Travelers Auto & Home Insurance Review: Strong Option for Drivers, Weak for Homeowners
Travelers Auto & Home Insurance Review: Strong Option for Drivers, Weak for Homeowners
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Pros
- Someone who recently purchased a vehicle
- Drivers who have gone without an accident for the past five years
- Drivers with great driving habits who will achieve a discount by participating in Travelers' IntelliDrive program
Cons
- Someone who is searching for the lowest auto or home insurance rates
- Homeowners searching for policies with a limit greater than $75,000
Drivers who are willing to search for applicable discounts might find Travelers to be well worth it for auto insurance. Travelers offers some of the best discounts and coverage options to its auto insurance customers. Unfortunately, its homeowners insurance policies are stifled by high rates and a lack of meaningful discounts. Furthermore, Travelers doesn’t have favorable reviews for auto or homeowners insurance. If you value a smooth claims process and great customer service above all else, there are other insurance companies that are be better-suited for your needs.
- Travelers Insurance: Our Thoughts
- Travelers Auto Insurance Coverage
- Travelers Home Insurance Coverage
- Travelers Insurance Reviews, Complaints and Financial Strength Ratings
Travelers Insurance: Great for Auto, Subpar For Homeowners Insurance
Travelers has conflicting attributes for its auto and home insurance products. For instance, it offers average to high rates for auto and homeowners insurance, respectively, but its mediocre auto insurance prices can be mitigated through the use of its many discounts. For example, qualifying for the new-car discount makes Travelers’ insurance rates fall below those offered by its competitors. Drivers who are willing to research and inquire about such discounts will find that Travelers can be a great choice for auto insurance. Most homeowners, on the other hand, are unlikely to find decent rates, even if applying Travelers’ few home insurance discounts.
In terms of reviews and service, Travelers falls short of the competition. When filing a claim, it’s likely that you’ll experience long turnaround times and subpar customer service. Drivers that value professional service and friendly representatives over a high number of discounts should look for a different insurance company.
Auto Insurance Takeway: Travelers can be a great auto insurance company for customers who unlock some of its many discounts. For instance, the IntelliDrive program alone can reduce your annual insurance rates by as much as 20% if you exhibit good driving habits, making Travelers a very affordable insurance option. However, if you’re unwilling to partake in due diligence, namely in seeing if you qualify for any discounts or discount programs, it’s unlikely that Travelers will be the most affordable option.
Home Insurance Takeaway: The only redeeming characteristic about Travelers’ homeowners insurance policies is the large number of endorsements that policyholders can add to their policies. Unless you’re interested in a policy with a limit of $75,000 or less, the company doesn’t offer highly competitive rates. Whether you’re looking for cheap rates or great reviews, you’ll fare better with a different insurance company.
Travelers Auto Insurance Coverage
As one of the largest and oldest insurance companies, Travelers offers its customers all of the coverage options that most other national insurance companies do. Beyond the standard coverages, Travelers offers a few unique optional coverages, such as premier new-car replacement and two accident forgiveness plans.
Loan or Lease Gap Insurance: If your vehicle is involved in a total loss, this optional coverage pays for the difference between the actual cash value of your car and the unpaid portion of your loan or lease. For instance, if you purchased or leased a 2015 Toyota Camry that is now worth $10,000, but you have an unpaid loan or lease balance of $13,000, loan or lease gap insurance would pay for the $3,000 difference. Without the coverage, you’d have to pay the $3,000 out of pocket.
Premier New Car Replacement: This optional coverage functions as a bundle for new car owners, which includes new-car replacement coverage, loan or lease gap coverage, and a glass deductible feature. The standout feature of the bundle is the new-car replacement coverage, which covers the cost of a new car if your vehicle is totaled in a covered loss. Losses stemming from fire, theft, larceny and flood are excluded from the coverage. The loan or lease gap coverage functions in the same manner as if you were to purchase it as a single endorsement. The glass deductible feature lowers your deductible for a glass-only loss. Any claim involving your windshield, windows, exterior lights or mirrors is eligible.
Accident Forgiveness Plans: Travelers offers accident forgiveness through two hybrid programs marketed as discounts: the Responsible Driver Plan and the Premier Responsible Driver Plan. Accident forgiveness programs cancel the increase in a driver’s rates after an at-fault accident, which can save you hundreds of dollars over the term of your policy. Below is a table illustrating the plan’s estimated cost for a 30-year-old driver with a 2015 Toyota Camry and the two programs’ features.
| Program | Sample Annual Cost | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Responsible Driver Plan | $95 | Forgives one accident and one minor violation every three years. |
| Premier Responsible Driver Plan | $146 | Forgives one accident and one minor violation every three years. Provides a waiver for your deductible if your car is totaled. Reduces your deductible by $50 every six months that you’re accident-free, up to a $500 limit. |
Ride Sharing: Prospective policyholders in Colorado and Illinois have the option to add coverage when driving for Uber, Lyft or other ridesharing apps. If you don’t have a similar coverage, it’s likely you’re not covered when driving for a ridesharing app. The endorsement provides coverage after opening your mobile app but before picking up a passenger. Once you pick someone up, the ridesharing company’s insurance will provide you with coverage.
Rental Car Coverage: Rental car coverage reimburses you for the cost of a rental vehicle if your car is involved in a covered accident. Coverage starts at $30 per day, and the maximum available is $100 per day. While the cost will vary depending on your vehicle type, you can expect to pay around $20 per year for the lower end of coverage and around $50 per year for the maximum coverage. To use Travelers’ rental car coverage, your vehicle must be out of commision for at least 24 hours. Rental car coverage applies to specific vehicles rather than people, meaning that you must pay more if you want to have coverage for another vehicle.
Roadside Assistance: If you want roadside services, such as a jump-start, fuel delivery, tire change or lockout assistance, you’ll want to purchase this optional coverage. Travelers offers two tiers of roadside assistance: basic roadside assistance and premier roadside assistance. The former provides a towing service up to 15 miles, while the latter provides the service up to 100 miles. Premier roadside assistance also includes trip interruption coverage, which provides $600 (maximum of $200 per day) of reimbursement for food and lodging if your vehicle breaks down. Trip interruption coverage only applies if your car breaks down more than 100 miles away from home and the vehicle is inoperable for longer than 24 hours. To request roadside assistance, Travelers customers can dial 800-252-4633.
Traditional Coverage Available Through Travelers
- Liability coverage
- Comprehensive coverage
- Collision coverage
- Personal injury protection
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage
- Medical payments coverage
Travelers Auto Insurance Discounts
Travelers offers its policyholders access to a comprehensive set of discounts. The discounts aren’t unique, but the sheer number of them means that a great number of drivers (or types of drivers) can benefit. Travelers also offers two driver programs that lead to discounts: IntelliDrive and the affinity program.
IntelliDrive Program: Receive up to a 20% discount when you enroll in IntelliDrive, a 90-day program that allows users to sign up through a free mobile app that tracks your driving behaviors. The app scores your driving behaviors and assigns appropriate discounts (or increases) to your annual insurance cost. The app will score your driving behaviors based on several factors, like the time of day you drive most frequently, your speed, acceleration and braking habits. Discounts will vary by state, and the program is currently available in the following states:
- Alabama
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Maine
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- Ohio
- Virginia
Affinity Program: Employees of participating employers, and members of certain credit unions or professional association groups are eligible to receive a discount on homeowners and auto insurance.
| Discount | How Do You Receive It? |
|---|---|
| Multipolicy Discount | Bundle your car insurance with another Travelers’ insurance policy and save up to 13%. |
| Multicar Discount | Insure two or more cars with Travelers and save up to 8%. |
| Homeownership Discount | If you own a home, you’re eligible to save up to 5% on your car insurance. You may be eligible for the discount even if your home isn’t insured with Travelers. |
| Safe Driver Discount | Drivers without accidents over a three-year period are eligible for a discount of up to 10%, or up to 23% for drivers who are accident-free over a five-year period. |
| Continuous Insurance Discount | Drivers without gaps in their coverage are eligible for a 15% discount. |
| Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Discount | Receive a discount if you own or lease a hybrid or electric vehicle. |
| New-Car Discount | If you own a car that is less than three years old, you’re eligible for a discount of up to 10%. |
| Electronic Funds Transfer, Paid in Full and Good-Payer Discounts | Receive discounts based on how you pay your insurance coverage. Save 2% to 3% by paying your premium through an electronic funds transfer or having it deducted from your paycheck. Receive a discount of up to 7.5% if you pay your policy in full at once. Save as much as 15% for consistently paying your premium on time. |
| Early Quote Discount | You’re eligible for a 3% to 10% discount if you receive a quote from Travelers and subsequently change insurers while insured through a different company. |
| Good Student Discount | If you have a full-time student (high school or college) on your policy and that student maintains a “B” average, you’re eligible for a discount of up to 8%. |
| Student Away at School | Qualify for a 7% discount if one of your dependents attends school more than 100 miles away and doesn’t have access to your vehicles. |
| Driver Training Discount | Complete an approved driver education course and receive a discount that could be as high as 8%. |
Travelers Auto Insurance Rates
Across most driver profiles, Travelers offers middle-of-the-road rates. While competitors like Allstate and State Farm offer average to high rates, the two insurance companies perform well in single categories. The same can’t be said for Travelers. For instance, State Farm has some of the highest rates for people who have been in accidents, but it offers very low rates for experienced drivers over 60. To get the most out of Travelers, you’ll need to look for applicable discounts, otherwise you’ll receive mediocre rates.
Travelers Home Insurance Coverage
Aside from offering the standard set of coverages, Travelers offers its customers access to a plethora of unique endorsements. The endorsements function as add-ons, which can supplement your home insurance policy for an additional price.
Contents Replacement Cost: When your insurance company pays you for a damaged item, it typically pays you a depreciated cost, meaning that what you receive is less than you paid for the item. The contents replacement cost endorsement provides you with the replacement cost of your items, which means that the insurance company will pay you based on the cost to purchase a similar make and model for your item. For example, if you filed a claim for a TV without the endorsement, your insurance company might award you with $500, but it might cost you $700 to purchase a comparable TV today.
Additional Replacement Cost Protection Coverage: If your dwelling coverage isn’t enough to cover the repairs of your property, this optional coverage makes available an additional amount up to 25% of your dwelling coverage. The additional replacement cost protection coverage endorsement is useful if there is an increase in the cost to rebuild your home, either due to increased labor or material expenses. If your dwelling coverage is $100,000, the endorsement would provide you with $25,000 in additional coverage. In order for your claim to be valid, the home’s damage must stem from a covered loss under your policy.
Jewelry and Valuable Items: Valuable items, such as jewelry and fine art, are covered by a standard homeowners policy, but these items tend to cost more than the typical coverage limit. This endorsement provides additional coverage for your valuable items. If you have an item that costs more than $1,500, or several items that cost hundreds of dollars, you’ll want to consider adding this endorsement.
Personal Articles Floater: A personal articles floater provides coverage on an item-by-item basis, meaning that your items must typically be named in order to be covered. The main difference between the jewelry and valuable items endorsement and a personal articles floater is that the latter can be purchased separately from your home insurance policy.
Water Backup and Sump Pump Discharge or Overflow: This endorsement provides you with coverage against sewer or drain water backup. However, the endorsement does not cover damage that stems from surface water.
Identity Fraud: The identity fraud endorsement provides up to $25,000 in coverage for named expenses used to restore your identity. Customers don’t need to pay a deductible to gain access to this coverage. The endorsement allows you to seek reimbursement for the following expenses:
- Fees related to medical identity fraud
- Travel-related expenses up to $5,000 ($1,000 per week)
- Replacement cost for government-issued identification
- Lost income up to $5,000 ($1,000 per week)
- Legal fees
- Resolution services meant to help you reclaim your identity
Green Home Coverage: The green home coverage endorsement provides you with additional protection to help you restore or rebuild your home using green materials in the event of a covered loss.
| What’s Covered by a Travelers Policy? | Details |
|---|---|
| Your dwelling | Covers you for the cost to repair or rebuild your home if damaged by a covered loss. |
| Your personal property | Provides you with coverage for personal items that are damaged or destroyed due to a covered loss. |
| Personal liability | Protects you if you’re liable for someone’s bodily injury or property damage to others. |
| Other structures | Provides coverage for additional structures, like garages and sheds. |
| Loss of use | Pays for the additional costs associated with living away from home if its due to a covered loss. |
Travelers Home Insurance Discounts
Unlike its auto insurance policies, Travelers’ home insurance policies offer few substantive discounts. Furthermore, none of the discounts offered through Travelers are unique, meaning you won’t lose much by switching or choosing to go with another insurance company.
| Discount | How Do You Receive It? |
|---|---|
| Multi Policy Discount | Save up to 15% if you bundle your auto and home insurance policies with Travelers. |
| Homebuyer Discount | You’re eligible if you purchased a home at maximum 12 months prior to the policy’s start date. |
| Loss-Free Discount | Receive this discount after going a certain time without filing a claim. The timing will depend on your state of residence but will typically be after a year or two. |
| Protective Device Discount | Qualify for this discount if you have any of the following devices in your home: smoke detectors and fire alarms, an interior sprinkler system, a home security system, or smart home technology that alerts you to fires or burglars. |
| Green Home Discount | Save up to 5% if your home is certified “green” by the Leadership Energy and Environmental Design organization (LEED). |
Travelers Home Insurance Rates
Travelers is affordable for small policy limits but has high prices for policy limits over $75,000. Allstate, which has comparable reviews and ratings, consistently outperforms Travelers across all sample policies. While Travelers’ auto insurance discounts keep its auto policies competitive, that simply isn’t the case with its home insurance policies. Customers will find limited discounts to remedy Travelers’ high rates.
Travelers Insurance Reviews, Complaints and Financial Strength Ratings
Customers won’t have much to fear in terms of Travelers’ ability to pay insurance claims, as the company is in great financial health. A.M. Best Rating Services, an industry-leading rating agency, assigned Travelers an A++, which is the highest possible rating and a vote of confidence for Travelers’ financial stability. The company has also garnered relatively few official complaints, receiving a complaint rating of 0.64 from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, compared to the national median of 1.00.
However, Travelers’ reviews demonstrate the company’s erratic customer service with many reviews citing a slow claims process. J.D. Power affirms Travelers’ inconsistent customer service by ranking the company in the bottom half of companies for claims satisfaction across auto and homeowners insurance.
Editorial Note: The editorial content on this page is not provided or commissioned by any financial institution. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, statements or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and may not have been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities prior to publication.