Consumer Reports Says This Car Insurance Company Is Second Best

Auto insurance rates continued to rise in 2025, according to the State of Auto Insurance report from ValuePenguin, with an expected increase of 7.5%. Although that increase is lower than the 16.5% jump in 2024 and the 12% increase in 2023, 7.5% is still a significant rise in costs. Explaining these staggering rises in auto insurance rates involves considering multiple potential causes, including pricier car replacement parts, rising medical costs for injury accidents, and excessive speeding leading to more severe crashes.

Understandably, you might be less focused on the reasons for the rise in coverage costs. Instead, you're looking for ways to save on your car insurance without sacrificing too many features or customer satisfaction. According to a Consumer Reports rating of the best auto insurers, NJM Insurance Group can meet both of these needs. NJM ranked second on the Consumer Reports list, trailing only Erie Insurance Group. NJM was strongly ranked in several categories, including claims handling, premium cost increases, customer service, and ease of understanding coverage options. NJM provides coverage in multiple categories, including for homeowners, renters, and drivers. It also has classic and collector car coverage.

To create its list of the best auto insurers, Consumer Reports looked at 36 companies. The non-profit organization surveyed more than 40,000 of its members who hold auto policies and asked about their satisfaction with the policy in several different areas. It also tracked which members reported switching to other insurers, which indicates significant dissatisfaction.

An interesting aspect of NJM Insurance Group is that it operates like a mutual insurance company, where its stock is held in trust while being owned by its policy holders. This means policy holders may have any NJM company profits returned to them in the form of lower premiums or dividends.

Based on the results of the Consumer Reports survey, NJM auto insurance was given a "CR Recommended" designation. Those completing the survey did not give NJM perfect scores in any of the categories presented – only a few companies received a perfect score in any single category — but NJM did receive above-average scores for claims satisfaction, breadth of coverage options, clarity of policy, customer service, and policy review benefits.

One of the biggest reasons Consumer Reports ranked NJM so highly was because of its ability to keep its current clients while receiving new business from clients shifting away from competing insurance companies. According to the customers in the Consumer Reports survey, 10 times more of them switched to NJM than switched away from it to another insurer. As another benefit, NJM ranked at the top of the list in a Consumer Reports survey of the best homeowners' insurance companies. That list included 28 different companies. If you are interested in bundling your home and auto insurance coverage with one company to try to receive a discount, NJM is clearly trusted in both areas by its customers.

If you're excited about switching to NJM Insurance Group to cover your car, you might want to pump the brakes. Unfortunately, NJM only operates in five Atlantic and Midwest states currently — Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. NJM was founded in 1913 in New Jersey and has slowly expanded its coverage areas over a century-plus of operation. It only expanded to begin serving Pennsylvania in 2018 as part of its 5-year regional expansion plan that later included the other three states. Unfortunately, they're not present in the states where car insurance rates are rising fastest like Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Washington, according to a Bankrate study, so you can't try to save money by switching to NJM in those states.

NJM only received a three out of five score in the Consumer Reports survey regarding customer satisfaction with the cost of the policy, but none of the companies in the survey received a higher score — and most received lower scores in this category. Reviewers say the cost of its liability-only car insurance coverage is above the national average.

NJM does not offer a smartphone app that allows you to file claims or manage your policy, which will be a significant drawback for some people, as other companies do offer these types of apps. Although some larger auto insurance companies offer 24/7 customer service, NJM does not have this option. You can report a claim 24/7, but you have limited hours for making customer service inquiries.