Elephant Insurance Review: Is It Right for You?

Elephant Insurance Company is noteworthy for its technology-centered approach and competitive pricing. The company offers a broad discount program, including multi-car, safe driver, and pay-in-full discounts. Standout features include its robust online quoting, buying, and management process, plus rare coverage options, like upgraded accident forgiveness, diminishing deductibles, pet injury coverage, and the YourMechanic program, which connects you with qualified mechanics willing to make home visits.

These benefits make Elephant Insurance a compelling choice for cost-conscious drivers seeking high-end coverage. Read on to learn more about how Elephant fares among real-life customers and how it compares to the best in the business.

Is Elephant a Good Choice for Auto Insurance?

Short answer — yes, Elephant can be a solid choice for many drivers. The company excels in terms of cost and ease of use — which should be expected of a technological leader. But the company falls behind in customer satisfaction.

We’ve summarized Elephant’s performance across five key metrics in the table below.

Where Elephant stands out

Elephant Insurance offers an excellent online buying process and several additional insurance products (including legal assistance coverage) to help you get fully insured at a reasonable price. Costs are also lower than average in every state the company operates in.

Where Elephant falls short

Despite relatively positive online reviews, the company has earned more customer complaints than other insurers of a similar size, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Without additional evaluation from industry standards like J.D. Power, it’s somewhat difficult to know how the company’s customer service truly stacks up.

Elephant Reviews: What Real Customers Are Saying

Unlike many competitors, Elephant doesn’t offer 24/7 customer or claims service. Instead, the company relies on its website and mobile tools to service customers. Despite this, online customer reviews of Elephant are generally favorable. The company earns high marks from Trustpilot reviewers and from users on other online spaces, including Reddit.

Positive reviews tend to discuss an easy online buying process, low prices, and a responsive customer service team.

Those themes dominate both of the below five-star reviews.

But not every reviewer is happy, especially the ones on Yelp and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). The main issue I found was around issues with billing and fees.

What You Can Expect to Pay for Elephant Car Insurance

Customers appear generally happy with Elephant, but you’re probably wondering how the company fares as far as pricing.

Here’s Elephant’s average monthly cost of two of the most popular types of car insurance policies — liability and full coverage.

Liability-only policies cover injuries, property damage, and anything else your state requires to legally drive. On the other hand, full coverage typically includes collision and comprehensive coverage in addition to liability.

Elephant’s rates hover around the industry average — $92 per month for liability insurance and $176 for full coverage. That said, broad averages aren’t the best indicator of what you’ll pay since many factors affect your personal car insurance premiums.

We’ll cover Elephant’s average rates for a few of the most significant factors later in this article.

Elephant vs. the Competition

While Elephant fares pretty well compared to the national average auto insurance rates, several of its competitors offer even lower premiums, as shown in the table below.

Competitors also outperform Elephant in terms of customer service, availability, and claims management. GEICO, Progressive, and State Farm offer functionally similar but better-designed mobile apps and websites. And Erie offers a similar level of coverage options and policy perks.

But keep in mind that these averages don’t tell the whole story. Just because a competitor is generally cheaper doesn’t mean it will be cheaper for you. The best way to find out is to compare personalized quotes from as many insurers as possible.

Breaking Down Elephant’s Average Car Insurance Costs

Several factors affect your car insurance costs, especially your driving record and credit history. The table below shows how those factors affect rates at Elephant and how its average costs compare to the national average.

Average rates for drivers with clean records and various credit scores are about average at Elephant Insurance compared to national costs. Drivers with a speeding ticket or at-fault accident can also save money with Elephant, while drivers with DUIs will likely pay more.

But driving history isn’t the only major factor that influences your rate. Let’s look at the other significant influences in the next few sections.

Elephant’s Average Rates by Age

Your age also has a significant effect on car insurance rates. Young drivers — especially teens — pay more than other age groups because they’re statistically more likely to cause a serious car accident, according to research from the AAA Foundation. Senior drivers cause fewer accidents, which earns them some of the best rates available, on average.

The table below illustrates how age affects Elephant’s premiums.

Teens stand to save the most with Elephant, followed by drivers in their 20s. This is significant because rates are often frustratingly high for these groups. They’ll also be able to access student-based discounts and other savings opportunities that young drivers with other companies might not enjoy.

Older drivers tend to pay a little more than the national average with Elephant, while drivers in their 50s and 70s pay the most compared to the national average. Still, drivers in these age brackets can lower their rates by leveraging Elephant’s mature driver discount (where available).

Elephant’s Average Rates by State

Your location is the final highly significant factor affecting car insurance rates. State laws, local claim rates, weather patterns, and area crime rates affect how insurance companies calculate risk and decide what to charge you for car insurance.

Elephant is currently available in eight states — we’ve highlighted its average rates and how each compares to the statewide average in the table below.

Notably, Elephant offers cheaper-than-average rates in every state. This illustrates the importance of looking beyond national averages and drilling down into the details to fully understand car insurance costs.

Elephant Car Insurance Discounts

One of the easiest ways to save money on your auto insurance policy is to take advantage of discounts. Nearly every company offers a slew of discounts — both common and unique — and Elephant is no different.

Elephant customers can save up to 40% off their premiums by combining the following discounts:

• Claims-free: Save on premiums for being accident-free for five or more years.
• Early bird: Get up to 10% savings by buying your policy five or more days before your current one expires.
• Electronic signature: Save around 18% for signing documents electronically.
• Homeowner: Save up to 10% for owning a home.
• Mature driver: Older drivers can save on their premiums by completing an accident-prevention course (age restrictions vary by state).
• Multi-car: Save a maximum of 39% for insuring all household vehicles on one policy.
• Multi-policy: Bundling auto and home insurance can save you 12% (4% if you bundle with motorcycle, condo, renters, or life insurance).
• Online quote: Save 3% by getting your quote online.
• Paperless: Save up to 3% for receiving documents via email.
• Pay in full: Save up to 15% for paying your annual or biannual premiums up front.
• Good student: Students younger than 25 can save for earning a B average in school.
• Student-away-at-school: Students can earn a discount for living 100 or more miles away while at school.
• Work from home: Earn a discount for working from home part- or full-time.

Elephant’s Available Auto Insurance Coverages

Nearly every state mandates liability insurance, but most companies offer coverages far more robust and expansive to cover all sorts of potential risks.

Elephant offers the following coverage options:

• Bodily injury liability: Covers medical costs for injuries you cause to other people.
• Property damage liability: Covers damage you cause to other people’s property.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist: Covers damages caused by a driver without enough or any car insurance.
• Collision coverage: Covers damage to your vehicle from an accident you caused.
• Comprehensive coverage: Covers non-collision damage to your vehicle, including from storms, animals, theft, and vandalism.
• Medical payments (MedPay) or personal injury protection (PIP): Helps cover your medical bills after an accident, regardless of fault. No-fault states typically require PIP insurance.
• Loan/lease payoff coverage: Often called gap insurance, this pays the remaining loan or lease balance if your car is stolen or totaled.
• Rental reimbursement: Helps cover the cost of a rental car after a covered accident.
• Non-owner car insurance: Provides secondary coverage after an at-fault accident while you’re driving another person’s vehicle.
• Custom parts and equipment (CPE): Covers permanently installed enhancements to your vehicle, like custom wheels or audio systems.
• Roadside assistance: Covers tows, jump-starts, and other roadside services.
• YourMechanic: Covers home visits from a mechanic.
• Legal resources: Reduces attorney and legal fees after an accident or other claim.
• Accident forgiveness and upgraded accident forgiveness: Waives increased premiums after an accident if you’re three years accident-free (standard accident forgiveness) or right away (upgraded).
• Diminishing deductible: Reduces your deductibles by $100 for every claim-free year.
• Pet injury: Covers up to $1,000 of vet bills after a covered accident.

How to Purchase a Car Insurance Policy from Elephant

It’s easy to get a quote and buy a policy entirely online with Elephant — the company boasts a fairly extensive online form that produces an accurate quote.

To begin my quote, I went to the car insurance quote home page and entered my ZIP code.

Next, I entered my vehicle details and driving habits, plus details about my ownership status and how I use my car.

Next, I offered my personal information, including my address and homeowner status. This is where the form asked if I wanted to add a renters insurance quote. I declined and continued.

I also filled out my gender, relationship status, education, and employment status.

Next, I filled in my driving history and insurance history.

Finally, I received my quote. The quote page was easy to understand and customize.

I liked that I could see which discounts I qualified for.

To customize my quote, I had to click on the “edit” button, which opened sliders to adjust coverage levels and deductibles, when applicable. It also opened boxes I could click to add optional coverage.

Each option had an icon I could click that opened a pop-up window with an explanation of what it covered.

Once customized, I could recalculate my premium and continue to enter additional information, like my driver’s license number, VIN, and payment information.

Overall, this was a thorough and straightforward process. I was happy that it was simple to understand and customize and took about 10 minutes to complete.

What to Expect When Filing a Claim with Elephant

You can file a claim and track its status using your online account. Alternatively, you can submit and track your claim over the phone, but only during business hours. There’s an expedited process for auto glass claims.

In practice, many customers report an easy and quick claims process. The below review is short and sweet, explaining that when they had to make a claim, the process was issue-free.

But this experience wasn’t universal. The primary complaints were either a long wait for claims processing or, as illustrated in the reviews below, inexplicably denied claims.

More About Elephant Insurance

Elephant’s other insurance products

Apart from car insurance, Elephant offers a solid line of other insurance products, including:

• Homeowners: Protects against damages to your home and belongings, plus liability coverage.
• Renters: Covers personal property within a rented home, plus liability protection.
• Condo: Covers personal property, interior structural improvements, and liability within a condo unit.
• Motorcycle: Protects motorcycles against accidents, theft, and damage.
• Life: Provides payouts to beneficiaries if you die.
• Umbrella: Provides liability coverage for major claims and lawsuits beyond your existing auto or home insurance policies.
• ATV: Covers all-terrain vehicles against accidents, theft, and damage.

Elephant Auto Insurance FAQs

If you’re considering Elephant auto insurance, you probably have questions about what to expect and how it works. We’ve answered the most common questions below.

Does Elephant have cheap car insurance?

Generally, yes. Elephant’s car insurance rates are in line with the national average, according to Compare.com data. The average Elephant policyholder pays around $136 per month for coverage. Teens and young drivers earn cheaper-than-average rates with Elephant.

Is Elephant a good insurer?

It depends on your needs. Elephant is a good insurer for drivers who want to manage their policies entirely online and for people who desire a wide variety of coverage options.

Is Elephant reliable?

Yes. Customers give Elephant relatively good reviews online, and the company earns an A+ (Superior) rating from AM Best, which indicates reliability and a strong ability to pay out claims.

What company owns Elephant Insurance?

Admiral Group, a British financial services and insurance company, is the parent company of Elephant Insurance.

Data Methodology:

Data scientists at Compare.com analyzed more than 50 million real-time auto insurance quotes from more than 75 partner insurers in order to compile the rates and statistics seen in this article. Compare.com’s auto insurance data includes coverage analysis and details on drivers’ vehicles, driving records, insurance histories, and demographic information.

All the rates listed in this article have been collected from a combination of real Compare.com quotes and external insurance rate data gathered in collaboration with Quadrant Information Services. Compare.com uses these observations to provide readers with insights into how auto insurance companies determine their premiums.

Rating Methodology:

Compare.com’s mission is to help our readers make more informed decisions about their personal finances. Our editorial staff has crafted a proprietary, objective rating formula — the Compare.com Rating — to make it easier for our readers to analyze and compare many of the industry’s most well-known insurers. The score you see referenced in this article is based on several factors, including:

• Cost: How the insurer’s average rates compare to its direct competitors and the industry as a whole. This includes available savings opportunities, such as discounts and other factors.
• Customer satisfaction: How satisfied existing customers are with the service they receive. This includes the insurer’s scores among various third-party studies, such as the J.D. Power U.S. Insurance Shopping and Claims Satisfaction studies, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Complaint Index, among others.
• Ease of use: How easy it is for policyholders to utilize their policies. This includes mobile app availability, customer service availability, payment flexibility, and other related factors.
• Availability: The overall scope of the company’s insurance offerings. This includes available coverage types, national footprint, and other related factors.
• Industry reputation: A measure of the insurer’s overall standing within the industry. This includes its AM Best financial strength rating, BBB accreditation, and other related factors.

Sources:

1. National Association of Insurance Commissioners, “Elephant Ins Co. National Complaint Index Report,” accessed June 11, 2024.
2. WalletHub, “Elephant Insurance,” accessed June 11, 2024.
3. Reddit, “Anybody have any experience using Elephant Insurance for their car insurance?,” accessed June 11, 2024.
4. BBB, “Elephant Insurance Services, LLC,” accessed June 11, 2024.
5. Trustpilot, “Elephant Insurance,” accessed June 11, 2024.
6. AAA Foundation, “Rates of Motor Vehicle Crashes, Injuries and Deaths in Relation to Driver Age, United States, 2014-2015,” accessed June 11, 2024.