AAA vs. Liberty Mutual Car Insurance

AAA and Liberty Mutual Insurance provide car insurance to millions of drivers nationwide but when it comes to comparing car insurance companies sometimes the difference is much greater than just the premiums.

Learn more about AAA and Liberty Mutual below.

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About AAA

The American Automobile Association, better known as AAA, has been operating since 1902 as a non-profit member service organization, with over 51 million members and is in the business of serving customers and their automotive needs in various capacities.

The company was started up by a handful of motor clubs, who originally banded together to do something about the lack of highways and roads suitable for cars.

AAA published their first road maps in 1905, and began their first safety school patrol program in 1920. This was the first of their driver safety programs.

AAA currently has 69 individual clubs, and the clubs in turn own AAA. In other words, dues from its members finance the entire organization.

The AAA Life Insurance Co. was founded in 1967 and the organization subsequently expanded its offerings into auto, life, home, health and other types of insurance.

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About Liberty Mutual Car Insurance

Liberty Mutual is an established insurance company with several decades’ worth of helping customers find the right insurance. The company was founded as The Massachusetts Employees Insurance Association (MEIA) in 1912, and issued its first insurance policy in 1914.

Being a mutual company means the company works on the behalf of its policy holders, since they are the owners of the company rather than stockholders. Liberty Mutual still operates under these principles today.

In the 1970s Liberty Mutual surpassed the $2 billion mark in written policy premiums.

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Car Insurance Rates Comparison

Policy premiums depend on many variable factors, such as an individual’s age group, driving record, geographical location, the mileage they drive and the car they drive it in.

As an estimate of insurance costs to help compare these two companies, an illustration was performed using the profile of a man aged approximately 35 years old with a clean driving record, driving a Honda Accord for less than 10,000 miles each year.

Based on this profile the estimated cost of annual insurance from AAA is $1,409. The estimated cost for car insurance with Liberty Mutual is $1,346.

Both of these estimates were made assuming the driver lives in California, which has an average insurance rate that is very close to the national average car insurance premium of $1,430.

Customer Service Review

AAA has a website for each of their 69 geographical groups, with 800-telephone numbers to contact for insurance quotes, policy changes and renewals, and 24 hour claim reporting.

JD Power’s National Auto Insurance Study for 2010 ranks auto insurance providers based on the categories of 1) ease of contacting the insurer, 2) policy offerings, 3) billing and payment, and 4) pricing. An overall rating is also assigned.

In the study, AAA scored a three-star rating for overall quality, but they received only two stars for the “contacting the insurer” rating factor.

On Liberty Mutual’s website you’ll find helpful quick links for an auto coverage estimator, auto discounts, and auto savings by state. There is also the ability to manage existing claims online, which also gives customers the ability to report a new claim online in addition to using a phone number or a local agent.

Liberty Mutual also received a three-star rating for their customer service from the JD Power and Associates 2010 survey. Liberty Mutual received three stars for “contacting the insurer.”

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Product Offerings

AAA provides many services and products to its members in addition to car insurance. It has a free travel agent service, maps and travel directions, other financial products such as homeowners and life insurance, drivers training, car buying assistance, car registration services and their roadside assistance service, which is why most people join.

Liberty Mutual car insurance is just one of many product offerings from the Liberty Mutual group parent company. The personal markets group also offers homeowners, personal liability, and valuable possessions insurance, as well as annuity and life insurance products through their Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston subsidiary.

Liberty Mutual sells the majority of their new policies through thousands of group relationships including credit unions, employers, alumni and professional associations.

Liberty Mutual also has a division that sells products to the commercial market, and the Liberty International group does business with personal and small commercial insurance in 14 countries across the world.

Which car insurance company is better – AAA or Liberty Mutual Insurance?

Each company has their strong areas and both organizations are run ultimately for the benefit of their members, since that is who funds their existence.

The average cost of insurance at AAA was estimated at a slightly higher rate, but since the estimate was performed based on a California driver, those who live in states with lower insurance rates, such as Maine or Ohio might do much better with AAA.

In addition, costs can be lowered by combining car and homeowners insurance offerings, for example, and the value of the free travel assistance, driver safety programs and roadside assistance may more than offset any small additional premium costs.

The estimated car insurance cost for Liberty Mutual came out slightly lower than AAA, and the benefit of using Liberty Mutual for car insurance is that they also offer homeowners and other types of insurance that can be combined to get the lowest possible price for the whole bundle of products.

Both companies offer a wealth of car insurance discounts especially for good drivers. If you are comparison shopping between Liberty Mutual vs AAA insurance coverage, you may want to compare the discounts you’d receive when making a choice. A strong discount can make your auto insurance premiums quite affordable.

Auto insurance comparisons between the two companies are very close but ultimately how much your car insurance costs will depend not just on the provider but also a combination of the type of vehicle insured, your driving record and numerous other factors – even your credit score can affect your auto insurance rates.

The cost of auto insurance is always a big factor in selecting any insurance provider and both Liberty Mutual and AAA are some of the best providers, so it’s hard to claim a winner here.

The best solution is to compare policy coverage options from a handful of providers and then choose the one who has the best combination of coverage, claims handling, reputation and premiums.

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Related posts:

1. Liberty Mutual Car Insurance Review
2. Allstate vs. Liberty Mutual Car Insurance
3. Car Insurance Comparison Chart – 2010 J.D. Power and Associates National Auto Insurance Study

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