Is Affirmative Insurance a Good Place to Buy Car Insurance?
Last Updated on April 20, 2023
You have so many options when it comes to purchasing car insurance, and it can be challenging to determine which one is the best fit for your needs. The best way to find a good insurance policy for your needs is to get quotes from many different companies. By comparing quotes from both national and local insurers, you can determine which provider will have the best option for your needs.
Affirmative Insurance is one of these regional car insurance providers you may be looking at for your policy. Affirmative is based in Addison, Texas, and operates as a holdings company for insurance providers and underwriters. You may be wondering if Affirmative is a good place to purchase your car insurance – here’s what you need to know about them.
Key Takeaways:
- Affirmative Insurance is a regional insurance holdings company with subsidiaries that offer mainly non-standard policies for high-risk drivers.
- Affirmative does offer other types of car insurance, including collision, comprehensive, personal injury protection, and medical payments coverage.
- Affirmative offers some discounts, including insuring multiple vehicles, taking driving courses, and having certain vehicle safety features.
- Affirmative sells its products through independent insurance agents, and while they offer some online services, they have received negative reviews for slow response times and insurance payouts. They also don’t have high ratings from AM Best or JD Power, indicating they may not be the most financially stable company.
About Affirmative Insurance
Affirmative is not an insurance company themselves – they are actually an insurance holdings company that has several subsidiaries. These insurance subsidiaries sell their products through independent insurance agents. The company is based in Addison, Texas, and is publicly traded. They were founded in 1998 and completed their IPO in 2004. Their products are sold in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and California. Over the years, they have acquired insurance providers through USAgencies and Vesta Insurance Group. These providers have helped them to expand their reach across the United States. What started as a smaller, local company focused around the Texas area has now grown into a large, publicly-traded corporation.
What Kind of Policies Does Affirmative Offer?
There isn’t much information available about the types of policies that Affirmative offers for their clients. However, they seem to focus mainly on non-standard policies. These policies target high-risk drivers or those who may otherwise be unable to find affordable insurance policies. If you legally require an SR-22 to drive, you can get an SR-22 policy through Affirmative Insurance’s subsidiaries. Many of these policies only provide liability coverage, which will pay for property damage or injury compensation for the other party if you are found at fault in an accident.
Affirmative does offer other types of car insurance, such as collision and comprehensive insurance. These policies cover damage to your car in one or two-party accidents, regardless of fault, and damage from vandalism or weather. They also offer personal injury protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage (MedPay). These types of coverage will pay for medical bills and other expenses that could occur as a result of a serious accident.
Affirmative doesn’t offer many add-ons for their policies. However, they do offer some coverage for towing and rental car reimbursement. If you are looking for a policy with extensive coverage and many add-ons, Affirmative likely won’t be the best fit for you. However, if you need an SR-22, have a recent accident on your driving record, or are having a difficult time finding car insurance for another reason, then Affirmative may be able to offer you an affordable policy.
What Discounts Does Affirmative Offer?
Affirmative and its subsidiaries do offer some discounts for their customers. If you request a quote from Affirmative, ask them which discounts you would qualify for. Some discounts they offer include discounts for insuring multiple vehicles, homeowner discounts, discounts for taking driving courses, and discounts for certain vehicle safety features.
| Discounts and Features Offered by Affirmative | |
|---|---|
| Defensive Driving Course Discounts | Safety Feature Discounts |
| Good Student Discounts | Low Down Payments |
| Multiple Vehicle Discounts | Non-Standard Auto Coverage |
| Homeowner Discounts | Towing & Rental Coverage |
What Is Affirmative’s Customer Service Like?
Affirmative sells its products through independent insurance agents. If you purchase a policy through one of their agents, they can help you with the application process, as well as the process of filing claims. If you aren’t sure where your nearest Affirmative agent is, you can look them up on the Affirmative website. Affirmative does not have agents in every state, so you won’t be able to get their products everywhere.
You can also request a quote through the Affirmative website. You cannot get a quote instantly, but you can fill out a form with your contact information, and an agent will contact you via phone or email. If you already have an insurance policy with Affirmative, you can pay your bill, review your policy, and request a new insurance card on their website. You can also file a claim online and monitor its status. Affirmative does not have a mobile app.
Those who prefer to work with an insurance agent may prefer Affirmative’s customer service model. They do provide the option to handle many aspects of your car insurance policy online – a service that many agent-based insurance companies don’t offer. However, if you prefer to purchase your insurance policy directly and handle everything with minimal customer service interaction, Affirmative may not be the right fit for you. Affirmative also has received some negative reviews for slow response times and slow insurance payouts.
Is Affirmative Financially Reliable?
Affirmative isn’t currently rated by AM Best, an agency that evaluates the financial strength of insurance agencies. At one point, Affirmative and its subsidiaries had a B rating. Vesta, one of the Affirmative’s subsidiaries, had an AM Best rating of C++. These ratings indicate how financially stable the company is and how likely they are to make its payouts. These relatively low ratings, along with reports that Affirmative can take a very long time to pay out claims, indicate that they are not the most financially stable insurance company. They also don’t currently have a rating from JD Power, an organization that surveys consumers about auto-related products.
Final Word on Affirmative Insurance
There isn’t much information available about Affirmative’s services, which makes it difficult to determine if it is a good purchase or not. The reports of poor customer service and an apparent lack of financial stability indicate that customers should be wary of purchasing a policy from Affirmative. If you live in an area where Affirmative has agents, it may be worthwhile to get a quote and see what kind of coverage they can offer you. However, it’s important to get quotes from many different providers and compare your options. When shopping for insurance, it’s important to look at the overall value that the company can provide, not just the price. In the long run, it may be worthwhile to spend slightly more each month but get more reliable coverage in the event of an accident.
