The Best Auto Insurance in Florida

There’s a reason State Farm is the largest auto insurance provider in the country.² State Farm offers affordable rates, extensive coverage options, and a long list of varied discounts to fit your unique needs. Look no further if you’re seeking a trusted provider with excellent financial strength and customer service ratings, as well as lower-than-average rates.

Sizeable Discounts

On average, Floridians pay the sixth-highest annual rates in the country for car insurance. In 2020, drivers from Florida spent an average of $1,372 on car insurance, which is 31 percent above the national average of $1,047.³ You can help bring those costs down with one or more of State Farm’s many discount opportunities by:

• Completing the Steer Clear Safe Driver program
• Driving a 1993 or older vehicle with factory-installed airbags (up to 40 percent off)
• Insuring multiple vehicles
• Bundling homeowners, renters, condo, or life insurance
• Taking a defensive driving course (5 percent off)
• Installing an anti-theft system
• Being a student with a GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Using Drive Safe & Save app (up to 30 percent off)
• Having an accident-free record

Excellent Third-Party Ratings

You can assess a provider’s financial trustworthiness and customer service track record by looking at its third-party ratings. And when it comes to financial strength and customer service scores, State Farm ranks among the highest in the country consistently. Here are a couple of its ratings:

• J.D. Power: State Farm is tied for sixth place with Farmers (882 out of 100) for the highest auto insurance claims satisfaction score. The study surveyed over 8,000 customers who filed claims between November 2021 and September 2022. Insurance providers with the highest scores in this study had excellent communication with customers and provided accurate timelines for when damaged vehicles would be returned.
• AM Best: AM Best awarded State Farm with an A++ (Superior) rating, which is the highest financial strength score it offers. AM Best assigns financial strength ratings that reflect a company’s creditworthiness. Creditworthy insurance companies will be more likely to fulfill their financial duties and obligations to their customers, like paying claims.

Extensive Coverage Options

Although Florida’s minimum coverage limits are only $10,000 for property damage per accident and personal injury protection per person/accident, we recommend getting as much coverage as you can afford. That means increasing your limits and adding bodily injury liability and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, at the very least.

If you’re seeking additional coverage options, you can also add on one of the following:

• Rental car reimbursement: When your car is in the shop during a repair and you need a rental, State Farm will reimburse you or pay for the rental car itself.
• Classic car insurance: Because classic cars increase in value over time rather than depreciate, you typically need to come to an agreement with your State Farm agent on the value of the car and insurance.
• Travel expenses coverage: This type of coverage will help with meals, lodging, and transportation if you get into an accident more than 50 miles away from home.
• Personal umbrella coverage: Umbrella insurance helps pay for costs when your original limits are exhausted. It can cover auto insurance, homeowners, boat insurance, and other types of insurance.
• Emergency roadside service: If you run out of gas, have a flat tire, or need a jump-start, State Farm will send an emergency roadside service member to help.
• Rideshare insurance: You need additional rideshare insurance on top of your personal coverage if you’re driving for a rideshare service.
• Payoff Protector program: This is State Farm’s version of gap insurance, which will pay off your auto loan if your vehicle is totaled/stolen and you owe more than the car’s depreciated value.

Founded in 1991, Direct Auto began selling car insurance exclusively in the Southeastern U.S. Today, the company has expanded its services to 18 states, with Florida having more locations than any other state (122 out of 541 total locations, or about 23 percent). On top of finding ways to make insurance cheaper for high-risk drivers, Direct Auto also offers unique insurance add-ons, like Mexico and commercial auto insurance, for all types of drivers.

Insurance for High-Risk Drivers

Part of why Direct Auto is so expensive (almost $1,500 more than the national average) is because it caters to drivers who have a history of traffic violations, at-fault car accidents, and comprehensive claims.

If you’re a high-risk driver, you might know that it can be difficult to find a car insurance provider that will accept your application or offer you affordable rates. Not only do you have a good chance of getting the coverage you need with Direct Auto, but you can also take advantage of the many discounts it offers to help bring those costs down.

Extensive List of Discounts

Direct Auto offers one of the longest lists of discounts in the industry with high maximum savings. Here are a few of Direct Auto’s major discounts:

Customizable Payments

If you’re a high-risk driver with a high premium, you can benefit from a flexible payment plan. Direct Auto will help you build a customized plan that allows you to select:

• The payment date
• The payment amount
• How often you will pay
• Method of payment

If you prefer to pay in cash, you can do so by visiting a Direct Auto location in person. This is a great option for Floridians because Direct Auto has the highest number of physical locations in the state of Florida.

Allstate offers some of the most sizable discounts for when you bundle your home, motorcycle, or renters insurance with your auto insurance policy. You can also benefit from individual discounts for each type of insurance policy to help decrease your overall costs. On top of that, you get the reputation of a top 10 provider that has been providing quality coverage for almost a century.

Excellent Bundling Discounts

Allstate offers several bundling discounts to save on your multiple policies, including:

• Home and auto insurance
• Renters and auto insurance
• Renters and motorcycle insurance

You can earn one of the largest bundling discounts in the industry (25 percent off) when you bundle your home and auto insurance policies. Bundling also allows you to access multiple Allstate policies from the same place (your online portal), which can save you time when you review your plan’s details, make payments, update coverage, and more.

Highly Rated Mobile Apps

Allstate offers customer service support, digital claims, and unique features/programs through its mobile app. The Allstate Mobile app has a 4.8-star rating (out of 5) from iOS users and a 4-star rating from Android users. Here are a few features and programs you can benefit from:

• QuickFoto Claim: You can upload photos of damages immediately following an accident to process claims quickly.
• Drivewise: Allstate’s Drivewise program, which you can access through the separate Drivewise app, tracks your driving and rewards you for safe driving habits. You can also benefit from driving insights and tips, daily safety challenges, and a crash detection feature that can send help automatically in the event of an accident. Get a discount just for signing up with Drivewise (percentage varies by state), and continue earning discounts by staying active in the program. Drivewise has a 4.8-star rating on the App Store and a 3.9-star rating on Google Play.
• Digital ID: You can access a digital copy of your insurance card from the app directly.
• Digital payments: Make payments, check your billing history, or change your payment method in the app.
• Roadside assistance: Allstate is one of the few insurance providers that offers roadside assistance to all drivers, even if they don’t already have insurance with Allstate. You can send a roadside alert notification to your dispatcher and check on the status of your assistance from the app.

Allstate’s Milewise Program

Floridians drive nearly 21,000 miles a year on average, which is significantly higher than the national average of 9,717.⁷⁸ If you don’t drive a lot, you could benefit from Allstate’s pay-per-mile program, Milewise. Milewise works by charging you a daily flat rate on top of a per-mile rate. Here’s an example of what those rates could look like:

If you drive 25 miles a day on average, you’re looking at a rate of about $90 a month (or $1,080 a year), which is much lower than both Florida and Allstate’s annual averages. Your daily flat rate and per-mile rate will vary based on your location, driving history, and personal background.

Last year, USAA celebrated its 100-year anniversary as one of America’s top insurance providers for veterans, military personnel, and families of military/veterans. Florida has the third-highest number of veterans in the country (1.494 million), just behind Texas (1.567 million) and California (1.642 million).⁹ If you’re an active military member, veteran, or spouse/child of a military member, you can benefit from USAA’s cheap rates, excellent customer care, and specialized coverage options.

Great Rates

USAA is the most affordable car insurance company among the 10 largest providers in the country. With annual average premiums of $1,151, USAA’s rates are nearly 20 percent cheaper than the national average. Part of why USAA has such low rates is its extensive discount list, which includes:

• Up to 10 percent off when you bundle auto and property insurance
• An annual low-mileage and vehicle storage discount
• A good student discount for students and/or their parents
• Up to 15 percent off when you store your vehicle on a military base
• Up to 3 percent off when you set up automatic payments
• Up to 10 percent off if your parents also have a USAA policy
• A multi-vehicle discount

Consistently High Third-Party Ratings

USAA ranks highly for its customer satisfaction and financial strength scores. Here’s how some of the biggest third-party rating organizations have scored USAA:

• J.D. Power Auto Insurance Study: In another J.D. Power survey that ranked providers for overall customer satisfaction, USAA ranked No. 1 in every region, including Florida. J.D. Power awarded USAA a score of 884, which is more than 20 points higher than the second-highest-ranked company, The Hartford, which underwrites AARP car insurance policies for seniors.
• AM Best rating: AM Best gave USAA an A++ (Superior) rating, which is the highest rating.¹⁰ This means USAA is among the most creditworthy and financially reliable insurance providers in the country.
• NAIC Customer Complaint Index: The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) rates insurance providers based on how many complaints it receives compared to the expected number of complaints in the industry. The NAIC gave USAA a 0.86 on the index for private auto insurance, which is 0.14 points lower than the National Complaint Index (1.00). Anything lower than 1.00 means that customers complain to that provider less than the expected industry standard rate.

International Availability

If you’re an active military member deployed outside of Florida, you can still be eligible for USAA auto insurance. You can maintain your USAA coverage in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and the following international locations:

• Azores
• Belgium
• Cuba
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Guam
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• Puerto Rico
• South Korea
• Spain
• U.S. Virgin Islands
• United Kingdom