Review of Travelers Car Insurance Options; a Comparison With Other Insurers

While they’ve become known for their commercials featuring the cute, moppy-headed dog with the wry ears and cocked head, Travelers insurance has quietly made a name for itself as a leading favorite among many drivers.

The company routinely ranks well with numerous surveys, and it has grown to take its place among the top ten providers in the country.

Note: When I queried for quotes for a 25-year-old female driver, Travelers was the most expensive at $2,243. The cheapest was Allstate at $2,008, followed by Progressive at $2,133. They are slightly higher (about 4%) than their competitors but would be worth a 25 y/o driver to get quotes.

Comparing to other Insurers in the Same Class

Below is a table that I queried for drivers from 25 to 55 years of age.

I did this to see how Travelers are compared through a spectrum of ages from each carrier.

The state I used to get quotes in Rhode Island.

If you decide to get quotes for your own comparison, please realize Rhode Island is one of the more expensive states for an auto policy.

I found drivers with no traffic violation Travelers is a little more expensive than other comparable insurers.

For young drivers, they are competitive but can be 10% higher than direct competitors.

Older drivers should have no issue getting a low quote or policy from them.

Particularly any which have a good or excellent driving record.

If you and your family are about to renew your current premium coverage, it might be worth your time to include Travelers in your considerations.

Note: When I queried for quotes, Travelers is the 4th cheapest or the 2nd most expensive at $1,898. State Farm was the only carrier higher at $1,902 for a 30-year old male driver. This was interesting since the carriers are all less than $100 in quote comparison of each other. Making all of them worth getting quotes from, including Travelers.

A full package of standard selections for family’s & individuals

Like most leading providers, Travelers lets you build a policy around the standard coverage options.

You can choose from among these standard options and pick your levels and limits of coverage (keeping in mind the requirements of your state minimum coverage):

• Bodily injury liability
• Property damage liability
• Collision and comprehensive
• Medical payments
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist

In a handful of states with no-fault laws and requirements, Travelers offers an upgrade to medical payments coverage with a full array of personal injury protection (PIP) coverage options.

Note: As I mentioned in the article, Travelers is slightly higher in price when querying for drivers with a driving violation. In this instance, they are the most expensive for a 30-year-old female at $2,244. Farmers is the cheapest at $2,132.

Comparison of Quotes – Arizona

I decided to compare quotes of companies from a couple of states. Arizona is one of them to see how Travelers stacks up against its competitors.

For a 30-year-old driver with a traffic violation, Travelers was the 2nd cheapest at $789, while Esurance was the lowest quote at $687.

A family of 4 has quotes clustering between $900 and $1,100.

Again, Travelers is the 2nd cheapest with Esurance offering the lowest quote.

A 55-year-old with a good driving record can find low quotes between $300 and $500.

The cheapest insurer for the older driver is State Farm at $335, followed by Travelers at $367.

In the state of Arizona, they are competitive for drivers through a range of profiles.

When I made the quote comparison, I did not take into consideration discounts.

Unless otherwise noted, each driver had a good driving history and fair credit.

Note: Comparison was made with a 2010 Honda Accord and 2011 Toyota Camry

Comparison of Rates in Ohio

In Ohio, the quotes are significantly higher than in Arizona.

For a 25-year-old female driver, Travelers is the 4th cheapest or the 2nd most expensive.

However, you would like to put it.

When I was comparing younger drivers, I noted Travelers is less competitive and more competitive with older drivers about 40 years and up.

Which is to be expected since they prefer less risk and not more.

If so, they charge a lot more for a policy.

For a 35-year old they are the 2nd cheapest at $1,383.

Farmers offered the lowest quote at $1,324 or about $60 less.

An older male driver who is married Travelers offers the lowest quote at $691.

Again I wanted to make a note that Travelers is very competitive for older drivers.

Top carriers, such as them, mitigate risk by doing so.

It is not to say a younger driver should not get a policy through them.

When I was querying for quotes, I did discount any of them.

Unless otherwise noted, each driver had fair credit and good driving history. 

Note: Comparison was made with a 2009 Honda Civic and 2011 Toyota Camry

Attractive options for your coverage needs

Besides the standard coverage provisions needed to build a car insurance plan, Travelers offers some options to supplement coverage that may fit nicely into your personal or family driving needs.

You can add these options to your plan:

• GAP coverage
• Towing and labor coverage
• Rental reimbursement or extended travel expenses coverage

In some states, Travelers must add some or all of these options to any full package policy, while in other states, these optional plans have some limits on levels and availability.

Be sure to consult with your Travelers representative to see what’s available in your state.

Note: When querying for quotes, there was a variance of over $150 for a 40-year-old male driver. In this instance, Travelers is the 4th cheapest at $1,080. Or $52 less than Farmers at $1,132. With such a large variance in quotes, it would be smart to compare quotes from insurers, particularly if you can find $150 or more in savings.

Travelers offer a suite of discounts for big savings

To offset your policy’s cost, Travelers offers a variety of discounts you and your family can apply for.

Some of these may seem familiar to you as most other companies offer them.

You may be surprised at some of the other discounts from Travelers, which include:

• Safe driver advantage
• Multi-car 
• Accident forgiveness
• Hybrid auto
• Multi-policy, bundling
• New car
• Homeowners
• Pay-in-full
• Buy-early 
• Good student
• Driver training
• Student away

One other discount that also helps improve driving skills is the IntelliDrive™ program. The IntelliDrive™ discount is a voluntary program from Travelers that monitors how people drive and rewards safe driving practices with a discount.

You can also use this feature to monitor how a teen driver in your household handles the new responsibility of driving.

Note: For a 45-year old female, Travelers is the most expensive at $867 for full coverage. The variance between prices is relatively low at $73 between the lowest and the highest quote. Another reason, even for older drivers, is to compare to find the most savings in an auto policy.

Value and good rankings

In that most recent survey of insurers conducted by MSN/Money Magazine, Travelers earned almost 75 points on the 100-point scale, giving it an overall A+ grade.

In the survey, 66 percent of Travelers customers say they would recommend the insurer to family and friends, and 74 percent say they plan to renew when current policies expire.

In the J.D. Powers & Associates/A.M. Best annual ranking of insurers, Travelers scored 86 points on its 100-point scale.

The company received high marks for financial strength and overall satisfaction from customers.

Ratings

Note: This one came as a surprise, with Travelers the most expensive at $611. State Farm is the cheapest at $489. This is a huge variance of $122 or nearly 20%. Again, another reason to be sure to compare quotes. I am a 55-year-old driver, and it would be well worth finding a huge amount of savings, such as illustrated above.

Conclusion

With more than 2,000 companies in the United States licensed and registered to sell a policy, you and your family have many, many options to choose from.

It’s always a good idea to get competing quotes when the time comes to renew a policy or acquire a new one, so next time, think about adding Travelers to the mix.