmers. Full coverage costs an average of $233 per month or $2,794 per year, compared to the national average of $194 per month, or $2,324 per year. That $2,794 per year is also the average Nationwide will charge a 35-year-old driver with a clean driving record, several hundred dollars more than Geico, Progressive, and State Farm and over $1,000 more than Travelers. 

Like Farmers, Nationwide is not kind to those with poor credit, charging those customers $4,192 per year. It's not incredibly forgiving, either. One speeding ticket will get you an annual premium of $3,803 for full coverage; it's $4,525 for drivers who have been in an at-fault crash, and $5,948 for a DUI. If you've had any of those, Nationwide is not on your side.

We should point out that Nationwide does have several discounts and interesting extras. For example, it offers a discount for students between 16 and 24 who maintain at least a B average. It also offers a vanishing deductible, taking off $100 for every accident-free year, up to $500.

We separated The Hanover and Kemper from the rest of the list, as they are regional companies, not available nationwide. You can often find good deals with a regional company, but not so much with these two. 

The Hanover sells policies in just 19 states, and it's on par with Farmers as far as price goes, charging on average $334 per month or $4,012 per year for full coverage. Liability costs $123 per month or $1,471 per year, much higher than the national average of $626. Drivers with poor credit should just shop somewhere else, as they could find themselves charged upward of $14,466 per year, or $1,206 per month.

Kemper is available in almost 40 states, but it is still considered a regional carrier. It's also considered nonstandard, in that it specializes in drivers who might have trouble getting coverage anywhere else, maybe due to a DUI or having let their policy lapse. Kemper's rates aren't extremely high, but a little higher than average: $206 per month or $2,467 per year for full coverage and $87 per month or $1,044 per year for minimum coverage, on average. Kemper is probably a good "starter carrier" for drivers with blemished driving records or credit histories, explaining the company's high turnover of customers.

We should note that your individual experiences with all of these companies might be different, as rates are based on a lot of different factors. But it's still a good idea to shop around.