21st Century Car Insurance Review

21st Century is only good for drivers in California. If you want insurance outside of California, you can consider Toggle or Farmers (Farmers owns both Toggle and 21st Century). If you are in California, 21st Century may be a good option for you if you want full coverage car insurance with lower-than-average costs. It’s also good for seniors ages 55 and over, as you could qualify for a discount.

However, 21st Century will not work for anyone outside of California, or anyone who wants minimum coverage, as prices are higher than the national average. Additionally, if you wanted to try pay-per-mile insurance or a safe driving program, 21st Century is not for you, as neither form of usage-based insurance is available.

21st Century costs an average of $1,779 per year, below the national average of $1,924. However, it’s slightly higher than average for minimum coverage, at $678 per year compared to an annual average of $547.

There are two main ways to save on car insurance from 21st Century: the first category has to do with the driver, i.e. me, and the second category has to do with my vehicle itself. Because of my clean driving record, free of accidents or tickets in the past three years, with only one moving violation of the past three years, I qualify for a safe driver discount of 20 percent. That’s around the average amount most people save, but it could be higher.

As far as vehicle discounts, I qualify for a 15 percent discount due to my car’s anti-theft system. I could have also gotten a discount for having multiple cars or drivers on my policy, but since it’s just me, I couldn’t take advantage. Too bad!

Here’s a complete list of all the discounts that 21st Century offers:

• Superior driver discount: Available for those who got the good driver discount, this discount would apply if I maintained a safe driving record for four to five years. The average discount ranges from 10 to 20 percent.
• Mature driver discount: Senior drivers 55 and older who take a state-recognized defensive driving class save an average of 2 percent on liability coverage premiums.
• Good student discount: Last but not least, students under the age of 25 who maintain grades of “B” or higher can get an average of 15 percent off.

Because I live in Pennsylvania, when I put in my state on the company website’s homepage, I was redirected to a bunch of other carriers, as 21st Century only services residents of California. But even Californians wouldn’t have been able to complete this quote process online. Rather, they would have to call 21st Century directly, which may not be ideal for those who prefer online auto insurance.

Along with the standard car insurance coverages, which includes liability insurance, collision and comprehensive coverage, medical payments coverage, and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, 21st Century also offers:

• Roadside assistance: Although this page redirects to Toggle, I’m going to assume that you can still get roadside assistance from 21st Century. According to the Toggle website, it includes towing, tire changes, fuel deliveries, lockout services, battery jumpstarts, and winching services, 24/7 for up to three trips within six months.¹
• Rental car coverage: If my car was being repaired for a covered claim, rental car coverage would have paid for a rental vehicle.

This is pretty bare bones in terms of coverages, and does not include gap coverage, which may be required for loaned/leased vehicles. Additionally, the company does not offer accident forgiveness, so my rates would increase after an accident. However, the company provides enough to satisfy California’s requirements and more, so it’s an option if you want full coverage insurance and minimal add-ons, or just minimum coverage.

Generally, 21st Century (or, if that wasn’t available, its parent company Farmers) has strong customer satisfaction and financial strength ratings from third parties. The big exception is the amount of complaints the National Association of Insurance Commissioner has received about the company, 6.37 times as much as it should have gotten based on the company’s size. That being said, there were only four total complaints in 2023, so it’s a pretty small sample size to pull from.

There are a few ways to file a claim with 21st Century. You can do so online by logging into the company’s website. You can also call the company 24/7. However, there is no mobile app, as you can see below, so that is where the options end.

J.D. Power’s Claims Satisfaction study includes Farmers, not 21st Century directly. However, the company received the same score as the national average, 878 out of 1,000. That being said, in the CRASH Network’s 2024 report, the company got a C- rating and is ranked 71 out of 88 total options, which does not speak highly of its claims process.⁸ On average, you can expect a claim to be closed in about 30 days, or longer if there were injuries involved.

21st Century no longer has mobile apps, although they have in the past. When I looked in both the App and Google Play stores, the only apps I could find were from Farmers, its parent company. This is a disadvantage if you want to show your insurance ID card on your smartphone, or if you want to submit a claim through the app directly.

Its website is very bare-bones, with no information on its coverages and no online support center. Many of its pages now redirect to Toggle, and there are even ads for Toggle on the company’s website itself, so it’s safe to say that it wasn’t a great user experience for yours truly.

To me, both the lack of an app and the minimal website show me that Farmers is pushing its customers to Toggle, if they haven’t been moved there already. That said, if you do go down that route, in California, 21st Century underwrites Toggle’s policies, so your coverage (or your premiums) won’t change due to that transition.

Here are the factors I look into when I review insurance companies:

• Average premiums: No insurance company has one-size-fits-all pricing the way a grocery store would. Rather, providers base prices based on factors about the driver and their car, like their driving history, home address, age, and how their car performed in safety tests. That being said, I still look at national averages to see what companies are best for what groups in general. For example, some companies may be more affordable to high-risk drivers with DUIs or at-fault accidents on their records, while others may be cheaper for people with clean driving records. Additionally, some companies are better for full vs. minimum coverage, or vice-versa. Generally, I look for companies with average premiums that fall below the national average for these distinct categories.
• Discounts: Of course, discounts can also make a huge difference when it comes to premiums, so I look for companies with discounts for good drivers, good students, seniors, military members and veterans, and other driver-based discounts as well as vehicle discounts for electric vehicles, vehicles with anti-theft systems or automatic brakes, and other safety features. Most companies offer discounts for bundling multiple types of policies together, or for having multiple cars insured.
• Coverages: Aside from the standard coverages, I prefer companies that have rental car reimbursement, roadside assistance, and gap insurance, at a minimum. I add extra points to a company with more specialized coverages like classic car coverage, Mexico coverage, new car replacement coverage, as well as coverage for accidental death and dismemberment, custom equipment, glass, rideshare drivers, mechanical breakdowns, umbrella coverage, travel expenses, and more. In my opinion, when it comes to coverage options, the more, the merrier.
• Customer satisfaction: Not only do I take my own experience dealing with a company into account, but I also check out data from real customers collected by J.D. Power and the Better Business Bureau. Additionally, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners tracks how many complaints it receives about any given company, and compares it to the company’s size, forming a comparable complaint index.
• Financial strength: To determine a company’s creditworthiness, or how likely they are to pay out claims in a timely manner, I look at financial strength ratings from third-party organizations like Moody’s, AM Best, and Standard and Poor’s.
• Claims: Ideally, companies should accept claims online, over the phone, and through a mobile application. Claims should take no more than 30 days to be handled, and I also consider third-party claims satisfaction ratings from J.D. Power. Additionally, I consult the CRASH Network’s Auto Insurer Report Card, an online survey about claims service. The 2024 survey, for example, asked U.S. collision repair facilities which companies were best (and worst) to deal with, and because these companies deal with auto insurance companies all day, they are the most trustworthy to ask, grading the companies on their “claims handling policies, attitude, and payment practices.”
• Mobile app and website: Last but not least, I look for companies with educational and user-friendly websites and apps. Apps should let you perform a ton of actions on the go, from submitting claims to changing your policy, and they should have at least three stars in the Google Play and Apple stores, allowing frictionless experiences for both Android and iPhone-users, respectively.