Foremost Auto Insurance Review

Who it’s best for:

• Customers who want to insure a variety of vehicles, as Foremost offers insurance policies for boats, motorcycles, golf carts, travel trailers, and a variety of other vehicles
• Customers who are looking for a diminishing deductible, as they can save money every year they don’t make a claim on their collision or comprehensive coverage policies

Who it’s not best for: 

• Drivers who are looking for cheap insurance policies, since Foremost’s $2,897 average annual cost is on the higher end. Don’t write off Foremost just yet, though. Acting in its capacity as a broker, Foremost sells Bristol West policies that cater to high-risk drivers, thus driving up Foremost’s average annual cost. If you’re not a high-risk driver, you may qualify for a significantly cheaper policy.

Foremost has its own car insurance offering, called Foremost Signature Auto. The table below offers more information about the different coverage levels of Foremost Signature Auto:

Learn more about the Foremost Signature Auto coverage options below:

• Bodily injury and property damage liability insurance: Together, these two forms of coverage make up liability insurance, some amount of which is legally required in every U.S. state except Virginia and New Hampshire. Liability insurance kicks in if you cause an accident. It pays for expenses related to injuries to parties other than yourself and your passengers, as well as for damage to other people’s property, including vehicles and other objects, like fences. GrandProtect policies also include worldwide liability coverage, which applies when you drive your car outside the U.S.
• Collision insurance: If your car is damaged in an accident that someone else causes, their insurance should pay for your repairs. However, if your car is damaged in an accident that you cause, you will need collision insurance to cover the cost of the repairs. You can also use collision insurance if the other person’s limits do not cover all of your damages.
• Comprehensive insurance: Comprehensive coverage insures your vehicle against damage that doesn’t come from other vehicles. This includes vandalism, theft, weather damage, falling trees, and animal collisions.
• Gap insurance: If your vehicle is declared a total loss after an accident, or if it’s stolen and isn’t recovered, loan and lease coverage will pay the difference between how much you owe on the car and how much your insurance would typically pay, minus your comprehensive or collision deductible.
• Medical payments coverage: While liability coverage can pay for medical care for others, optional medical payments coverage applies to your own injuries. This coverage also extends to any passengers in your car.
• New-vehicle replacement: If your newly acquired, Foremost-insured vehicle is totaled, this coverage helps you pay to replace it with another car of the same make, size, class, and body type.
• Rental reimbursement: Foremost’s rental reimbursement policy applies if you have to rent a car after a covered loss of your vehicle. Depending on which policy you choose, the company will reimburse you for the costs of a set number of days of renting a car.
• Rideshare coverage: If you’re a rideshare driver who uses your personal vehicle to drive for a company such as Uber or Lyft, you’ll want specialized rideshare insurance to make sure you’re always covered. Your personal insurance covers you when you’re not working, and the rideshare company covers you when there’s a passenger in your car, but what happens in between? Rideshare coverage kicks in when you have the rideshare app on and are waiting for a ride, as well as when you’ve accepted a ride request and are driving to the pickup spot.
• Towing and roadside service: Towing and roadside service coverage will pay for the cost of having your car towed if you need assistance on the road.
• Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage: Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage pays for costs you incur when a driver with no insurance or insufficient insurance causes an accident. It includes both medical costs and property damage costs. This form of insurance can also apply when the person who caused the accident can’t be identified, such as in a hit-and-run.

Our AutoInsurance.com market analysis found that the average annual cost for Foremost auto insurance is $2,897 per year. This means that Foremost’s average cost is significantly higher than the average annual price for car insurance of $1,070.47.

Because Foremost operates as both an insurance agent and a broker, this average cost is not necessarily reflective of all of Foremost’s insurance options. If you are not a high-risk driver, you may qualify for the company’s more affordable policies.

• Diminishing deductible: For each year you don’t have a claim on your comprehensive or collision insurance policies, you can pay a lower deductible by $250 to $500 maximum.
• Good driving discount: You can save on your insurance policy by maintaining a clean driving record and avoiding accidents and traffic violations.
• Safety device discount: If your car has working, factory-installed safety devices, such as airbags and seat belts for all seats, you can qualify for this discount.
• Paperless discount: This discount comes into play when you agree to receive your policy documents and bills via email rather than through postal mail. Existing policyholders can opt in at any time to save.
• Multicar discount: Both families and individuals can save by insuring multiple vehicles with Foremost. Learn how to add a vehicle to your policy.
• Multipolicy and bundling discounts: You can save by purchasing another Foremost policy – such as home, renters, or condominium insurance – in addition to your Foremost (or Bristol West) auto insurance policy. Foremost also offers convenient combined bills and deductibles when you bundle these policies.

Foremost auto insurance is available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

If you’re an existing Foremost customer, contact customer service through your My Foremost account desktop portal or through the Foremost Insurance Mobile app. In addition to these resources, Foremost offers multiple ways to get in contact with customer service.

To file a claim or check the status of an existing claim:

1. Call 800-527-3907 toll-free, 24 hours a day.
2. Go here to file a claim: https://claims.foremost.com/cmp/s/filealoss?SO=03.
3. Log in to check on an existing claim: https://claims.foremost.com/cmp/s/login/?SO=03.

To pay bills:

1. Call 800-532-4221 toll-free for a 24/7 automated phone system. To speak with a representative, call Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET.
2. Go here to make a one-time payment: https://www.myforemostaccount.com/PrimaryAuthn/makeapayment.
3. Mail your payment to the address below. Make sure you include the policy number and policyholder’s name, as well as the remittance slip or other proof of payment.
   • Regular mail:
     • Foremost Insurance Group
     • P.O. Box 0915
     • Carol Stream, IL 60132-0915
   • Overnight mail:
     • Foremost – Box #915
     • c/o Citibank Lockbox Operations
     • 8430 W Bryn Mawr Avenue, 3rd Floor
     • Chicago, IL 60631

Contact the policy services department:

1. Call 800-237-2060 toll-free Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. ET or Saturday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET.
2. Or, use this email form: https://www.foremost.com/contact/policy-holder.aspx.

Foremost offers an online customer portal called My Foremost. This portal allows the company’s policyholders to manage their policies, pay bills, and set up autopay and paperless communication preferences to receive a discount, among other options.

The company also offers a mobile app named Foremost Insurance Mobile for both iOS and Android devices. The app was first released in 2021, making Foremost a relatively new participant in the world of on-the-go availability. Both apps allow policyholders to review bills and make payments, review policies, file claims and check their statuses, and request roadside assistance. Users can also find the contact information for their agents and view and share their policy ID cards.

In the Apple App Store, the Foremost app has an average rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars based on 43 reviews. In the Google Play store, the app is rated 3.7 out of 5 stars based on 104 user ratings. Some of the negative reviews in the Google Play store describe the app crashing shortly after login, though Foremost released a bug-fixing update in October 2022.

• Better Business Bureau (BBB): The BBB has given Foremost Insurance an A rating as part of its parent company, Farmers Insurance. Farmers Insurance has been BBB-accredited since 1951, though the BBB has not accredited Foremost Insurance Co. separately. Farmers has received an average rating of 1.33 out of 5 stars based on more than 260 consumer reviews. Keep in mind that these ratings reflect all types of insurance customers from all branches of Farmers Insurance Group, including Foremost, Farmers, Bristol West, and MetLife.¹
• AM Best: AM Best is a credit rating agency that specializes in the insurance industry. It assesses the financial strength of different insurance companies. AM Best gives Foremost Insurance Co. an A rating and a designation of Excellent, with a Stable long-term outlook. In addition to indicating the overall health of the business, an insurer’s financial strength is especially important because it translates to the company’s ability to pay claims.²

Foremost Insurance Co. has been in business for more than seven decades. In the 1940s and 1950s, mobile homes, a new innovation at the time, were becoming increasingly popular in the United States. Entrepreneurs Edward J. Frey, Richard E. Riebel, and Edward L. Stoddard founded Foremost Insurance Co. in 1950 to provide the first insurance policies for Americans living in mobile homes.

The company’s specialty in mobile homes during this era led it to work with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop the first building codes for mobile homes. Over the next few decades, Foremost grew and began to offer insurance for other recreational vehicles, such as boats, motorcycles, and motor homes.

Farmers Insurance Group acquired Foremost Insurance Co. in 2000. In 2007, Farmers Insurance Group acquired Bristol West, which had been in the auto insurance business since 1973.

Auto insurance:

• Collectible car
• Commercial auto

Home insurance:

• Flood
• Homeowners
• Landlord
• Mobile home
• Owner-occupied condominium
• Renters
• Seasonal home
• Vacant home

RV insurance:

• Fifth wheel
• Luxury motor coach
• RV and motor home
• Travel trailer

Other vehicle insurance:

• Boat
• Golf cart
• Off-road vehicle
• Snowmobile
• Watercraft

To cancel your Foremost auto insurance policy, call the policy services department at 800-237-2060 toll-free Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. ET or Saturday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET.

Foremost’s customer service representatives will help you determine if you owe a cancellation fee or are owed a refund on payments you’ve already made.