Liberty Mutual vs. GEICO: Which is Best for You?

GEICO is ranked higher than Liberty Mutual when it comes to the cheapest car insurance for an average driver, good customer satisfaction and fewest complaints. Liberty Mutual has the edge when it comes to discounts and unique types of additional coverage. Which insurer is best for you ultimately depends on your particular situation, including where you live, your age, and any special insurance needs. When comparing insurance policies, be sure to get a personalized quote from both insurers to make an informed decision about which one is a better fit for you.

GEICO is good for drivers who value affordability and customer satisfaction.

Liberty Mutual is good for drivers who want access to additional discounts and types of coverage.

In general, GEICO provides cheaper car insurance than Liberty Mutual. According to J.D. Power, GEICO has a 5/5 affordability rating, while Liberty Mutual has a 3/5 affordability rating. That said, insurance costs vary according to many different factors, including where you live, your age, your driving history, and your credit score. Be sure to compare personalized quotes from both companies to ensure you’re getting the best possible rate.

>> More: USE OUR CAR INSURANCE COST CALCULATOR TO SEE WHICH COMPANY MAY OFFER YOU A LOWER QUOTE

Most major insurers, including Liberty Mutual and GEICO, offer discounts for car safety features, a safe driving history, and for paying your policy early or in full. While many insurance companies offer similar deals for qualified drivers, what matters most is not the number of discounts you are eligible for but the final quote you receive for your policy.

Some of the most significant discounts include bundling home and auto insurance policies and usage-based car insurance programs. Liberty Mutual offers slightly more competitive usage-based and bundling discounts. If bundling your home and auto insurance policies is an important factor to you, you can use our data analysis to see who offers the best home and auto insurance bundles in the U.S.

GEICO offers a multi-policy discount for drivers, with the exact discount varying depending on your policy. Liberty Mutual also offers a variable multi-policy discount. According to the company, if you bundle a car and home insurance policy with Liberty Mutual, you could save an average of $842 per year.

Both insurers also provide usage-based discounts. GEICO offers potential savings through its DriveEasy program, where drivers are rewarded for safe driving and penalized for distracted driving, hard braking and cornering. Liberty Mutual offers two types of usage-based discounts: their RightTrack program, which tracks total miles driven, nighttime driving, braking and acceleration, and their ByMile program, which bases your monthly rate on how many miles you drive.

MoneyGeek measures customer experience based on how satisfied customers are according to J.D. Power, and how often they lodge complaints according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The top car insurance companies have high customer satisfaction and few complaints. GEICO receives fewer customer complaints and has a higher customer satisfaction score than Liberty Mutual, making it the winner in this category.

Compared to Liberty Mutual, GEICO has a higher score for overall customer satisfaction. J.D. Power rated company 843 out of 1,000, while Liberty Mutual only scored 821.

GEICO also has a lower complaint ratio than Liberty Mutual. Customer complaints are measured by the NAIC, which compares a company’s complaints against an average complaint volume of 1. If a company receives higher than the average, it receives more complaints than average; if it’s scored lower than 1, fewer. Liberty Mutual scored 3.56, well over the average complaint volume, while GEICO received a 2.04. While both companies received over double the average number of complaints, GEICO had less, making it the winner in this category.

Every car insurance company offers standard coverages, including liability insurance, comprehensive and collision insurance, uninsured motorist insurance and personal injury insurance. When it comes to other types of coverage, Liberty Mutual has a slight edge, with ten types of additional coverage to GEICO’s four.

Both GEICO and Liberty Mutual offer rental car reimbursement, roadside assistance and accident forgiveness. GEICO also offers mechanical breakdown insurance. Liberty Mutual offers new car replacement coverage, better car replacement coverage, deductible modification, auto death indemnity coverage, disability coverage, gap insurance, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) coverage.

Financial stability is important in an insurer because it indicates that the company won’t have trouble reimbursing you if you need to file a claim. Like most large insurance companies, both Liberty Mutual and GEICO are very financially stable. GEICO does have a slightly higher stability score of A++, the highest possible rating according to A.M. Best. Liberty Mutual received an A, which is still impressive but not as high as GEICO.

GEICO edges out Liberty Mutual for online tools because of its Coverage Calculator, which helps you determine which GEICO coverages you need before getting a quote.

But both insurers offer a robust selection of online and in-app tools. For example, you can make payments, access ID cards, file claims, and add a vehicle to your policy, all in the GEICO mobile app. Similarly, Liberty Mutual lets customers file claims, pay bills and adjust policy details entirely online.

Liberty Mutual and GEICO were analyzed by MoneyGeek based on affordability, coverages, service, financial stability and online tools.

Customer satisfaction and complaints data were drawn from J.D. Power surveys and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Financial strength was based on ratings from A.M. Best, an insurance credit rating agency.

The MoneyGeek team compiled data on available coverages and discounts for each insurer. Quotes were compiled from hundreds of ZIP codes across the country for a sample car insurance policy for a 40-year-old male. The policy covers:

• $100,000 on bodily injury liability insurance per person
• $300,000 on bodily injury liability insurance per accident
• $100,000 on property damage liability insurance per person
• Comprehensive and collision insurance with a $1,000 deductible