Experian Insurance Broker Review 2024

The way Experian works is simple. I went to the Experian website and made an account, then answered a few questions about my current insurance, vehicle, driving history, and personal information like my birth date and Social Security number. From there, Experian showed me a variety of quotes from popular providers like GEICO and Bristol West. From there, I could choose which offer I found the most appealing.

However, what was a bit annoying was that after I was redirected to a third party’s website, I had to start the process of filling in information over again. The Experian quote is not guaranteed, so while it can give you a jumping off point, you will have to repeat the process with the provider itself. My experience is summed up in the screenshot below.

Experian would be a good option for you if you want:

• Online quote and purchase process
• A variety of quote options from different insurers
• Average savings of $828 per year according to Experian, based on customers who switched and saved from January 2022 to March 2024

However, it’s not ideal if you’re looking for:

• Human interaction, as the broker is virtual
• An auto insurance buying process that does not use the internet

Essentially, Experian can work for any type of driver: someone with a clean record, a high-risk driver, a teenage driver, a senior driver, etc. However, it’s not for you if you want to meet someone in person or talk to a human to buy your insurance. While there is a phone option at the end of the process, it largely takes place online.

Because Experian is a broker and not an insurance provider, the cost will vary greatly based on which carrier you are matched with, your driving history, vehicle, insurance history, and other factors that affect the cost of car insurance.

Below is a list of average insurance costs from the nation’s largest providers. Full coverage insurance always costs more than your state’s minimum coverage, as it includes more coverages and higher limits.

Because you’ll end up with a provider and not Experian itself, your discounts will depend on the provider. For example, my cheapest quote was with GEICO, and I was eligible for discounts like:

• Having vehicle equipment like an airbag, anti-lock brakes, an anti-theft system, and daytime running lights
• Being accident-free for five years
• Wearing a seat belt
• Completing a defensive driving course
• Having multiple vehicles
• Having multiple policies under GEICO, like home and auto insurance bundles

To figure out your actual quote, you’ll have to go through the quotes process with the third party, as Experian’s quote is just an estimate.

The biggest discount is for having multiple vehicles insured with GEICO. Since my partner and I both have cars, we bought insurance for them under GEICO insurance policies and got 25 percent off our premiums. The second-highest discounts, aside from emergency deployment members, was for having airbags and anti-theft systems. Auto theft is a recurring issue across the country, especially where I live in the heart of Philadelphia, so getting this discount was really killing two birds with one stone.²

To get a quote from Experian, first I had to make an account. If you have already used Experian to check your credit score, buy identity theft software, or apply for a credit card or loan, you can skip this step and log in with your existing account.

Once I had my account set up, I filled out some information about my:

• Cars
• Drivers
• Discounts I was eligible for
• Driving history
• Current policy
• Desired coverage

Once I was done filling out the form, which took about 10 minutes, Experian showed me quotes from various providers. As you can see, GEICO’s pricing was the lowest quote by hundreds of dollars.

I’m all about saving money, so I clicked on GEICO and was brought to its website, where I essentially started the process over, answering similar questions and going more into detail about my Vehicle Identification Number and other identifying information.

I completed the entire process online, but if I preferred to speak to someone on the phone, that was possible, either at the end of my Experian or my GEICO quote. There was also a live chat option, but the process was so frictionless I think most people wouldn’t need it.

Once I made it to the end of the quotes process, I closed my computer and was inundated with phone calls and text messages from Experian, urging me to finish my auto insurance buying process. This was a bit annoying but is typical of all auto insurance companies, be them agencies or brokerages.

Because Experian is the middle man that connects customers with insurance companies, you can get any type of coverage you’d like. Of course, any insurer will have the state’s typical requirements like liability, uninsured motorist, collision and comprehensive coverage, as well as medical payments coverage and personal injury protection (PIP.) However, the advantage of working with an insurance broker is that it can help connect you to a variety of add-ons, such as

• Classic car coverage: People with classic cars need special insurance to protect them, but not all providers insure classic cars.
• Gap insurance: Gap insurance, often a requirement for loaned or leased vehicles, covers the gap between your car’s actual cash value and the remaining amount on your loan or lease. This ensures that you won’t be paying for a totaled car.
• Glass/windshield coverage: Believe it or not, glass/windshield coverage is not always included in collision and comprehensive coverage. Sometimes, it requires an add-on.
• Mechanical breakdown insurance: Typical car insurance does not cover mechanical breakdowns or failures, which is why so many people turn to expensive extended warranties. But mechanical breakdown insurance, or MBI, is a cheaper option that you can add to an existing car insurance policy.
• Mexico coverage: Driving to Mexico? Make sure your auto insurance policy covers you south of the border.
• New car replacement: If you already have gap insurance, new car replacement would mean that your totaled vehicle is replaced with a car that’s the same model year or one model year newer.
• Rental car reimbursement: Many people do not have access to public transportation and will need a rental car if there’s is in the shop under a covered claim. Rental car reimbursement would cover the cost of the rental car, typically on a daily basis.
• Rideshare insurance: Uber and Lyft drivers need rideshare insurance to cover themselves when they’re working, but there’s no customer in the car. Transportation network coverage from Uber or Lyft only covers incidents that occur when a customer is in the car, meaning that when a driver is going to pick up a customer, or has just dropped one off, they’re not covered, as personal auto insurance does not cover any commercial activity.
• Roadside assistance: Many auto insurance companies offer affordable roadside assistance, providing them with lockout services, towing, winching, or fuel delivery when they need it.
• Travel expense coverage: If you already have rental car reimbursement, travel expense coverage is a nice add-on, covering lodging, food, and transportation if your car breaks down when you’re away from home.

To see what other customers thought of Experian, I checked customer reviews and ratings from Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau (BBB.) As of writing in July of 2024, Experian has a four out of five-star rating on Trustpilot, which is excellent.³ 65 percent of the reviews are four or five stars, and given that there are nearly 70,000 reviews total, this accounts for nearly 45,000 happy customers. Customers on the BBB, however, were not as happy. They gave Experian only 1.08 out of five stars, and the BBB’s rating was no better, a letter grade of C+.

Concerningly, at the top of the BBB page was a warning, a reminder that in 2022, Experian settled with 40 states due to data breaches in 2012 and 2015, paying nearly $13 million.⁴ That being said, since then, Exeprian has strengthened its data security practices, and unfortunately many companies experience data breaches, so I wouldn’t call this a deal breaker, just something to be cautious about.

Since you won’t actually be filing a claim with Experian, the process will depend on your provider. For example, my most affordable provider, GEICO, lets me submit claims through its website as well as its mobile app. For the less tech-savvy, there are also phone lines as well as email addresses.

Experian’s website is very easy to use. The site took me through forms, with one question on each page, and made it simple to get quotes from multiple websites. There is also a mobile app, available on iOS and Android devices, that mimicked the online experience. No wonder the iOS app has 4.8 out of five stars, while the Android app is at 4.7.

My only qualm with the iOS app is when I clicked on auto insurance, technically, I was taken out of the app and onto a mobile browser. This was also the case for other product categories like credit cards, loans, life insurance, and even car-buying services from Carvana. While these mobile browsers were still user-friendly, I would have preferred if the entire experience was in-app.

Experian’s online car insurance broker service is easy-to-use and shops the entire market for you, aggregating quotes from multiple providers. It’s a good option for consumers looking for a cheaper insurance policy who prefer an online shopping experience. That said, Experian quotes are only estimates, and you’ll need to re-enter your personal information on the actual insurance provider’s website to get an exact quote. It’s likely not the best option for customers who prefer human interaction, and Experian’s services are mostly virtual.

I review insurance brokers a bit differently than insurance companies. Here is my criteria:

• User experience: I go through the process myself and see how easy it is to get multiple quotes and purchase a policy.
• Customer satisfaction ratings: So it’s not only based on my personal experience, I check customer ratings with Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau.
• Online tools: I test out a broker’s website and mobile app, making sure they are frictionless for all customers.

Given that coverages, discounts, claims processes, and premiums differ by provider, I couldn’t judge Experian on them, as it’s only a broker and not an insurance provider. Our in-depth reviews provide more information on each auto insurance provider.