The Best Auto Insurance in Tennessee

Direct Auto tells its customers that “car insurance doesn’t have to be complicated.” The company has more than 450 locations in 16 states, including 77 in Tennessee. Direct Auto specializes in offering auto insurance to high-risk drivers. Additionally, it has many discount options available.

Multiple Discounts

Direct Auto has many opportunities for you to save up to 25 percent on annual premiums. Here are the available options:

• Affinity discount: If you or your spouse have an active relationship with a group or organization affiliated with Direct Auto, you could receive a 5 percent discount. Examples of affiliate groups include places of worship, clubs, university associations, government groups, wholesale shopping clubs, fraternal societies, and retiree organizations.
• Anti-theft recovery discount: The company offers up to 10 percent off insurance premiums for vehicles with tracking systems or active recovery devices installed.
• Auto-pay discount: If you choose to have recurring payments withdrawn from your checking or savings account, you could lower your auto insurance premiums by up to 5 percent.
• Defensive driving course discount: You could receive up to a 10 percent reduction if the main driver of an insured vehicle has passed a qualifying defensive driver’s course.
• Driver training discount: This 10 percent savings option applies to young or new drivers on your policy. The young driver must provide proof of passing a state-approved driver education class to get the discount. The discount would remain in effect until the next policy renewal after that driver’s 21st birthday.
• DynamicDrive discount: This program uses the Routely app to record your driving habits and calculate a driver performance score. The more safely you operate your vehicle, the better your score, with a potential discount of up to 10 percent.
• Good student discount: Direct Auto rewards good students with a 10 percent discount if the drivers meet the following criteria:
  • Unmarried
  • Full-time student attending high school, university, or vocational/technical school
  • Honor student, on the Dean’s List, a grade average of B or higher, or ranks in the upper 20 percent of the class academically
• Homeowner discount: The company gives 15 percent off auto insurance premiums to those who meet the following qualifications:
  • You or your spouse own a condominium, home, or townhouse.
  • You show proof of homeownership when you ask for the discount.
  • Your homeownership proof lists the same name and property address as the garaging address on your car insurance policy.
  • You park your car at the garaging address most of the time.
• Multicar discount: You can save 25 percent if you have more than one vehicle on your auto insurance policy.
• Multiproduct discount: If you have one or more of these services from Direct Auto, you could see a 10 percent savings on your premiums.
  • Roadside assistance: Roadside assistance provides 24/7 emergency towing, flat tire assistance, and lost key lockout help.
  • Term life insurance: Term life insurance helps to pay for funerals and other final expenses after any death, not just deaths from car crashes.
  • Emergency protection plans: Emergency protection plans fund unexpected expenses after an auto accident, such as an ambulance trip or a hospital stay.
• Multipolicy discount: Bundling auto with commercial auto or motorcycle insurance policies could save you up to 10 percent.
• New vehicle discount: The company gives a 2 percent discount for current model year vehicles on your policy.
• Paid in full discount: If you pay your annual premium all at once, you could see up to a 9 percent savings.
• Paperless discount: Choosing to receive policy documents and updates electronically will net you up to 1 percent in savings.
• Prior coverage discount: Direct Auto gives a 25 percent discount if you had liability coverage with another carrier for at least six months continuously and have not experienced more than 90 days of lapse in previous coverage.
• Safe driver discount: This 10 percent savings applies if you have been accident- and violation-free for the prior 36 months.
• Senior citizen discount: If you’re over 55, you could save up to 5 percent on bodily injury, collision, comprehensive, property damage, and uninsured motorist coverage. To receive this senior driver discount, you must pass an approved motor vehicle accident prevention class.
• Welcome-back discount: The company welcomes former policyholders with up to 6 percent savings if their old Direct Auto policies ended (expired or canceled) at least six months before the new policies’ effective dates.

Motorcycle Insurance

In Tennessee, more than 195,000 motorcycles were registered as of the most recent 2021 data.¹ Fortunately, Direct Auto offers inexpensive motorcycle coverage. Plus, bundling your auto and motorcycle insurance will save you money. The company’s motorcycle coverage has the following options:

• Bodily injury liability
• Collision
• Comprehensive
• Guest passenger liability
• Medical payments
• Personal injury protection
• Property damage
• Towing
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage

In addition, Direct Auto motorcycle policies cover custom parts, equipment, and accessories, which include backrests, CB radios, chrome pieces, levers, and saddlebags.

Flexible Payment Options

Direct Auto gives you several choices in how you pay your premiums:

• Recurring payments with a credit or debit card
• Directly from your bank account
• One-time payments with cash or a credit or debit card at a Direct Auto location
• Over the phone at 877-463-4732
• Online account
• Online quick pay via credit card, debit card, or e-check (which doesn’t require logging in)
• Through the Direct Auto mobile app

For more than seven decades, Allstate has been serving customers with auto and other insurance. The company offers a variety of auto policies, including options for classic cars, RVs, and motorcycles. It also gives substantial discounts if you bundle insurance together.

Multiple Ways to Bundle

Allstate gives members numerous opportunities to combine auto insurance with other types of insurance. If you combine two or more policies, you could save up to 25 percent on your auto insurance premiums. In addition to auto insurance, Allstate has numerous types of policies available.

Local Agents

Local Allstate agents help customers tailor auto policies based on their location and needs. In Tennessee, more than 50 agents operate out of Allstate offices in the following cities:

• Alcoa
• Antioch
• Athens
• Bartlett
• Bristol
• Chattanooga
• Clarksville
• Cleveland
• Collierville
• Columbia
• Cookeville
• Cordova
• Covington
• Crossville
• Dickson
• Fairview
• Franklin
• Gallatin
• Germantown
• Goodlettsville
• Greeneville
• Hendersonville
• Hermitage
• Hixson
• Jacksboro
• Jackson
• Jefferson City
• Johnson City
• Kingsport
• Knoxville
• Lakeland
• Lenoir City
• Lexington
• Maryville
• Memphis
• Millington
• Morristown
• Murfreesboro
• Nashville
• New Market
• Nolensville
• Oak Ridge
• Old Hickory
• Ooltewah
• Selmer
• Sevierville
• Seymour
• Shelbyville
• Signal Mountain
• Smyrna
• Spring City
• Spring Hill
• Sweetwater
• White House

Allstate’s extensive list of local agents makes it easy to find one close to where you live in Tennessee.

Claim Satisfaction Guarantee

Allstate offers policyholders a claim satisfaction guarantee. If you aren’t satisfied with your claim experience or payout, you will receive a six-month credit for your premium payments. To qualify for the claim satisfaction guarantee, you must meet the following criteria:

• You have an active Allstate insurance policy.
• Allstate has paid your claim.
• You haven’t registered a second claim on the vehicle in question.
• You have mailed a letter detailing your dissatisfaction within 180 days of the accident to the following address:
  • Allstate Insurance, CSG
  • P.O. Box 13084
  • Roanoke, VA 24031-3084

For more than a century, USAA has insured active-duty military members, veterans, and their families, including young drivers. The company charges less compared to other insurers for insuring teens and young drivers up to age 25. USAA gradually lowers the premiums for its young drivers based on good driving records.

It has the lowest car insurance rates of any company on this list, but you should get car insurance quotes from each provider, as your average rate may differ based on your zip code, accident and moving violation history (such as a speeding ticket), and other factors.

Teen Driver Discounts

Tennessee allows drivers 15 years old and older to get their learner’s permits and teens as young as 16 to get their intermediate licenses.² USAA covers young drivers with learner’s permits without additional premium costs because fully licensed adults must be in the vehicles monitoring their driving. Rates will go up, however, if there is someone on a policy with an intermediate license since they can operate vehicles without adult supervision.

The company has one of the least expensive options for car insurance for teens and young drivers under 25, with an average cost of $1,350 per year. Across all companies, the cost of car insurance for teens averages $3,751 annually.³ In addition, USAA offers several ways to save on auto insurance rates when you add a young driver to your policy.

• Good student discount: If your teen is a full-time student with at least a B average, you could save on your premiums.
• Driver education discount: USAA gives discounts for drivers who pass approved defensive driving or basic driver training classes.
• Multivehicle discount: You could receive a lower premium when you add another car to your policy.
• USAA SafePilot discount: If you sign up for the company’s SafePilot driver monitoring system for your teen, you could receive a discount. To get started, download the USAA SafePilot app, which tracks driving habits such as braking, phone usage, and speeding. On your next policy renewal, the company will give a new rate based on the driving score and will reset the app data for the next policy period.

Useful Add-Ons for Military Members

USAA offers its members add-on coverages specific to the military:

• Military storage: Parking your vehicle on military installations could mean up to a 15 percent discount for policyholders, which is cheap car insurance for a car in storage.
• Deployment: If a military member stores their vehicle during deployment, they could save up to 60 percent on their premiums.

Excellent Third-Party Ratings

USAA generally has high ratings both from third-party raters and customers.

• AM Best: AM Best rates insurance companies on their financial strength. The company gave USAA an A++ rating.⁴
• NAIC: The 2022 National Complaint Index Report for USAA’s private passenger auto insurance was 0.85, meaning the company logged fewer complaints than other insurers, on average.⁵
• Standard and Poor’s: Standard and Poor’s (S&P) bases its letter grades on a company’s investment risk. It gave USAA an S&P rating of AA+, which indicates high confidence in USAA’s ability to repay debts, also known as a low default risk.⁶

Liberty Mutual promises that its customers only pay for what they need. The company offers competitive rates for drivers with DUIs on their records and even files SR-22s on their behalf. In addition, Liberty Mutual rates well as a company, with a Better Business Bureau rating of A+ and an 819 out of 1,000 rating from J.D. Power in 2022.⁷

Benefits for Drivers With DUIs

If someone has a DUI on their record, Liberty Mutual will file SR-22 certificates with the Tennessee Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on their behalf. An SR-22 verifies a driver has the minimum amount of auto insurance Tennessee requires. The state mandates filing SR-22 certificates from the date of the driver’s license suspension and might require filing annually for up to five years. Liberty Mutual charges between $15 and $25 to file the SR-22 form.

Typically, if you have an SR-22, you’ll pay 133 percent more for auto insurance with Liberty Mutual than someone with a clean driving record.

Multiple Add-Ons

Liberty Mutual gives customers a plethora of coverage choices to add to their auto insurance policies:

• 24-hour roadside assistance: Roadside assistance gives you access to jump starts and tows if your vehicle breaks down.
• Better car replacement: With better car replacement, you’ll have the funds to purchase a model a year newer than your totaled car.
• Gap insurance: If your leased vehicle is totaled and its value is less than the amount you owe on your loan, this coverage will pay the difference.
• Lifetime repair guarantee: The lifetime repair guarantee assists you in finding an approved direct repair shop after an accident and guarantees the repairs for as long as you own the vehicle. If the repair fails, the company will cover the repair cost again.
• New car replacement: If you total your new car within the first year of ownership, this replacement coverage will buy you a brand-new vehicle.
• Original parts replacement: This coverage lets you restore broken vehicle parts with parts from the original manufacturer.
• Rental car reimbursement: While your vehicle is repaired after a covered accident, you’ll receive funds for a rental car.

Mobile Apps

Liberty Mutual has a strong mobile app, which gives customers the ability to perform multiple tasks, such as the following:

• Add drivers.
• Chat with Liberty Mutual customer service.
• Contact roadside assistance.
• Manage and pay bills.
• See documents electronically.
• Start and view claims.
• View ID cards.

The Liberty Mutual app rates well with users. In the Google Play store, the app has a 4.7 out of five-star rating, while in the App Store, it has a 4.8 out of five-star rating.