Safeco Insurance Review

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Contributor, Benzinga
June 23, 2021
Safeco
Overall Rating:

Safeco Insurance is a Liberty Mutual Company. It sells insurance products through independent insurance agents. It offers a variety of property and casualty insurance products like car, homeowners and umbrella insurance. Safeco offers discounts based on safe driving habits and buying multiple products but doesn’t have the best reputation for customer service.

Safeco is also a solid choice if you’re in the market for collector car or RV insurance.

Pros
  • Online claim filing
  • Dedicated agents
  • Useful mobile app
  • AM Best Rating: A
Cons
  • Average customer service ratings
  • Can’t sign up for a policy online

Safeco Ratings at a Glance

Insurance Products
Customer Service
Claims Support
Pricing and Value
Customer Support

Looking for a new home or auto insurance policy? The best approach is to get quotes from multiple companies. Safeco Insurance offers a wide range of products, including unique products like golf cart insurance. Here’s everything you need to know about Safeco so you can determine whether it’s the best option for you.

Who’s Safeco Insurance Best for?

Safeco Insurance is for people who like face-to-face interaction. You can get an estimate online but if you want to buy a policy, you have an agent. Good independent agents can be a great resource. They can help you choose the best policy for your needs, whether it’s through Safeco or another carrier. They can answer your questions and help make sure Safeco handles your claims promptly. 

Safeco Insurance Products

Looking for the best homeowners insurance or auto insurance? Safeco is worth considering. It has an impressive range of products. Safeco offers:

  • Vehicle insurance: Vehicle insurance helps cover damage to your vehicle and damage done by your vehicle. You can tailor your coverage to meet your budget. You can insure a variety of vehicles with Safeco:
    • Cars, including classic cars
    • Trucks
    • Motorcycles
    • Boats 
    • RVs and trailers
    • ATVs, off-road vehicles and snowmobiles
    • Golf carts and other low-speed vehicles
  • Ridesharing coverage: Most vehicle insurance policies won’t cover claims that happen while working with a rideshare service. Your rideshare service may provide coverage, but only when you’re transporting customers. Safeco offers rideshare coverage in some states to bridge the gap between your personal policy and your transportation service’s policy. Be sure to speak with your agent about this.  You want to make sure the policy is endorsed correctly.
  • Property insurance: Property insurance helps cover the costs of repairing or replacing property under certain circumstances. Safeco offers the following types of property insurance:
    • Homeowners insurance
    • Renters insurance
    • Landlord insurance
    • Valuable item insurance
  • Pet insurance: This insurance helps to pay for medical bills for your pets.
  • Umbrella insurance: Medical bills and other costs can add up quickly. Even if you have a high policy limit, it doesn’t take much to meet that limit. This insurance kicks in when you exceed your policy limits. You can use the umbrella policy in coordination with any other Safeco policy and policies from other insurance companies. You must have Safeco auto insurance to purchase an umbrella insurance policy. 
  • Identity recovery insurance: This coverage helps you recover if your identity is stolen. It helps any expenses you have due to identity theft. It also helps make up for lost wages or care for family members due to identity theft. 

Available Discounts and Tips on Getting the Best Rates

Curious about how to get the best auto insurance rates from Safeco? Here’s all you need to know about how to get discounts from Safeco.

  • Get the Safeco Package. Have you purchased multiple Safeco policies, like homeowners insurance and car insurance? Safeco will give you a discount of up to 15%. If you have multiple products, you may also only have to pay 1 deductible if 1 event caused all the damage. Let’s say there’s a storm and your home and car are damaged. You may pay the home deductible and Safeco may waive your auto deductible. 
  • Use RightTrack. RightTrack provides you with a 5% to 30% discount for safe driving. You can participate by using a device that plugs into your car or with a mobile app, depending on your state. Both options track your driving habits. It looks at factors like when you drive and how hard you brake.  After the time period has ended, the program determines your ‘safe driving’ discount. 
  • Take an accident prevention course. Senior drivers who complete an accident prevention class may get a 3-year discount on auto insurance. 
  • Enroll in Teen Safety Rewards. Do you have a teen driver? You can take advantage of teen safety rewards to help lower your insurance costs. Teens may be eligible for a good student discount and other policy discounts. 
  • Install an anti-theft device in your vehicle. Safeco offers a discount for having an alarm or disabling device in your vehicle. 

How can you get the best rates on Safeco Insurance? Here are a few tips:

  • Own a home. Safeco offers lower vehicle insurance rates to people who own a home.
  • Choose a higher deductible. Your deductible is the amount you pay out of pocket before your insurance kicks in. If you choose a higher deductible, you’ll have a lower premium. 
  • Pay annually. Safeco offers a discount if you pay annually instead of monthly. 
  • Choose a newer home. You’ll get a lower rate for homeowners insurance if your home is less than 10 years old. 

Customer Service

Your best resource for Safeco customer service is your agent. Your agent can help you:

  • Update your address
  • Understand how your policy works
  • Make changes to your policy
  • Cancel your policy
  • Make changes to your billing schedule
  • Order new ID cards and policy documents

You can call Safeco at 1-800-332-3226 or set up an online account on the Safeco website. Pay your bill, add and remove drivers and order new ID cards through your online account. 

Claims Support

The simplest way to file a claim is on the Safeco website. You also have a dedicated agent that can help you with this process.  No matter who files it, you can track your claim process online. Safeco will also assign you a dedicated claims representative you can contact with questions. 

If you have a glass claim, you can file that online with Safelite Solutions, Safeco’s preferred glass repair provider. 

Pricing and Value

You’ll need to contact an agent to get an accurate quote. You can get an estimate online, but that may not reflect discounts and other factors. Safeco policyholders are relatively happy with pricing according to its Consumer Affairs website. 

J.D. Power, an independent rating organization, gives Safeco 3 out of 5 stars overall. J.D. Power based its rating on the experience customers have when they file a claim. Reviews on the Consumer Affairs website include slow and frustrating claims experiences. 

Safeco Insurance offers value but its claims service is less than spectacular. You may need to follow up often to ensure your claim receives the attention it deserves. 

Customer Support

Your best source of customer support is the agent you work with when you purchase your policy. That agent knows you and your policy and can help you with most issues. You can also accomplish many tasks with a Safeco online account. 

You can also use the Safeco mobile app if you’re on the go. You can pull up a digital ID card, file a claim and upload pictures, pay your policy and contact your agent through the mobile app. If you have questions about insurance in general, you can add the Insurance Advisor skill to Alexa. You can ask Alexa questions about insurance and it can answer them. Alexa can also connect you with local Safeco agents. 

Safeco also supports customers by providing perks. The Safeco Auto Buying Program has saved members money. It simplifies the car shopping experience and helps you research vehicles from the comfort of your home. Safeco also offers a discount on membership to the Home Owners Network. The Home Owners Network provides advice on maintenance and repairs and discounts at retailers. 

Is Safeco Right for You?

Are you looking for the best renters insurance or another type of policy? If you’re looking for vehicle, renters or homeowners insurance, it’s worth getting a quote from Safeco. As with any financial purchase, the best approach is to get multiple quotes. Keep in mind the service experiences customers have had. It might be worth paying a little more to work with a company with great service. 

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Melinda Sineriz

About Melinda Sineriz

Melinda specializes in writing about mortgages. student loans, personal loans, insurance, managing credit and debt, and credit cards.