Amica Mutual Insurance Company is based in Lincoln, Rhode Island. It offers various types of property and life insurance coverage. The company was founded in 1907. It claims to be the oldest mutual insurer of automobiles in the United States.
As of December 31, 2016, Amica had 1.6 million insurance policies under management and financial assets of $5.1 billion. In addition to car insurance, Amica offers home, life, condo, renters, marine, motorcycle, umbrella, small business, and wedding/event insurance. The company also sells various retirement products such as IRAs and annuities.
e-discounts for those who use the web to sign up and pay
Satisfaction Rating
Claims Rating
Shopping Rating
Offerings Rating
Stability Rating
What Does Amica Offer?
Amica provides comprehensive car insurance that allows you to customize both the amount of coverage you would like and the features that will give you added peace of mind. Car insurance coverage options available through Amica include the following.
Coverage for your vehicle Collision coverage through Amica can be personalized to the amount of coverage you would like for damages to your vehicle.
Coverage for you and your passengers If you or a passenger in your vehicle is injured in an accident, you want to know your medical expenses will be paid. This feature includes injuries to you or your passengers that may be caused by drivers without insurance.
Liability coverage This protects you if you are deemed to be legally responsible for causing an accident.
Dividend policies
Amica is owned by their insurance policyholders. That is what it means to be a mutual company. As an Amica customer, you can choose to buy a dividend policy. Doing so will make you a partial owner of the company. It will entitle you to receiving dividends (or shares of company profits). Dividends are not guaranteed. But, Amica has been paying them for the last 100 years. Although a dividend policy costs more up front, that money is invested over the course of the policy term and returned to you as a dividend, which reduces the cost of the policy overall.
The following features are available to Amica car insurance customers at no extra cost.
Lock replacement: Amica will not charge a deductible to replace locks on your vehicle if your keys are lost or stolen.
Glass repair: Amica will not charge a deductible if the glass on your vehicle can be repaired instead of replaced after an accident.
Airbag repair/replacement: Amica will not charge a deductible if you need to repair or replace an airbag after it is inflated.
Lost earnings reimbursement: If you attend court at Amica’s request, the company will reimburse you for any income you may lose to do so.
Bail bond coverage: If you are arrested for criminal charges related to an accident, Amica will cover up to $1,000 toward your bail bond.
New vehicle value retention: If a new car is declared to be a total loss within a year of purchase, Amica will not deduct for depreciation in determining the value of the loss.
The following features are available to Amica car insurance customers for an extra cost.
Roadside assistance:
Roadside assistance coverage allows you to call for help in the case of a breakdown or disablement no matter what time of day it is or where you are located. This coverage includes the cost of towing your vehicle whether you use Amica’s roadside assistance crew for towing or select a tow company of your choice.
Additional rental coverage:
Rental coverage pays expenses related to a rental car while you are waiting for your vehicle to be repaired after an accident. Depending on the Amica policy you choose, some rental reimbursement coverage may be included, but you can buy additional coverage if you would like. – Vacation rental coverage: Some Amica policies allow you to extend your car insurance benefits to a rental car whether traveling for work or for fun at no additional cost. Amica offers additional rental car insurance coverage to those who do not have it included in their policy or would like to increase their coverage.
The following discounts are available to Amica car insurance customers:
Multi-line: This is a reduction for buying more than one insurance policy, such as home, condo, renters, life, or umbrella insurance from Amica.
Multi-car: Customers who insure at least two cars through Amica qualify for lower rates.
Homeownership: House and condo owners receive a special discount.
Loyalty and Tenure: If you stay with Amica as a customer for several years or go to Amica from an insurance company you have been with a few years, you will qualify for extra savings.
Legacy: This is a discount offered to individuals under the age of 30 who have previously used Amica on a family member’s policy.
Up-front payment: If you pay the totality of your annual premium up front, you get a discount.
E-discount: This offers savings to those who buy their policy online and use autopay and e-billing.
Autopay: Get a discount for using automatic payments.
Safety features: If your car comes with an anti-theft device, airbags, side-airbags, or electronic stability control, your premium will be reduced. Your car does not need to have all of those features to qualify for a discount; savings increase with the number of safety features.
Driver’s training, accident prevention classes, and defensive driving: Discounts are offered for policyholders who complete classes that help them become better drivers.
Good student: Good student drivers receive a discount for maintaining good grades.
Student away at school: If your child is a full-time student at a school or college more than 100 road miles away without a vehicle, you may qualify for a lower rate.
Finally, Amica also has an online service called “Amica Advisor” that recommends the amount of coverage they feel would be best for you. The Amica Advisor asks three questions regarding the age, cost, and ownership of your vehicle and three questions regarding your household income, net worth, and home ownership status to generate the coverage recommendation.
Customer Satisfaction
Amica Mutual received the highest ranking in overall customer satisfaction in the J.D. Power 2017 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study. The Auto Claims Satisfaction Study is based on surveys of 11,857 car insurance customers who had claims in the six months prior to completing the survey. Amica’s ranking included the following factors.
First Notice of Loss (FNOL)
This is based on customer satisfaction with the initial claims reporting process.
Claim Servicing
This refers to how customers felt about the insurance representative handling their claim.
Estimation Process
This regards how clients felt in regard to the reasonableness of the estimates they were given.
Repair Process
This is a rating of how satisfied policyholders were with Amica’s repair process, including what was covered and the length of time it took.
Rental Experience
Out of all the categories, Amica’s lowest score was in the ease and ability of using a rental vehicle while waiting on repairs to their vehicle.
Settlement
This concerns how fair consumers felt the claim settlement they received from Amica was in their particular case.
Overall Satisfaction
Amica received the highest overall satisfaction rating possible.
Amica Mutual was ranked fifth in the J.D. Power 2017 Insurance Shopping Study. It ranks auto insurers’ ability to provide a satisfying purchase experience. The Insurance Shopping Study results are based on the opinions of over 16,400 shoppers. They requested car insurance quotes from at least one competitive insurer in the past nine months. The results include more than 50,000 unique customer evaluations of insurers. Amica’s ranking included the following factors.
Call Center Representative:
Consumers rated their experience connecting with Amica agents over the phone.
Claim Servicing
Customers rated their experience connecting with local Amica staff members.
Pricing
Consumers rated the prices they were given based on the level of coverage offered.
Policy Offerings
Customers rated the variety of coverage options offered, the extent to which they met their needs, and the ease of buying a new insurance policy.
Overall Satisfaction
Consumers rated their new auto insurer overall.
Amica’s number one rating on the 2017 Auto Claims Satisfaction Survey is a strong endorsement of their ability to come through for customers when they need it most. A number five ranking on the 2017 Insurance Shopping Study indicates that Amica also offers an easy and satisfying insurance shopping experience. Overall, the company seems to do a fantastic job with customer satisfaction.
Claims Processing
Amica allows customers to report claims 24 hours a day, seven days a week over the phone, online, or from a mobile smartphone. Here is a general outline of how the claim filing process works.
You will need to gather as much information as possible after an accident. This includes names and addresses of the individuals involved; the location of the accident, the make, model, and plate numbers of the cars involved; and the names of witnesses and anyone who was injured.
Certain losses will require a police report to file a claim, so Amica recommends that you call the police to report incidents when they happen. However, you do not need to wait until you have a police report to begin the claims process.
Once your claim has been reported, Amica will assign a claims representative to your file. They will review what your car insurance policy covers and explain your deductible to you.
The claims representative will reach out to relevant individuals to confirm what happened. They will seek to document the damages with pictures. They will investigate any injuries that occurred. They will then evaluate the facts, determine who is at fault, and analyze liability and negligence.
The Amica representative will schedule an appraisal to estimate the cost of repairs. Appraisals need to be scheduled through an approved Amica appraiser. But, repairs can be done through your mechanic or body shop of choice.
To rent a car while your vehicle is being repaired, you can either choose your own rental company and submit the bill, or you can choose a participating rental company and have Amica coordinate the rental and payment directly. Keep in mind, you will need to have a policy with rental reimbursement coverage if you want to receive this benefit.
Finally, the Amica representative will let you know the settlement that has been reached regarding your claim and will disburse any payments.
Company Stability
Because Amica has been in business for 110 years, it’s unlikely they will leave the market any time soon. By offering home, life, and other insurance products as well as retirement products, the company has done a good job of diversifying itself.
Amica Insurance also does a great job with employee satisfaction. It has been rated one of the best places to work in Rhode Island by Providence Business News and Best Companies Group eight times. Finally, Amica Mutual Group received an A+ (Superior) rating for its financial strength by A.M. Best. It is one of the leading insurance rating agencies in the United States.
Value for Price
Amica car insurance customers seem happy with the company’s pricing. They have given it a four out of five stars on J.D. Power’s 2017 Insurance Shopping Study. Amica offers several specialized discounts to customers based on safety features, tenure and loyalty, multi-line and multi-car policies, homeownership, e-billing, auto-pay, up-front payment, good grades, and more. Finally, the ability to purchase a dividend policy is a unique feature that may be quite attractive to many prospective customers.
Who is this best for?
Amica’s car insurance policies seem to offer a little something for everyone. But, there are certain groups of customers who might be especially attracted to Amica’s services. First, buyers who are interested in stacking discounts will be excited by all the various savings opportunities Amica offers. This is particularly true for customers who are shopping for a long-term insurance relationship and want to buy other insurance policies such as home or life insurance. Second, the opportunity to buy a dividend policy attracts drivers who are able to pay more up front for a premium that will provide financial returns further down the road. This partial ownership of the company helps many consumers feel a sense of investment in Amica’s success.
What to look out for
Amica’s website makes it clear that many of their coverage options vary from state to state. If you are particularly excited about policy offerings you have read about here, you will need to confirm that you are eligible for them.
Amica does not advertise policy savings based on a clean driving record or time insured without an accident. Customers who are seeking to be rewarded for safe driving may be disappointed. If you prefer to handle car insurance transactions with local staff in person, do not want to pay online, and are not interested in other policies, you will not be able to take advantage of several of the discounts offered by Amica.
Conclusion
Amica’s impressive claims satisfaction and insurance shopping ratings indicate that you are likely to have a good experience with this well-established company. With over 100 years of experience and an A+ financial stability rating, Amica is likely to continue insuring drivers for years to come. The opportunity to purchase a dividend policy is unique to Amica, and customers seeking to establish a long-term insurance relationship are likely to be excited about partial ownership of the company. Several unique features are included in Amica’s car insurance policies, and others can be added for an additional cost. Although you will not save money for avoiding accidents, the company offers a plethora of other stackable discounts. Overall, Amica has an excellent track record of delighting customers and is likely to do the same for you.
