National General Car Insurance Review

According to Everquote, National General is one of the top 20 largest auto insurers in the U.S. The company and its affiliates comprise National General Holdings Corporation, which offers lines of coverage for personal and business-owned vehicles, as well as collector's cars, motorcycles, RVs, and homes. Interestingly, National General also has a Lender Services group, which provides insurance tracking and lender-placed insurance to banks, credit unions, and lenders. 

In the auto space, National General will insure both well-qualified drivers and moderate-risk drivers. The company offers SR-22 filings for new customers, for example, and will also accept drivers who've received a single DUI in the past. 

The company has a hybrid distribution model, in that you can purchase auto insurance directly from National General or through an independent agent. More than 40,000 agents represent this insurance provider. 

National General is based in New York and as of late-2020 has been acquired by insurance giant Allstate.

Related Resource: National General Insurer Profile for Auto and Homeowners

History 

The National General Insurance company that exists today came to be after a series of acquisition and ownership changes. The two original entities were Integon, founded in 1920, and GMAC, established in 1925. 

Integon Insurance began offering auto coverage to higher-risk drivers in 1969. The company evolved somewhat inconsistently over the next three decades until it became an acquisition target for GMAC. GMAC closed on the purchase of Integon in 1997 and changed the company's name to GMAC Insurance Personal Lines in 2000.

Nine years later, American Capital Acquisition Corporation purchased GMAC Insurance Holdings, which included the original Integon business. GMAC later changed its name to National General Insurance and relocated from North Carolina to New York.¹

In 2020, Allstate announced it would acquire National General for $4 billion. At that time, National General had annual premiums of $5.6 billion, 60% of which was from auto insurance.²  

National General Insurance Complaint History: Below Average    

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) tracks complaints against insurance carriers, by type of coverage. Each insurer is assigned a rating, which represents the number of complaints relative to the company's share of premiums. A rating greater than 1 means the company had a higher than expected volume of complaints. A rating lower than 1 means the company had a lower than expected volume of complaints. 

As you can see in the table below, the National General companies have received a relatively higher number of complaints vs. other, similarly sized companies for private passenger auto (aka car insurance). 

Table data source: NAIC

National General's complaint ratings average at 1.0, with a most insurers coming in higher or lower. A 2 on the complaint index means National General received twice as many complaints as would be expected for its size. A 0.5 would mean half as many complaints as average. National General's online consumer reviews mention issues with general customer service including claims, as well as problems with late fees, cancellation fees, and excessive premium increases.³

Is National General Right For You?

National General is not a carrier we can universally recommend. The company charges rates that are too high to be competitive, while maintaining a poor customer service record. However, National General does cater to RV owners, motorcycle owners, and first-time DUI offenders. If you fall into one of those groups and you can accept inconsistent customer service, National General auto insurance may work for you. 

What We Think About National General 

The challenge for National General is that the company doesn't do anything exceptionally well. The coverage options are acceptable but not brilliant. The complaint record is poor and, most unfortunately, the premiums are not competitive. As well, National General has no app for policy management and the online tools are fairly basic. 

National General's list of discounts for car owners may be interesting to certain drivers, however. If you own an RV, you may qualify for a 20% premium discount, for example. You can also earn discounts by bundling your homeowners and auto insurance. And, because the carrier has long-time ties to GM, owners of GM vehicles may qualify for lower rates as well. 

You'll need as many of those discounts as possible. A ValuePenguin analysis indicates that National General premiums are significantly higher than rates quoted by other carriers. Across six different driver profiles ranging from teens to seniors, National General's premiums were two to three times higher than Geico's.⁴

One differentiator for National General is its approach to claims and repairs. The insurance provider has a satisfaction guarantee on its claims service and a lifetime guarantee on all repairs made at its Gold Medal Repair Shops. If you aren't satisfied with your claims service, National General will waive your deductible up to $250. That's a small comfort. If you have to suffer through poor claims service, after all, you may at least get a break on your deductible. 

You can purchase National General auto insurance directly from the company or through an independent agent. You might prefer an agent who can run point for you if you're having trouble with the insurance provider's customer service staff. 

As a final note, National General has recently been acquired by Allstate. That acquisition may lead to some changes going forward. We'd like to see National General do a better job on its technology tools as well as underwriting, so it can offer more competitive rates to a broader population of drivers.  

Summary of National General auto coverage:

National General has standard coverage options, but its premiums are too high to be competitive and its customer service has proven to be subpar. Drivers have to qualify for multiple discounts to get a low rate from this insurance provider. 

How National General Works 

National General offers the basic lines you'd expect from a large insurance carrier, as described in the table below.

Table data source: National General⁵,⁶

More About National General   

National General has online quoting but doesn't offer a lot in the way of technology to help customers view and adjust their coverages independently. There are some online policy management features, as described below, but National General does not have an app that provides quick access to ID cards or policy details. 

Online policy management 

You can create an account at NationalGeneral.com to manage your policy and billing details online. After signing up, you can view your insurance ID cards, check the drivers and cars listed on your policy, and manage your payments.  There's also a separate portal for claims reporting and management, where you can access live chat with an adjuster, in either English or Spanish. 

National General Discounts 

National General has the normal auto insurance discounts, plus a few extras. Some drivers will appreciate the more specific discounts, such as the RV and auto bundle discount and the multi-motorcycle discount.

Table data source: National General⁷

National General Insurance FAQs