From the cheapest car insurance companies in New Jersey to the most popular insurance providers, we have it all for you Garden State dwellers. If you’re proud of your accent, not so proud of your notorious reality TV legacy, and have a strong divide between professional sports teams, this page is for you.
What Are You Looking For?
- New Jersey’s Cheapest Companies
- Most Popular New Jersey’s Car Insurance Providers
- Customer Satisfaction Ratings
- Our Recommendation
New Jersey’s Cheapest Providers
We did the math based on a lot of data to find that drivers in New Jersey spend about $1,000 annually at the low end and top out at over $3,500 with some insurance providers. You’ll want to take a look at our data below so you know where to find the best rates.
| New Jersey's Cheapest Car Insurance | Average Annual Rate |
|---|---|
| Farmers | $955.25 |
| Plymouth Rock | $1,154.92 |
| Travelers | $1,158.81 |
| Norfolk & Dedham | $1,230.41 |
| USAA | $1,270.57 |
| National General | $1,273.95 |
| Amtrust | $1,273.95 |
| Foremost Insurance | $1,451.52 |
| Pennsylvania Lumbermens | $1,532.36 |
| CSAA | $1,548.29 |
| PURE | $1,586.95 |
| California Casualty | $1,690.22 |
| The Hartford | $1,787.18 |
| Esurance | $1,792.50 |
| American Commerce Insurance | $1,841.82 |
| CURE | $1,852.39 |
| Progressive | $1,876.15 |
| New Jersey Manufacturers | $1,906.84 |
| Allstate | $1,966.41 |
| Amica Mutual | $1,971.49 |
| Mercury | $1,977.22 |
| Ameriprise Financial | $2,018.78 |
| American National Financial | $2,023.16 |
| 21st Century | $2,075.50 |
| Electric Insurance | $2,132.29 |
| GEICO | $2,154.33 |
| ACE | $2,181.42 |
| Selective | $2,209.81 |
| State Farm | $2,356.92 |
| Liberty Mutual | $2,371.46 |
| IFA | $2,392.65 |
| MetLife | $2,411.28 |
| Allianz | $2,492.82 |
| Nationwide | $2,538.01 |
| Kemper | $2,610.72 |
| AIG | $2,700.79 |
| Hanover | $2,906.63 |
| Chubb | $3,081.49 |
| American Independent Insurance | $3,536.02 |
* We took a look at 30 zip codes and five driver profiles to find annual averages for 40 companies based on data from New Jersey’s insurance department.
Most Popular New Jersey Car Insurance Carriers
It’s important to look at an insurance company’s “popularity”—or what we like to call “market share.” It shows the percentage of customers a company has compared to competitors.
Take GEICO for instance. We found that it’s Jersey’s 29th cheapest car insurance provider, but it has the most customers out of any other company in the state. Why is this? It might be that it offers better coverage or service and customers are willing to pay more for it. Farmers is New Jersey’s cheapest provider for average drivers, but it has a tiny market share in comparison.
Just take a look to see how popularity and price compare. You’ll find that the cheapest options aren’t always the most popular and vice versa.
| Market Share Percent | Average Annual Rate | |
|---|---|---|
| GEICO | 17.4 | $2,154.33 |
| New Jersey Manufacturers | 13.37 | $1,906.84 |
| Allstate | 12.98 | $1,966.41 |
| Progressive | 9.76 | $1,876.15 |
| State Farm | 8.65 | $2,356.92 |
| Plymouth Rock | 7.83 | $1,128.72 |
| Liberty Mutual | 7.58 | $2,371.46 |
| USAA | 3.56 | $1,270.57 |
| Travelers | 3.21 | $1,158.81 |
| Farmers | 2.94 | $955.25 |
Customer Satisfaction Ratings
A “complaint index” shows the percentage of customers who complain compared to the amount a company has in that area (market share). What you need to know about complaint index is that lower numbers mean less customers are complaining. A company with low numbers is probably a good choice because it means you’ll have better odds of being a happy customer too.
This chart starts with the worst New Jersey auto insurance providers based on high customer complaint levels. Through our research, we found that Personal Service Insurance has a lot of complaints, while Mercury, Founders, Encompass, Chubb, and Selective Auto Insurance have much better customer service.
Take a look to see how insurance companies you’re interested in are doing with customer service.
| Company | Number of Comlaints | Complaint Index | # of Vehicles INSURED |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury Indemnity Co of America | 0 | 0 | 21,515 |
| Founders Ins Co | 0 | 0 | 21,429 |
| Encompass Group | 0 | 0 | 39,912 |
| Chubb Insurance of New Jersey | 0 | 0 | 18,702 |
| Selective Insurance | 0 | 0 | 38,514 |
| NJM Group | 4 | 0.208 | 794,137 |
| Plymouth Rock | 3 | 0.455 | 272,484 |
| Travelers | 2 | 0.469 | 176,070 |
| Palisades Group *Part of Plymouth Rock | 2 | 0.492 | 168,002 |
| Farmers | 1 | 0.687 | 60,119 |
| California State Auto Group | 2 | 0.702 | 117,622 |
| State Farm Group | 11 | 0.921 | 493,518 |
| American Commerce Insurance | 1 | 0.989 | 41,742 |
| Allstate | 17 | 1.139 | 616,259 |
| Liberty Mutual | 11 | 1.208 | 375,951 |
| USAA | 7 | 1.211 | 238,735 |
| Esurance | 2 | 1.342 | 61,556 |
| Progressive | 16 | 1.392 | 474,850 |
| CURE | 2 | 1.559 | 52,980 |
| GEICO | 37 | 1.585 | 964,100 |
| NJ Skylands Insurance Association | 1 | 1.726 | 23,935 |
| 21ST CENTURY | 4 | 1.772 | 93,221 |
| MetLife | 4 | 1.816 | 90,972 |
| Amica Mutual | 2 | 1.973 | 41,860 |
| American National Financial | 1 | 2.296 | 17,990 |
| Hanover Insurance | 2 | 2.67 | 30,934 |
| IDS | 2 | 2.708 | 30,505 |
| The Hartford | 3 | 5.848 | 21,189 |
| IFA Insurance Company | 6 | 9.719 | 25,497 |
| Personal Service Insurance | 11 | 16.515 | 27,508 |
*Complaint Ratio = Valid Complaints to 1,000 Insured Autos Ratios Calculated for Companies with at least 10,000 autos 2014 Auto Insurance Consumer Information Report
**Valid Complaints: The insurer, licensee, producer, or other regulated entity committed any violation of: an applicable state insurance law or regulation; a federal requirement that the state Department of Insurance has the authority to enforce; or, the term/condition of an insurance policy or certificate; or the complaint and entity’s response, considered together, indicate that the entity was in error.
***Complaint Index = How the Insurer’s Complaint Ratio compares with all other insurers on the report. The average is equal to 1.00 Below 1.00 is better; above 1.00 is worse
Our Recommendation
We want you to make up your own mind. Our purpose here is just to make sure you have all the information you need to do it. The one piece of advice we do have for you when you’re picking a car insurance company is to go with one that’s great across a number of categories.
If you’re looking for cheap, our data concludes that Farmers is the best. However, it’s ranked 10th in popularity (market share). We also found that Palisades, Travelers, Norfolk & Dedham, and USAA all rank in the top 10 for price and market share, but not for customer satisfaction (complaint index).
What you need to do is figure out your insurance priorities and then make the best overall choice. If you’re feeling anxious about all this, let licensed agents help. Give one a call now to get started.
Where We Found The Facts
We fact-check like it’s going out of style to find all the relevant and honest information out there about car insurance. The one thing that might not be true to your life are the average quotes you’ve seen on this page. While they are true for average drivers, you might not fit that bill entirely. Every driver is different, so the best way to get an accurate premium is to call for a quote. We just wanted to give you a good idea of what to expect by giving you a ballpark average to go on.
Source Links:
- valuepenguin.com
- New Jersey Department of Insurance