Encompass Auto Insurance Review

Company Background Information

Encompass Insurance is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, and was developed from Allstate’s purchase of personal lines from CAN around 1999-2000. CNA offered a package policy which later became known as the Encompass One package and the Encompass brand name was introduced at this time. Later in 2012 the Encompass One name was given to the package of home and auto insurance that is combined with one deductible and bill. Although the company offers policies to standard drivers, it also caters some of its products to non-standard higher risk drivers who may have difficulty finding affordable coverage.

Encompass currently has over 1 million policy holders in its 42 state markets and is one of the larger auto insurance companies in the United States but does not rank in the top 25 in terms of market share. Encompass Insurance is underwritten by eleven companies, and the financial strength rating for most of them by A.M. Best is A+ (Superior). In 2012, J.D. Power awarded Encompass with just 2 out of 5 power circles for auto claims satisfaction, but in their 2013 property claims satisfaction study they rated them with a much higher 4 out of 5 power circles.

Pros of Encompass Auto Insurance

• Subsidiary of the second largest auto insurance company in the U.S.
• Offers many of the same discounts that Allstate offers
• Unique features and discounts available with the EncompassOne multiple policy packages

Cons of Encompass Auto Insurance

• A lower than average J.D. Power score for claims satisfaction
• Some negative reviews online

Discounts

Encompass offers several insurance discounts to its customers including the following:

• Safe driving discounts offer up to 5% off if there was no at fault accident over the past 12 months
• Future effective date discounts for purchasing a policy 7 or more days ahead of the effective date
• Discounts for automatic payment
• Homeowner discount
• New vehicle discount
• Student away at college discount
• Vehicle safety feature discounts
• Driver training and defensive driver discounts
• Enhanced accident forgiveness can eliminate surcharges for multiple accidents

Encompass also offers several discounts for its homeowners policies, and there are extra unique discounts applied to both auto and home insurance in the Encompass One packages.

Types of Insurance Offered

Encompass sells auto coverage as standalone policies or in combination with home insurance in their three Encompass One packages. The company sells all of the most common types of auto coverage including: liability, medical, personal injury protection, comprehensive and collision.

Some additional auto insurance benefits are available such as:

• Accident Forgiveness – there’s no premium hike following an at fault accident, even for new drivers
• New vehicle replacement – cars that are less than 4 model years old can be replaced but a current model year of the same car or another car of the same class. The only charge to the driver is the deductible
• Extended transportation coverage – offers emergency transportation coverage as well as rental vehicle reimbursement

Along with auto insurance, Encompass sells home, motorcycle, home business, boat and personal umbrella insurance. Some supplementary insurance products are also offered such as identity theft insurance, personal liability coverage for jewelry loss, ATM theft protection, renters insurance, and RV insurance.

Encompass One Plans

The Encompass One plans combine home with auto insurance into one package to offer an extra premium discount and a single deductible. These policies are a major selling point and there are three packages available:

• The Elite policy has the highest coverage limits and includes the highest level of rental car coverage, towing coverage, roadside assistance, emergency transportation, no-deductible windshield repair, electronic equipment coverage, and trip interruption coverage. Extras such as personal umbrella, new vehicle replacement, home business, boat and lifestyle coverage can be purchased with this package. This package also includes enhanced accident forgiveness.
• The Deluxe package has most of the same auto protection as the Elite policy along with replacement coverage on most types of personal property but at lower limits than the Elite policy for some types of coverage. The Deluxe package also has standard accident forgiveness included as well as no-deductible windshield repair.
• The Special package can be customized to include homeowners coverage that may not be available with other policies such as landscaping coverage, jewelry coverage, and others along with the standard auto coverage that is included in the Elite and Deluxe plans.

Customer Reviews

There are a few negative reviews of Encompass online, but not as many as other insurance companies comparable in size. The negative reviews described problems with customer support, claims processing, insurance hikes due to bad credit, trouble with rental car coverage and various other issues. One thing to consider is that the J.D. Power claims satisfaction survey did rate the company with a lower than average score which helps to affirm some of the complaints regarding claims issues.

Recommendations

The negative reviews regarding auto claims satisfaction both from J.D. Power and from some customers online is a bit concerning but should not necessarily prevent someone from getting a quote from an Encompass agent. Some of the discounts offered with their combined home and auto policy packages may be worth checking out. Encompass offers some unique home and auto insurance packages that cannot be found elsewhere, but interested customers should be sure to compare their prices and coverage options with other companies. Before you speak to an agent you can get a quote right now from multiple insurance providers that also offer home and auto bundle discounts just by entering your zip code on the form on this page.

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