- Well-rated in many industry reports.
- Diminishing deductible and accident forgiveness options.
- Many policy customization options.
- Network of local agents.
- Limited state availability.
Jerry rates Erie 4.9 stars out of 5. This score is among the highest of the insurers that Jerry rates and takes into account the insurer’s pricing, industry ratings, the company’s financial strength, customer ratings and national complaint data.
Based in Erie, Pennsylvania, Erie Insurance Group has been offering auto insurance coverage since its start in 1925. According to recent data from NAIC, Erie is the 12th largest insurer by market share in the United States and today offers auto, home, RV, boat, life, business and retirement insurance, any of which can be bundled for policy savings.
Erie auto insurance is currently available in 12 states — Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin — and Washington, D.C. Potential customers can start a quote online and will be connected to an independent agent in their area to finalize the policy.
Who is Erie best for?
Erie is a top insurer with a strong reputation. It may be a good choice for drivers in one of the insurer’s active states who:
- Prefer to stick with one insurance company to earn loyalty benefits.
- Want to bundle auto coverage with other insurance policies.
- Have a clean driving record.
How much does Erie car insurance cost?
Erie may offer affordable rates to drivers with clean records. Your premium is determined by a number of factors, including your age, location, the type and age of vehicle you drive, your driving record, other drivers on your policy, and the amount of coverage you want.
Erie car insurance discounts
Drivers can save on their Erie auto coverage with a number of available discounts. Discounts are offered for:
- Purchasing coverage for multiple cars.
- Bundling auto coverage with home, renters, condo, umbrella, life or business insurance.
- Reduced usage, if your vehicle will be stored and unused for at least 90 consecutive days.
- Paying your full premium upfront.
- Completing a driver training program.
- Insuring a driver under 21 years old who lives at home.
- Owning a vehicle with safety features like airbags, anti-theft devices and anti-lock brakes.
The insurer also offers a diminishing deductible option that lowers drivers’ deductibles by $100 each consecutive year they remain claim-free.
Policyholders who are insured with Erie for at least three years and enroll in the insurer’s First Accident Forgiveness program won’t pay a higher premium after their first at-fault accident.
Does Erie offer insurance based on driving behavior?
Yes, Erie offers a telematics program called YourTurn, which uses a mobile app to monitor behaviors like hard braking, fast acceleration, hard cornering, speeding and cell phone use. The insurer uses that information to assign drivers a score, and high scores earn rewards that drivers can redeem as gift cards or charitable donations.
Erie car insurance coverage options
Like most insurers, Erie offers standard auto insurance options including collision, comprehensive, liability for bodily injury, liability for property damage, medical expense, personal injury protection and uninsured/underinsured motorist.
| Coverage | Definition |
|---|---|
| Collision insurance | An optional coverage type that pays to repair or replace your car if it’s damaged in a collision with another vehicle. You can only file an accident-related claim for your vehicle’s repairs if your policy has collision coverage. |
| Comprehensive insurance | An optional coverage type that covers damage to your vehicle caused by non-collision hazards, such as car theft, falling tree branches, hail and other unexpected events. |
| Bodily injury liability (BI) | Pays others’ medical costs in an accident you cause, up to your policy limits. It’s mandatory in most states. |
| Property damage liability (PD) | Pays for repairs or replacements of any vehicles or objects you damage in a crash, up to your policy limits. It’s mandatory in most states. |
| Personal injury protection (PIP) | Helps cover medical expenses for you and your passengers after a car accident, regardless of who caused it. This is required in some states. |
| Medical payments | Additional coverage outside of PIP that pays for medical care for you and your passengers after an accident, regardless of who caused it. This is optional in most states. |
| Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) | Covers you, your passengers and any property damage in a case where the other driver is at fault but doesn’t have insurance, or carries insufficient coverage to pay for your costs. This is required in some states. |
Erie policies can also come with additional coverages and protections for drivers. Other insurers offer these coverages as add-ons that policyholders pay extra for, but Erie may include some of them in a full coverage policy.
- Pet coverage pays for up to $500 per pet in vet treatment costs if your pet is injured in an accident while riding in your covered vehicle.
- Roadside assistance and rental coverage can help if you’re stranded and need a jump or tow, whether you’re driving your own vehicle or a rental car.
- Auto glass repair coverage pays to repair or replace eligible glass after it’s damaged with no deductible. The coverage includes new windshield wipers.
- Personal item coverage pays to replace up to $350 in clothes, luggage and other personal items if they are stolen from or damaged in your covered vehicle.
- Locksmith coverage pays up to $75 for a locksmith if you lock your keys in your vehicle.
Industry ratings of Erie car insurance
Erie Insurance consistently holds many of the top industry ratings across various agencies, including a first- and third-place finish in two J.D. Power studies and a below-expected complaint index with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
| Rating | Erie score |
| NAIC consumer complaint index | Moderately low. |
| CRASH Network report card | A-. |
| J.D. Power auto insurance shopping study | No. 1 of 17. |
| J.D. Power auto insurance claims study | No. 3 of 21. |
| AM Best | A+. |
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NAIC details
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CRASH Network details
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J.D. Power details
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AM Best details
How to contact Erie
While Erie offers email, phone, live chat and in-person contact options, customers are urged to reach out to local agents in most cases.
Get a quote: You can start an auto insurance quote online through the Erie website, but you’ll be connected with an Erie insurance agent in your area to build coverage and finalize your quote. You can also find a local agent on the insurer’s website.
Customer service: Erie encourages existing customers to contact a local agent or reach out to customer service via live chat. You can reach customer service at 800-485-0811 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET or Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If you don’t need immediate service, you can send an email through the website’s contact form.
File a claim: Erie recommends reaching out to your local agent to file a claim, though you can also initiate a claim 24/7 by calling Erie customer service at 800-367-3743. Glass claims can be filed online or over the phone.
Methodology
We looked at over 400,000 actual policies quotes from real Jerry customers during 2024 across 24 different insurance companies. The pricing data included both those with clean driving records as well as those with a violation.
How we rate car insurance companies
Jerry’s team of car insurance expert writers and editors analyze real customer ratings and industry reports to get a holistic view of an insurer’s performance. Our rubric emphasizes the shopping and claims experiences, customer complaints and reviews, repair shops’ evaluations of insurers, policy and quote pricing, and state availability.
We regularly reassess insurers’ star ratings and fact-check these reviews to ensure they’re accurate and up-to-date.
These individual factors roll up into one weighting system as follows:
20% Financial strength.
20% Complaints.
20% Industry ratings.
20% Customer ratings.
20% Cost and discounts.
Stephanie Colestock is a seasoned writer specializing in personal finance. With over 14 years of experience, she crafts insightful and accessible content on a wide range of financial topics, including insurance, credit and debt management, banking, investing, retirement planning, and household finances.
Her bylines appear in top-tier publications such as TIME, Fortune, MSN, Forbes, USA Today, Money, Fox Business, and CBS. Stephanie\’s deep understanding of complex financial concepts and her ability to communicate them clearly have made her a trusted voice in the industry.
When she’s not writing, Stephanie enjoys helping individuals make smarter financial decisions through her engaging and well-researched articles.
Annie is a writer and editor at Jerry and has more than a decade of experience writing and editing digital content. Before joining Jerry, she was an assistant assigning editor at NerdWallet, where she covered loans. Previously, she worked at USAA and newspapers in Minnesota, North Dakota, California, and Texas. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota.
