The 10 worst California auto insurance companies

When getting California auto insurance you should be concerned about more than just the cost of your auto insurance policy. You should be concerned about the quality of the auto insurance company as well.

The California Department of Insurance released a consumer complaint study that shows the ratio of complaints per 100,000 policies or exposures. The data is all from 2006, so keep in mind that the auto insurance companies below may have improved or worsened in service since then. But the data should still give you a good idea of what California auto insurance companies you want to avoid.

The study is called the Justified Complain Study. It counts only justified complaints (determined by a third party).

Here is a chart showing the 10 most complained about insurance companies licensed to insure people in the state of California:

Rank	Company Name	2006 Approx. Exposure Count	Justified Complaint Ratio	Number of Justified Complaints
1	AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL INS. CO. OF CALIF., INC.	72,078	34.7	25
2	LINCOLN GENERAL INS. CO.	95,395	19.9	19
3	SAFECO INS. CO. OF AMERICA	152,767	10.5	16
4	INFINITY INS. CO.	569,171	10.2	58
5	GRANITE STATE INS. CO.	326,227	10.1	33
6	METROPOLITAN DIRECT PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INS. CO.	103,798	9.6	10
7	UNITRIN DIRECT INS. CO.	46,188	8.7	4
8	FINANCIAL INDEMNITY CO.	86,099	8.1	7
9	WESTERN UNITED INS. CO.	94,150	7.4	7
10	ESURANCE PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INS. CO.	95,328	7.3	7

Keep in mind that there are California auto insurance companies with more complaints that do not appear on the list. This list only shows the most complained about companies relative to the number of policies they provided in 2006.

To see the list of all 50 insurance companies, click here.

The bottom line is that when your shopping for cheap California auto insurance, you also need to research the insurance company your purchase from. Poor service can end up costing you more in the long run.

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