Auto Insurance

Consumer shopping guide for auto insurance

This guide is designed to assist Missouri consumers in buying auto insurance. The companies included have the largest market share for such business, but many other insurers also offer automobile coverage.
Missouri law requires all auto owners to carry liability limits of $25,000 per person for bodily injury, $50,000 for bodily injury per accident and $10,000 for property damage per accident.. The law also requires uninsured motorist coverage of $25,000 for bodily injury per person and $50,000 for bodily injury per accident. Many persons also buy optional collision or comprehensive coverage that would repair or replace their auto if damaged or stolen.
Many insurance companies offer discount plans for auto insurance. 

To use the charts

The chart illustrates the rates of four hypothetical drivers: a single male, age 17; a single female, 25; a married male, 35; and a married female, 65. Your own rate may vary based on place of residence, age, gender, marital status and type of car. Most companies have separate rates for men and women until age 25 or 30. After that age, rates generally do not vary much based on gender or marital status.

Rates

Premiums listed are for six months of coverage. Rates are based on assumptions about the type of driver and car as well as the amount of liability coverage carried. The rates assume the policy includes coverage for $1,000 in medical payments; 10 miles per day or less for commuter travel; and about 15,000 miles driven per year.

Financial ratings

Financial ratings are available on-line. The department's Consumer Hotline (1-800-726-7390) provides information on whether a company is in good standing in Missouri.
The complaint index measures how many consumer complaints the Missouri Department of Insurance has received the past three years relative to the amount of business a specific company writes in Missouri. The index is based on all complaints received, whether or not they were valid. The higher the index number, the worse the complaint ratio:

• 100 percent means the department received the normally expected number of complaints about that company, based on the amount of business it conducted in Missouri.
• 99 percent or less indicates the company was the subject of less than the normally expected number of complaints.
• More than 100 percent shows the department received more than the normally expected number of complaints about that company.

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