Liberty Mutual Auto Insurance Review

In general, Liberty Mutual is best for those who plan to take advantage of its extra coverage offerings, like new car replacement, GAP coverage, and original parts replacement.

Liberty Mutual also offers special savings for teachers and lower premiums for teens. For customers who like to do the bulk of their insurance administration online, Liberty Mutual offers a user-friendly website, app, and comprehensive online tools.

For drivers with DUIs or at-fault accidents, Liberty Mutual may not be the best choice, as its premiums are higher than average for these groups.

Why We’re Shopping With Liberty Mutual

Maya: Like millions of drivers across the country, I’ve seen my rates increase in the past year. I received an email from my alumni association that I’m eligible for auto insurance discounts through their partnership with Liberty Mutual. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get a quote and see if I could save.

Kate: Though I don’t own a car, I borrow and rent them regularly — non-owner insurance provides an extra layer of protection. Since Liberty Mutual offers online quotes, I hoped to get one for non-owner insurance.

Liberty Mutual’s annual costs for full coverage are on-par with the national average, hovering just below $2,000 annually. Its minimum coverage costs are a little higher, exceeding the national average by around $172.

Unfortunately, higher pricing is not unique to Liberty Mutual, and it’s a problem that’s unlikely to go away any time soon. Throughout 2023 and into 2024, auto insurance inflationary rates have remained above total inflation.Insurance costs rising while customer satisfaction rates remain flat is a consistent trend among insurers.¹

We tested Liberty Mutual’s quote process ourselves. Maya got a quote for a traditional policy and Kate got a quote for a non-owner policy.

Maya: Traditional Policy

I started my Liberty Mutual quote by clicking an affiliate link in an email I received from my alumni association.

After I entered information about vehicle, drivers, and location, Liberty Mutual provided a quote. Like other companies I’ve gotten a quote with (for example, Allstate), Liberty Mutual offered three pre-selected packages of coverage. And, true to its promise, I also had the ability to customize my coverage and see how those choices changed my quote.

Here are the premiums Liberty Mutual quoted me for full coverage vs. minimum liability coverage. I have full coverage on my current State Farm policy. Whenever possible, I recommend full coverage and higher liability limits so that you’re protected financially in the event of an accident.

Keep in mind that the cost of my policy will likely differ from yours. For example, I pay higher than the national average for auto insurance because I live in a major city, where auto insurance costs tend to be higher.

Here’s a more detailed break down of the coverages on my quote:

In addition, I had the option to add the following coverages to my policy:

Like Kate, I also received the option from Liberty Mutual to review quotes with its partners:

Overall, I had a positive experience with Liberty Mutual’s online quote process. I’ve gotten quotes from several providers, and Liberty Mutual’s stood out for the ability to easily pick and choose your coverages. While I’ve been satisfied overall with State Farm (learn more in my review), its online quote process was not robust. In order to see any policy costs and make coverage changes, I had to speak on the phone with an agent. Given this, I appreciated Liberty Mutual’s online shopping features.

Kate: Non-Owner Policy

Though I don’t own a car, I’ve recently been spending more time behind the wheel: I rent cars regularly and borrow my partner’s car when I visit him out of state. A non-owner policy can be a safe and sensible option for someone like me, who doesn’t own a car but uses one pretty regularly.

In the event of an accident, the vehicle owner’s policy kicks in first. However, if damages exceed the limits on the policy, non-owner policy kicks in as secondary coverage. Given that I haven’t built up the same level of driving confidence that comes with daily driving, or the feeling of comfort and familiarity that comes with driving the same car all the time, the peace of mind of a non-owner policy is worthwhile to me.

There are other reasons someone might consider purchasing a non-owner policy:

• You often use car share apps like Zipcar or GIG Car Share.
• You want to prevent a premium increase by maintaining continuous coverage.
• You need to file an FR-44 or SR-22 form and you don’t own a car.
• You plan to reinstate your license after having it suspended or revoked.

If the car you’re driving has minimum coverage, a non-owner policy is a particularly good idea. It protects you from paying out of pocket if damages are higher than the policy’s limits.

Enticed by Liberty Mutual’s claim that its customers pay only for what they need (and as someone who doesn’t actually own a car, I figured I probably wouldn’t need all that much), I got a non-owner quote.

Liberty Mutual’s online tools are robust, so I hoped to get a quote through its website. It wasn’t until I got to question two of six that I realized the site wouldn’t let me continue without adding a car. This may have been on me: The site stated “auto insurance” and gave no option for non-owner policy.

Still, I navigated the online quote tool long enough to agree with Maya’s sentiment that the website interface is straightforward to navigate and pleasant to look at.

I also appreciated Liberty Mutual’s note about potentially showing rates from competitors.

Aside from being an objectively useful function, it’s encouraging when a company is not afraid to highlight the perks of its competitors — especially in the realm of insurance, where the policy that is best for me may not necessarily prove the one best for you.

Maya: Traditional Policy

For a traditional policy, Liberty Mutual automatically applied 10 discounts to my quote for a total savings of $177 per month:

• Online purchase
• Violation free
• RightTrack (for tracking driving behaviors — more below)
• Anti-theft device
• Vehicle safety
• Preferred payment
• Paperless policy
• Early shopper
• Good payer
• Claims free

In addition, if I were to pay for the policy in full upfront, I’d save an additional $137 annually (or about $11 monthly). Overall, it’s a pretty solid set of discounts.

In addition to the above discounts, Liberty Mutual also offers discounts for the following:

• Homeowner
• Military (active, retired, or reserved in the US Army forces)
• Good student, with a 3.0 GPA/B average
• Student away at school
• Multi-car
• Multi-policy

Highlighted Savings: Perks for Teachers

For teachers who need to make a claim, Liberty Mutual offers savings. This includes:

• $0 collision deductible for accidents that occur while driving for school business
• Vandalism coverage with a $0 deductible if your vehicle is vandalized on school property or during a school-related event
• Up to $2,500 in personal property coverage for school-owned property or teaching material damaged in or stolen from your vehicle

Highlighted Savings: RightTrack, Liberty Mutual’s UBI program

Like most major insurers, Liberty Mutual offers a discount that rewards you for safe driving, which it calls RightTrack. When I got a quote, I received a small discount simply for signing up.

Most drivers track their driving habits using the Liberty Mutual app; only drivers in New York will receive a tag to install in their car. At the end of 90 days of driving, RightTrack assigns an overall score. Depending on your state of residence, a discount will be applied either upon completion of the program or when your policy is up for renewal. Those who demonstrate safe driving habits are eligible for a premium discount of up to 30 percent.

RightTrack monitors:

• Hard braking
• Nighttime driving
• Number of miles driven
• Rapid acceleration

The program is available for drivers in every state except the following:

• Alaska
• California
• Hawaii
• Montana
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Wyoming

Something to note is that risky drivers may see a price increase. This differs from other providers, like my current provider State Farm, which promise that the use of telematics will result in savings only — not increased premiums.

When it comes to customer service, Liberty Mutual receives a mix of positive and negative reviews.

Liberty Mutual holds an A rating from AM Best, meaning it can reliably pay for claims.

In its annual survey of collision repair shops, the independently published newsletter CRASH Network gave Liberty Mutual an average score of D+. This is based on data gathered from auto repair shops that evaluate ease of claims handling. Customers may have a better experience working with Liberty Mutual’s affiliated network of shops. For context, out of the 10 largest insurers, the overall highest grade awarded was a C+. In addition to the major insurers, I always recommend checking out smaller, regional providers.

You can use Liberty Mutual’s mobile app to make changes to your policy, request roadside assistance, download your insurance ID card, and more.

In particular, what I find noteworthy is that you manage the RightTrack discount in the app as well. With State Farm, I need a separate app to earn the Drive Safe & Save discount, which is a little inconvenient (especially for someone like me, who prefers to have fewer apps on my phone). When you download the Liberty Mutual app, the app brings you immediately to a screen that allows you to access your account or enter your RightTrack activation code.

The app has a near five-star rating both in the App Store and on Google Play.

Liberty Mutual’s auto insurance policies are about on par with the national average. However, its numerous discounts, including through usage-based insurance program RightTrack, which can provide up to 30 percent off your premium, make it a strong contender. In addition, its online quote system and mobile app are comprehensive and easy to navigate.

On the other hand, for those who don’t qualify for enough discounts or prefer to work more closely with an agent, Liberty Mutual may not be the cheapest or best car insurance option. Similarly, customer satisfaction data suggests that claims handling and customer service is acceptable but perhaps not always the best.

We base our reviews on personal experience, thorough research, and institutional knowledge. Our reviews are written with the following in mind:

1. Coverage and value for money: We take into consideration a company’s discounts, coverage options, and regional availability.
2. Customer experience: We are both auto insurance consumers and professionals. In addition to our own experiences, we use third-party reviews to evaluate providers we haven’t directly interacted with.
3. Claims handling: We evaluate claims handling based on third-party data, customer feedback, and an analysis of the claims process.
4. Industry ratings and reviews: Our research is based on independent agencies that assess factors like complaint history and customer satisfaction.
5. Digital Tools and technology: Our reviews take into account the ease with which digital tools such as websites, mobile phone apps, and account management features can be accessed and used.