Clearcover is a new auto insurance company that provides impressively low rates—32% cheaper than other insurers, on average—to its customers. Right now, the company offers varying levels of coverage in eight states, including California, Texas and and Illinois.

Clearcover Insurance: Our Thoughts

The most compelling thing about Clearcover is its extremely affordable auto insurance quotes. It offered great prices across the board to California drivers—about a third lower than the average rates we found among competitors. Clearcover's affordability makes it a worthwhile option for most eligible drivers.

Where is Clearcover Insurance available?

Beyond the competitive pricing of its car insurance policies, we also liked Clearcover's coverage options. The company doesn't offer quite as broad of a package of optional coverages as a large insurer, but it does offer a few notable ones. Our favorite is alternate transport coverage, which is offered instead of rental car coverage.

If your car is being repaired, Clearcover will give you money to use as you see fit to get around — you aren't limited to renting a car. There's also ample information throughout the process of getting a quote, which makes it simple for you to understand what coverage you may need.

Clearcover uses AI to make suggestions for the right level of insurance to buy. However, we recommend that drivers make their own informed decisions about how much coverage they need and not depend solely on Clearcover's recommendation.

The company provides online quotes, and it has smartphone app, both of which are easy to use. Unfortunately, the process is a little disjointed: Many important activities related to your car insurance policy can only be done on the website or the app but not both. And if you don't have a smartphone, you should not consider Clearcover at all; you won't be able to sign up for a policy without one.

As an online-only insurer, Clearcover doesn't use insurance agents. You can't meet with anyone from Clearcover in person. However, its customer service receives positive reviews. Its team is only available over the phone 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central time, but customers can file a claim through the app 24 hours a day.

One potential issue with Clearcover is its relatively short track record. The company started selling insurance in February 2018. Given how important it is for your insurance policy to be reliable, there are definite advantages to choosing an insurer that has demonstrated financial stability and the ability to weather major disasters in the past. Clearcover's more recent entry into the insurance industry means that some aspects of its policies may see significant change in the near future.

The good news is that Clearcover's policies are underwritten by Response Indemnity of California and Lyndon Southern. Both companies are owned by Fortegra, a longstanding company with strong financial footing. This means you don't need to worry about the company being unable to pay your claims.

Discounts

Clearcover takes an unorthodox approach to discounts compared to other insurers: It doesn't offer them explicitly. Most car insurance companies will tell you when they are giving you a discount for things like safe driving and insuring multiple cars. Clearcover still considers all the same details as a mainstream insurer when setting your rate, but you don't see the specific criteria it uses to set your rate.

Clearcover also only sells car insurance. You can't buy renters, homeowners or umbrella liability insurance from the company. If your insurer offers you a meaningful discount for bundling your policies together, you may save money elsewhere.

Bottom Line: If you live in California or Illinois, Clearcover's excellent rates and innovative features make the company a good choice for auto insurance. But keep the risks of dealing with a brand-new company in mind.

Coverage Options From Clearcover

Clearcover's approach is to provide only the essentials, so it doesn't provide a ton of extras or add-ons to drivers. But it does offer a few notable perks. First is that in lieu of rental car coverage, it provides "alternate transport coverage." If your car is in the shop for repair after an accident, you receive a certain amount of money to spend on alternate transportation. This could be a rental car, but it can also be used for rides with Lyft or Uber, public transportation or however else you want to get around. This is a more flexible option than is available from most insurers, which allow you to use the money only for a rental car.

Other extra add-ons available from Clearcover include a ridesharing endorsement, meaning you can drive for Lyft, Uber or another TNC with your Clearcover policy.

Besides these, Clearcover also provides all the legally required and typical coverage you'd expect from a reputable insurance company. Standard coverage options include:

Clearcover Car Insurance Rate vs. Competitors

Clearcover's rates are extremely competitive. The company offered the lowest auto insurance rates for each of our three sample drivers in California, beating the average cost among its competitors by 32% overall. Clearcover offered especially impressive rates to our young sample driver—she would pay $60 less per month at Clearcover than the next-closest competitor, GEICO.

We collected sample rates from Clearcover and three leading national car insurance companies: GEICO, State Farm and Progressive. For each profile, we considered an adult living in the San Francisco Bay area who has a clean driving record and owns a Hyundai Sonata (the married couple owns two Sonatas).

Customer Reviews, Ratings and Financial Stability

As Clearcover is a very new company that has been selling insurance for only a few years, it doesn't have as many customer reviews as more familiar brands such as State Farm.

For instance, reviews from sources like the Better Business Bureau and Trust Pilot tend to be positive. The Clearcover app experience has earned positive feedback among users as well, earning high marks in both the Google Play Store and the Apple Store for its iOS version.

While Clearcover is a very new company, its policies are underwritten by Lyndon Southern and Response Indemnity of California, both owned by Fortegra. Fortegra and its subsidiaries have an A- rating from A.M. Best, meaning they have an "excellent" ability to pay out claims. While we always recommend caution when dealing with a new, untested company, Clearcover's policies being underwritten by a financially stable insurer is a positive sign.