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Reviewed By Micah Pratt
on October 10, 2016

Obrella.com general Ranking The General

Overall 3.5 / 5

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The General car insurance quotes are highly specific. That means that the cost of your premiums will be different from your friends, your neighbors even your family members. What’s more, different car insurance companies can give different rates to exactly the same driver! The only way to know exactly the dollars you’ll spend is to get your own quote.

Get a Quote for The General

All the variations makes shopping around for car insurance quotes tricky. But that’s what we’re here for. We pulled rate information from multiple sources, like state insurance departments, and compared The General auto insurance quotes to its competitors among different groups. This information should help give you an estimate of what to expect to pay the company.

The General auto insurance has a particular customer in its sights. This driver is the average Joe or Jane who recently got a speeding ticket. There was also that fender-bender that was filed as a claim a couple years back.

According to our research, The General offers competitive rates to these higher risk drivers with sub-par records.

The General Car Insurance Quotes Overall Comparison

Overall, The General is more expensive than many of its competitors. But that’s not the whole story. When looking at rates for customers with poor driving records referred to as high-risk by the industry The General looks a lot better. This is important for these types of drivers, because having violations or multiple accident claims can drive up insurance rates significantly. That’s why we think The General is a good option for high-risk drivers.

The General Quotes for Single Drivers with Clean Driving Records
We looked at quotes from multiple carriers for drivers with good driving records. The General can be one of the more expensive options for these customers. We looked at 23 major companies in California, and The General ranked as thirteenth for cost. A 22-year-old single female in the California will pay about $995 per year. Compare that to Allstate, where the woman would pay just $780. The quotes were a little closer for single males, but Allstate was still the cheaper option. In addition, Allstate offers several discounts to its customers, especially for good drivers, which would make the end cost even cheaper. The General offers very few discounts, so the cost gap would be even wider.

22 Year Old Female25 Year Old Female25 Year Old Male31 Year Old Male
California Casualty
$629.87$519.66$588.03$476.83
Allstate$780.28$708.59$894.25$797.41
Safeco$1,035.06$877.61$952.42$814.13
The General$994.99$831.85$933.36$725.60
Farmers$1,446.55$990.92$1,118.14$859.37
State Farm$1,116.83$873.33$898.35$739.23

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The General Quotes for Drivers with Speeding Tickets
Having even just one speeding ticket on your record can increase your auto insurance rates. We compared quotes for drivers with one ticket, and once again, The General was not the cheapest. However, in this category, The General becomes more competitive and closer to the other companies.

22 Year Old Female25 Year Old Female25 Year Old Male31 Year Old Male
California Casualty
$786.70$742.84$742.58$653.03
Allstate$1,272.77$1,161.82$790.44$725.27
Safeco$1,339.31$1,212.48$1,321.55$1,078.38
The General$1,123.43$1,031.04$1,033.74$847.28
Nationwide$1,546.28$1,167.20$1,251.17$918.94
State Farm$1,275.25$1,018.15$1,144.42$896.02

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A single 22-year-old female driver would pay about $1,123 per year with The General. Allstate, State Farm, Safeco, and Nationwide all come in higher for this category. Nationwide’s quotes were at $1546 $423 more per year, or about $35 per month, cheaper. While these other companies usually offer first-time accident or violation forgiveness, you can see that as drivers’ records move toward less-than-perfect, The General becomes a more attractive option.

The General Quotes for Drivers with 1 Speeding Ticket & 1 Accident
This is where we found The General to be especially competitive. When comparing drivers who had both a speeding ticket and an at-fault accident, The General came out cheapest for almost everyone.

Nationwide offers a single female in this category $2,712. The General gives this same customer a rate at just $1,427. With rates sometimes more than $1,000 cheaper per year, drivers with imperfect records will find this company to be a good option.

22 Year Old Female25 Year Old Female25 Year Old Male31 Year Old Male
The General$1,427.00$1,281.16$1,331.39$1,010.08
Amica Mutual$1,429.47$1,291.76$1,324.76$1,115.18
Allstate$2,326.63$1,819.89$2,073.03$1,511.06
Farmers$2,554.33$2,073.27$2,991.05$1,613.19
Nationwide$2,711.64$1,939.26$1,866.65$1,669.71
California Casualty$2,322.72$1,818.20$2,198.07$2,050.70

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How to Save with The General

Because The General can be on the more expensive side, you may be wondering how you could save some extra cash if you’re one of its customers. While the company doesn’t offer nearly as many discounts as its competitors, you do have a couple of options.

Full payment is a discount you can get if you pay your entire premium (usually a year’s worth) in one lump sum. If you’ve got the cash, this is a great way to save on the total cost. Just make sure you get an accurate quote.

How to Get an Accurate Quote from The General

When shopping for car insurance, there are a few steps you should take to ensure you get the most accurate quote possible. Doing so can potentially save you money, and save you headaches down the road. Here are three basic things to do when getting a quote for The General car insurance:

  1. Be honest.
  2. Shop around.
  3. Ask about discounts.

Most importantly, you should always be honest with car insurance companies when answering questions about your demographics, driving history, and vehicle. It may be tempting to gloss over that speeding ticket or accident you had a couple years back, but doing so puts you at risk for the future. Your rates won’t be calculated correctly to begin with, and when the car insurance company eventually learns about your history, your cost could jump dramatically. You may also be liable to pay legal fines for not disclosing all of the applicable information.

Next, you should always be willing to shop around. You probably don’t grab the first thing off the shelf when shopping for personal items like clothes or digital devices, so why would you do the same with car insurance? As we’ve shown above, rates for exactly the same driver can vary widely among different car insurance companies. You also may be eligible for more discounts with one insurer than another.

Speaking of discounts, make sure you ask about them. Nearly every car insurance company offers discounts to its customers, and you’re likely to benefit from at least one. Common ways to save include safe or good driver discounts, multiple insurance policy discounts, and full payment discounts.

Don’t let yourself pay too much money for car insurance. Be honest, shop around, and ask about discounts to keep more money in your wallet. Learn more about the best ways to save money on your auto insurance premium.

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How Happy are The General Customers with the Cost

Do you ever check Yelp before making a restaurant reservation? Have you read Amazon reviews when shopping for the latest gadget? To give you as much information about The General auto insurance before you buy, we researched the company and listened to its customers. We give The General 3.5 out of 5 stars for cost. This means that customers are generally satisfied with the cost of their car insurance, but not everyone was happy.

What we often heard about The General was that the company offered the best price when shopping around for auto insurance. It’s likely that these customers typically fall into the higher-risk category like we talked about above and that’s where The General is the most competitive. The company doesn’t offer many discounts, which could lead to some lower reviews. But again, discounts are usually reserved for drivers with good records, which isn’t The General’s bread and butter.

Read more in-depth information about The General auto insurance cost reviews.

The Final Word

If you’re a driver with at least one speeding ticket and one violation on your record, you really can’t go wrong with The General auto insurance. Our research showed that the company is one of the very cheapest for these higher risk drivers. Although you’ll still be paying more than other drivers with rosier records, you’ll likely save money in the long term. It’s a no-frills option for drivers who need basic coverage. If you’re ready to get your own quote for The General, call a licensed insurance agent at [mapi-phone /], or get a car insurance quote online delivered right to your email.

About The General Auto Insurance

The General, open since 1997, operates under Permanent General Company (PGC). American Family Insurance, which has more than 50 years experience writing auto insurance policies, owns both companies.

Before making any final decisions on your insurance company, it is important to learn as much as you can about your local insurance providers, and the coverages they offer. Call your local insurance agent to clear up any questions that you might have. Questions to consider asking include, “What is the best coverage plan for me/my family/my situation?” “What are the minimum coverage requirements in my state and what form of coverage do you recommend?” “Do you guys offer any bundle discounts if I take out both my auto insurance and home insurance with you?” and “What is the average rate of insurance quotes you guys offer?

Before making any big insurance decisions, use our free tool to compare insurance quotes near you. It’s simple, just plug in your zip code and we’ll do the rest!

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