Safeco insurance review 2024

Safeco’s auto insurance product earned a 4.3 Bankrate Score out of a possible 5.0, making it one of the best car insurance companies in Bankrate’s analysis. Safeco’s high score comes down to a few key strengths: it’s available in most states, offers a wide range of coverage add-ons and discounts and receives generally strong third-party ratings for financial strength and claims satisfaction. However, some customers report difficulty with customer service, which contributed to the carrier scoring well below average for overall customer satisfaction in multiple regions of J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Auto Insurance Study.

Safeco has an A (Excellent) financial strength rating from AM Best. In addition to standard coverage options like liability, collision and uninsured motorist coverage, Safeco offers customers a variety of add-ons, like rental car reimbursement and new vehicle replacement, for full coverage policies. And for safe drivers, Safeco offers a unique perk: the company’s Claims Free Cash Back program promises the automatic return of up to 5 percent of your premium each year if you avoid filing claims.

Pros and cons of Safeco car insurance

Part of car insurance shopping is reviewing carriers to ensure they offer what you need. Here are some pros and cons when it comes to Safeco car insurance:

Safeco’s home insurance offerings are robust, especially for customers seeking a home insurance company with multiple endorsements. In addition to standard dwelling and liability coverages, Safeco offers seven optional add-ons, from riders for valuable coverage like jewelry and art to identity theft coverage starting at $1 a month. The opt-in Guaranteed Repair Network feature even offers a guaranteed labor and material warranty.

Despite these strong coverage options, Safeco’s home insurance product only earned a 3.3 Bankrate Score, primarily due to the company’s below-average scores for both customer satisfaction and claims handling in the latest J.D. Power studies. It’s still worth considering home insurance quotes from Safeco in your search, but keep the potential tradeoff between cost and service in mind.

Pros and cons of Safeco homeowners insurance

Safeco’s auto and home insurance products offer competitive coverage with plenty of potential for customization, but it falls behind the competition when it comes to customer satisfaction. However, because Safeco doesn’t make its rates available for analysis, the best way to compare Safeco with other carriers is to request multiple quotes for comparison. Comparing rates along with third-party ratings and customer reviews may help you determine whether Safeco is the right fit for your insurance needs.

As a Liberty Mutual company, Safeco has solid financial strength ratings, a solid lineup of coverage options for both auto and home insurance and unique perks like the Guaranteed Repair Network for auto and home. However, unreliable or underwhelming customer service appears to be a consistent theme in Safeco insurance reviews, in both expert third-party ratings and individual customer responses.

What are real-life customers saying about Safeco?

To get a better handle on why Safeco performs so poorly in customer satisfaction surveys, Bankrate’s insurance editorial team scoured online forums and social media to hear from actual customers. We looked closely at discussions on Reddit and YouTube for customer voices, and found that while some customers received affordable rates and decent service from Safeco, poor claims handling created a negative experience for others.

Reddit

The most positive feedback for Safeco came from Reddit, where some users expressed frustration with their Safeco claims experience but others reported positive interactions with customer service.

YouTube

In contrast to Reddit, Safeco policyholders reported generally negative experiences with Safeco in YouTube comments. Rejected claims and dropped policies were two major complaints for Safeco policyholders, along with generally negative feedback regarding customer service.

Safeco company details

Safeco offers customer support through an online portal or your local agent. Insurance claims can be filed online or via a customer service number.

• Customer service: Safeco recommends logging into the customer support center or reaching out to your agent for any policy questions or service.
• Claims: Claims can be filed online or by calling 1-800-332-3226.
• Glass claims: Glass claims can be filed online.
• Roadside assistance: 1-877-762-3101 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)

State availability 

Safeco writes home and auto insurance in all states except Alaska, Delaware and Hawaii. It is also not available in Washington, D.C. Safeco does not write homeowners insurance in Florida and has placed restrictions on new homeowners policies in certain areas of California.

Safeco tools and benefits

Safeco’s financial protection options extend beyond just vehicle and property coverage. If you’re considering the carrier and want to bundle all your policies, you should know that Safeco also offers the following coverage types:

• Motorcycle insurance: With Safeco’s motorcycle insurance, 24/7 roadside assistance comes standard with your policy.
• Classic car insurance: Safeco insures classic vehicles on an agreed value basis. Plus, if you drive less than 5,000 miles per year, you could save on your policy.
• Recreational vehicles: This policy can protect both your personal property in your RV and aftermarket audio and visual equipment.
• ATV and off-road vehicle insurance: Safeco’s ATV insurance policy includes bodily injury liability, guest passenger liability, property damage liability and gear replacement coverage.
• Renters insurance: You may get a discount if you bundle your renters insurance policy with an auto policy from Safeco.

Frequently asked questions about Safeco

Bankrate Scores

Our 2024 Bankrate Score considers variables our insurance editorial team determined impacts policyholders’ experiences with an insurance company. These rating factors include a robust assessment of each company’s product availability, financial strength ratings, online capabilities and customer and claims support accessibility. Each factor was added to a category, and these categories were weighted in a tiered approach to analyze how companies perform in key customer-impacting categories.

Each category was assigned a metric to determine performance, and the weighted sum adds up to a company’s total Bankrate Score — out of 5 points. Our scoring model provides a comprehensive view, indicating when companies excel across several key areas and highlighting where they fall short.

• Tier 1 (Cost & ratings): To determine how well auto and home insurance companies satisfy these priorities, average quoted premiums from Quadrant Information Services (if available), as well as any of the latest third-party agency ratings from J.D. Power, AM Best, Demotech and the NAIC, were analyzed.
• Tier 2 (Coverage & savings): We assessed companies’ coverage options and availability to help policyholders find a provider that balances cost with coverage. Additionally, we evaluated each company’s discount options listed on its website.
• Tier 3 (Support): To encompass the many ways an auto and home insurance company can support policyholders, we analyzed avenues of customer accessibility along with community support. This analysis incorporated additional financial strength ratings from S&P and Moody’s and factored a company’s corporate sustainability efforts.