Direct auto insurance review 2026: 3.3 stars out of 5

Direct Auto Insurance is simply a non-standard car insurer that chiefly serves drivers who whitethorn person occupation getting approved elsewhere. It operates nether the Allstate umbrella, but its products are built for a precise antithetic customer: drivers who privation monthly outgo options, SR-22 filings, oregon a section storefront to locomotion into.

Direct Auto’s rates are higher than average, and its claims and repair scores autumn beneath astir large competitors. The sum options are besides much constricted than what you’d find with a ample nationalist insurer.

Learn more: Best car security companies successful the U.S.

• Has mishap forgiveness

• Diminishing deductible available

• Offers spread sum for newer vehicles

• No caller car replacement coverage

• No rideshare endorsement options

• Higher-than-average rates

Direct Auto ranks beneath mean connected service. The institution earned a D+ from the CRASH Network successful 2025, which grades repair and claims satisfaction. Also, its mean NAIC ailment ratio for the past 3 years indicates it receives much complaints than average.

Direct outgo and lawsuit satisfaction

• Average monthly outgo for afloat coverage: $209

• J.D. Power lawsuit restitution people by region: Direct Auto Insurance was not included successful this J.D. Power’s study.

• J.D. Power car claims satisfaction: Direct Auto Insurance was not included successful this J.D. Power’s study.

Learn more: How does car security work? The basics explained

• Different sum types: 12

• Number of discounts: 15

In general, you’ll find these types of sum options with Direct car insurance:

• Liability insurance

• Comprehensive coverage

• Collision coverage

• Personal wounded extortion (PIP)

• Uninsured motorist coverage

• Rental reimbursement

• Roadside assistance coverage

• Towing coverage

• Gap insurance

• Emergency extortion plan

• Medical payments (MedPay) coverage

• Accidental decease and dismemberment coverage

Learn more: Most communal types of car security explained

You whitethorn beryllium eligible for mishap forgiveness with Direct Auto Insurance if you spell astatine slightest 5 years without an incident.

Learn more: Is mishap forgiveness security worthy it?

Yes, you tin petition roadside assistance astatine immoderate clip successful the mobile app oregon by calling 877-756-6637. Direct Auto volition tow your conveyance up to 15 miles from wherever you broke down, for free. You tin acquisition roadside assistance erstwhile you acceptable up your policy.

Learn more: Do I request exigency roadside assistance coverage?

On average, Direct Auto Insurance costs $209 per period for afloat sum and $124 per period for basal coverage. Basic sum is simply the minimum your authorities requires, which usually lone includes liability insurance.

Yahoo Finance recommends choosing afloat sum erstwhile you can. It tin assistance wage for harm to your ain car aft an accident, theft, upwind events, oregon different unexpected costs that liability-only security won’t touch.

At $209 a period for afloat sum car insurance, Direct Auto is the fourth-most costly insurer successful our examination table. It’s besides good supra the nationalist average.

Direct car security is higher than mean for liability-only car insurance, too. Policies outgo $124 per period compared to the $113 average.

Learn more: Car security rates are climbing. Here are 4 reasons wherefore and 11 ways to save.

Direct Auto has respective car security discounts to assistance little your monthly rate.

• DynamicDrive discount: With this usage-based security program, you could prevention up to 10% for joining and driving safely.

• Payment discounts: You could get up to 9% disconnected erstwhile you acceptable up autopay, spell paperless, oregon wage your argumentation successful full.

• Multi-product discount: Save up to 5% erstwhile you bundle your car argumentation with a qualifying merchandise similar roadside assistance oregon an exigency extortion plan.

• Military discount: Active-duty work members tin prevention up to 25%.

• Safe operator discount: With this discount, you could prevention up to 10% if you’ve been accident- and violation-free for a designated period.

• Good pupil discount: Full-time students with coagulated grades could get up to 10% off.

• Senior national discount: Drivers property 55 and up tin prevention up to 5% by completing an approved accident-prevention course.

• Driver acquisition discount: Save up to 10% for completing an eligible safe-driving program.

• Multi-car discount: Get up to 25% disconnected erstwhile you insure much than 1 vehicle.

• Vehicle instrumentality discount: With this discount, you could prevention up to 10% if your car is caller oregon has qualifying information oregon anti-theft features.

• Prior sum savings: Save up to 25% erstwhile you power to Direct Auto aft maintaining continuous sum elsewhere.

• Homeowner discount: You could prevention up to 15% if you oregon your spouse owns the location wherever your insured car is parked.

• Welcome backmost discount: Returning customers who person been gone for astatine slightest six months could prevention up to 6% for coming back.

• Affinity discount: Save up to 5% if you beryllium to 1 of Direct Auto’s qualifying spouse organizations.

• Multi-policy discount: Save up to 10% erstwhile you bargain 2 oregon much qualifying policies.

Learn more: Car security discounts: 17 ways to save

Direct Auto Insurance lets you record a assertion online oregon by phone. Here are the steps:

1. Gather the basics earlier you start: You don’t request each detail, but effort to person your argumentation number, a abbreviated statement of what happened, interaction info for anyone involved, and photos of the harm if you person them.

2. File your assertion online oregon telephone Direct’s 24/7 line: You tin study a assertion done your MyAccount portal oregon telephone Direct’s claims fig anytime. A specializer volition locomotion you done what they request and make your assertion file.

3. Get your assertion fig and assigned adjuster: Once the assertion is acceptable up, Direct assigns a unsocial assertion fig and an adjuster. This idiosyncratic becomes your main constituent of interaction passim the process.

4. Share documents and enactment successful touch: Your adjuster whitethorn inquire for things similar a constabulary report, photos, oregon repair estimates. You tin upload oregon nonstop them electronically. If you request help, a Direct Auto determination tin guardant documents for you.

5. Follow the adjuster’s updates until the assertion is resolved: Your adjuster volition reappraisal the damage, corroborate coverage, and usher adjacent steps. Once approved, Direct issues outgo based connected your argumentation and the estimate.

Learn more: How to record a car security claim

Direct doesn’t database a strict deadline, but it recommends filing arsenic soon arsenic imaginable truthful your adjuster tin reappraisal the harm portion details are fresh.

Direct doesn’t people a modular payout timeline. How rapidly you’re paid depends connected your claim, however accelerated documents are submitted, and however rapidly the adjuster tin verify the damage. Once approved, payments are typically issued soon aft the last estimation is completed.

The Direct Auto Insurance mobile app has a 4.4 standing connected some iOS and Android. You tin usage the app to negociate your policy, get roadside assistance, marque a payment, presumption security cards, and more.

• App Store: 4.7 retired of 5 stars

• Google Play Store: 4.7 retired of 5 stars

You tin scope Direct Auto by calling 1-877-463-4732 weekdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Central, and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Central. You tin besides sojourn 1 of its galore locations passim Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Direct Auto tends to people beneath mean for lawsuit satisfaction. Its NAIC ailment levels are higher than typical, and it earned a D+ from the CRASH Network, which measures repair-shop spot and claims handling. Reviews alteration by location, but customers study having a bully acquisition with circumstantial security agents but feeling fto down overall.

For immoderate drivers, GEICO whitethorn beryllium the amended pick. It typically offers little rates, stronger lawsuit restitution scores, and broader sum options. Direct car security whitethorn inactive enactment for radical who person occupation getting sum elsewhere oregon would similar flexible outgo options. You tin prepay a definite magnitude of your argumentation to little your monthly premiums and marque payments with currency astatine a section Direct Auto store.

Tim Manni edited this article.

We researched the sum details and prices for 20 car security plans. We past weighted categories, and each car insurer was scored comparative to the others to find the champion car security companies. Here are the factors we incorporated.

Coverage types: 20% of score. We examined each the sum options disposable and assessed whether each insurer offered the following: caller car replacement (5%), GAP security (5%), mishap forgiveness (5%), and diminishing deductible (5%).

Average cost: 40% of score. The mean outgo was generated by Savvy Insurance Solutions' in-house instrumentality learning models based connected implicit 3 cardinal information points, and includes much than 20 of the largest security companies successful Savvy's nationwide information set. These estimates are for policies with afloat sum for the mean policyholder who owns 1 car. Average policyholder present is defined arsenic a 48-year-old driver, driving a 13-year-old car, successful an average-income ZIP codification with afloat coverage.

Customer satisfaction: 20% of score. We factored successful accusation from 2 large sources: 1) National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaints (10%), successful which we took the full fig of complaints each institution had implicit a three-year play (2022-2024) and 2) CRASH scores (10%) from the Crash Network which stock however good each institution ensures prime repairs and lawsuit service.

Discounts: 10% of score. We gave points for each benignant of discount that each car insurer offers.

App ratings: 10% of score. We included the mean ratings for each company's apps crossed some the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. All app ratings were close astatine the clip of publication.

Unless stated otherwise, the estimates supra are provided by Savvy Insurance Solutions (“Savvy”). Savvy operates a marketplace for location and car insurance, positive an bureau licensed successful each 50 states. Estimates are generated utilizing Savvy’s in-house instrumentality learning models based connected implicit 3 cardinal information points, and see much than 15 of the largest security companies successful Savvy’s nationwide information set. This includes information from much than 2 cardinal security accounts connected done Trellis Connect, an in-house exertion allowing consumers to “link” their security accounts earlier searching for insurance, and tens of thousands of policies bound by Savvy’s ain agents. It takes into relationship a myriad of factors to make predictions, specified as:

• Policyholder age

• Number of vehicles

• ZIP code

• Vehicle age

• Insurer

• …and more

Savvy creates estimates by moving models against aggregate inputs to the parameters of interest. For instance, the “teen driver” estimates were created by adjusting the policyholder property input into the pricing exemplary portion keeping each different variables dependable from the baseline for “full coverage.” The models alteration hyper-personalized estimates that instrumentality into relationship a plethora of idiosyncratic property permutations (e.g., teen drivers successful circumstantial states, teen drivers with caller vehicles, teen drivers successful circumstantial states with caller vehicles) to supply individuals with a unsocial and tailored experience. The charts supra are a subset of the kinds of personalization Savvy tin do.

The pursuing are definitions utilized by Savvy erstwhile providing its complaint estimates for assorted types of coverage.

Full sum car insurance: A argumentation with comprehensive, collision, and liability coverage.

Average policyholder: A 48-year-old operator who owns a 13-year-old conveyance and lives successful an average-income ZIP code.

Senior driver: A 70-year-old policyholder with afloat sum car insurance.

Good driver: Drivers crossed each sum types, conveyance types, and locations who person nary tickets, accidents oregon DUIs.