21st Century Car Insurance Review

21st Century is a bare-bones auto insurance company that tries to get you the best rates by using technology to aid in the quoting and underwriting process. By eliminating agents, 21st Century has reduced its overhead, allowing it to price policies competitively. 

Who It’s Best For

• Good drivers seeking great rates
• People who like being in control of the quote process and application
• Someone who needs an SR-22

Who It’s Not Best For

• Anyone looking to bundle home and auto insurance to get bigger savings
• Someone who wants the added assistance of a dedicated agent

You can choose full coverage car insurance or minimum coverage car insurance from 21st Century.

• Liability insurance: Liability coverage is the bodily injury and property damage coverage that most states require. It pays for a third party’s property damage or medical bills if you struck their vehicle, property, or passengers.
• Collision coverage: If you need your own vehicle fixed after an at-fault accident, collision coverage pays for that. Collision coverage is optional coverage and is part of a full coverage policy.
• Comprehensive coverage: Comprehensive coverage is part of a full coverage policy, as well, and will pay to repair your vehicle when something other than a collision occurs. Commonly covered scenarios include hail damage, vandalism, or a tree falling on a vehicle.
• Medical payments: If you have medical payments coverage, it will help pay for you or your passenger’s medical bills if you are injured in an accident.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage: Because not everyone drives insured, uninsured motorist coverage is an elective coverage that covers claims when the at-fault party doesn’t have viable or any coverage.
• Emergency roadside assistance: If you purchase emergency roadside assistance, you can get help when you’re stuck on the side of the road. Roadside assistance helps with dead batteries, flat tires, and emergency tows.
• Rental reimbursement: Rental reimbursement is sometimes called rental car coverage and pays for a rental car if your car is in the shop due to a covered auto accident.

Your auto insurance rate will depend on several personal factors such as location, age, car, credit score, and driving history. 21st Century’s average annual premium is $2,112.

• Good driver discount: The better your driving history, the better your rate will be. Drivers with clean driving records can get up an average of 20 percent off their premiums if their licenses are valid and they have not received more than one point over the last three consecutive years.
• Superior driver discount: This discount is for licensed drivers with clean driving records for four to five years. It offers an additional 10 percent to 20 percent discount.
• Good student discount: Students who get a B average or higher are eligible for up to 15 percent off their premiums. This discount is for high school and college students under the age of 25.
• Mature driver discount: Drivers over the age of 55 can save an additional 2 percent if they complete state-recognized defensive driving courses. Learn more about the best car insurance for seniors.
• Multicar discount: Households with more than one car insured under 21st Century can get a discount on all vehicles. The discount percentage depends on the vehicle and the driver’s record.
• Anti-theft discount: Vehicles outfitted with up-to-date anti-theft systems can qualify for up to 15 percent off their auto insurance premiums.

21st Century started in California, but today, it serves 48 of the 50 states as well as Washington, D.C. The company conducts all insurance sales online or via a call center, and does not have local agents. In other words, don’t expect to walk into an agency to talk to someone.

21st Century customer service is available through helpful online portals, apps, and telephone banks. You can do the following through its online portal or app:

• Get a quote.
• Make a payment.
• File a claim.
• Access your declarations page.
• Request roadside assistance.

However, 21st Century did not make the cut for J.D. Power and Associates’ top insurance carriers. This omission is likely because the company is much smaller than major powerhouses such as Farmers, State Farm, and GEICO.

The insurer has no accreditation with the BBB, but maintains an A+ rating. It has three customer reviews and six complaints noted in the past 12 months. Complaints include a problem with a claim, cancellation fees, and an issue with adding automatically roommates to a policy. 21st Century responded to every complaint and showed an interest in rectifying the situations.²

Using an insurance mobile app ensures that you have updated policy information at your fingertips if you are in an accident or need to show proof of insurance. 21st Century offers an app in Google Play and the Apple App Store. On Google Play, the app has a 3.8-star rating with more than 1,100 reviews. Its App Store rating is only 2.3 stars with 25 reviews.

Consumers report problems with the app because updates remove certain features that were useful, such as fingerprint login. Also, users complain that the app uses a pop-up to upgrade the version, forcing them to update and log in again.

To use the app, you must have a valid insurance policy with 21st Century. You’ll be able to manage your account and any claim directly in the app. It even helps you upload accident photos directly into the claim details.

21st Century has third-party ratings that range from stellar to poor. Here’s how the company fares on top rating sites.

• NAIC Complaint Index: The National Association of Insurance Commissioners maintains a complaint index on all insurance carriers. It assigns them ratios based on the number of complaints per market share. 21st Century’s Complaint Index score for 2021 is zero, meaning that the company had no formal complaints.³
• AM Best: AM Best withdrew its financial strength rating for 21st Century on Nov. 19, 2019. It is a bad sign for 21st Century that a major rating company has withdrawn its rating, but AM Best says it withdrew because it doesn’t see the insurance carrier as a risk-bearing entity. This lack of rating is a concern that the company may not have the financial resources to meet its claims obligations. According to AM Best, the credit ratings were under review at the time of withdrawal, but because the company has been withdrawn from the site, no new reviews are being conducted.

Louis W. Foster founded 20th Century Insurance (as it was called at the time) in Los Angeles in 1958. Its roots in California run deep, as does its continued commitment to serving the California market. It has expanded coverage over the years through its subsidiary companies to offer policies to 48 states and Washington, D.C.⁴ It became 21st Century Insurance at the turn of the century. Farmers acquired the company in 2009.

21st Century offers auto insurance only. Consumers cannot purchase home, business, or life insurance through this carrier. However, 21st Century touts a sister company, Toggle, another Farmers Insurance subsidiary that offers inexpensive renters insurance from $5 per month. That being said, there are no auto insurance discounts for customers who purchase a renters policy with Toggle.⁵

There are no cancellation fees with 21st Century. To cancel a policy, call 800-241-1188 before the effective date of the renewal.

21st Century allows you to backdate a cancellation if you have purchased new insurance with a different carrier. Backdating a cancellation means you use a date earlier than the current date to cancel the policy. You’ll need to provide 21st Century with a copy of the new insurance’s declarations page to backdate the cancellation effectively.