2023 21st Century Insurance Review

21st Century Review Summary

21st Century is a pretty basic insurance company overall, earning a 2.2/5 rating from WalletHub. Despite scoring well when it comes to its claims process and transparency, 21st Century comes up short in areas like discounts offered and customer service reviews. 21st Century isn’t as strong as some of its top competitors when it comes to financial stability, either. It has earned an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), however.

21st Century Insurance was founded in 1958, and it started out only offering auto and homeowners insurance policies to residents of California, and later Hawaii. However, the company has been able to expand its insurance options and offer them to customers in every state since it was purchased by Farmers Insurance Group in 2009. Life insurance, renters insurance, motorcycle insurance and other policy options are available to customers across the country through 21st Century’s various underwriting partners.

In the sections below, you can learn more about 21st Century Insurance and how it measures up against top competitors.

Summary: 21st Century Scores by Review Category

Now that you’re familiar with how 21^st Century scores in each of our review categories, let’s see how it compares to top competitors in a handful of key areas. Hopefully, this will help you find the best insurance company for your needs.

21st Century Car Insurance Pricing

Category Rating: 30% (10 out of 30)

21st Century Insurance received a score of 10/30 in the cost portion of this review, as its premiums rank in the fourth quartile among the cheapest major car insurance providers that WalletHub evaluated. Learn more about WalletHub’s Methodology.

21st Century Customer Service & Reviews

Category Rating: 20% (5 out of 25)

• Reviews on WalletHub: 2.6/5
• NAIC: 2.14
• BBB: A+

21st Century has received quite a few complaints, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Customers have complained about relatively high insurance premiums, unexpected surcharges/rate increases, and poor customer service.

The high number of customer complaints, plus the fact that 21st Century doesn’t offer 24/7 live support, lost the company a lot of points in this category.

21st Century’s Financial Stability

Category Rating: 50% (3 out of 6)

• AM Best: A-
• S&P: BBB

21st Century has earned good marks from Standard and Poor’s, and AM Best for their financial strength and claims-paying ability.

21st Century Claims

Category Rating: 100% (15 out of 15)

21st Century Insurance lets customers file claims 24/7 online or over the phone, at 888-244-6163. The company’s ease of accessibility earned it the top score in this category, per WalletHub’s grading criteria.

21st Century’s Types of Insurance

Category Rating: 60% (3 out of 5)

• Auto insurance
• Homeowners insurance

Below, we’ll dig deeper into how 21st Century stacks up as an auto insurance provider, since it's one of the two types of insurance 21st Century underwrites directly.

21st Century offers all the standard auto coverage options typically required by states, including bodily injury liability, property damage liability, collision, comprehensive, and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

Every 21st Century auto insurance policy holder is also automatically enrolled in the 21st Century Roadside Assistance program for free. It covers 24/7 emergency roadside services, including towing, lock-out services and more.

Personal auto insurance policies from 21st Century are available nationwide, but the details of these coverage options vary by state. That goes for the supplemental and specialty coverage options 21st Century offers, too.

Supplemental 21st Century Car Insurance Coverage Options: 

• Rental Reimbursement: Covers rental costs if your vehicle is in the repair shop for more than a day because of a covered accident. The basic plan pays $30 per day for up to 30 days, which adds up to as much as $900 for a replacement vehicle. A higher limit plan that provides up to $50 per day for up to 30 days (as much as $1,500 for a replacement vehicle) is also available.
• Auto Glass Coverage: Covers repair/replacement costs for auto glass under your auto policy’s comprehensive coverage. The deductible is waived if windshield damage can be repaired, rather than replaced.

21st Century doesn’t offer as many extra coverage options as its top competitors, nor does it offer an accident forgiveness benefit. The company does offer some specialty coverage options through trusted underwriters, however.

Specialty Types of 21st Century Car Insurance Policies:

• Classic Car Insurance for vintage/antique vehicles that are at least 19 years old, in good/restored condition, are kept in a locked garage and are used on a limited basis. 21st Century Insurance Classic Auto policies are underwritten by Foremost Insurance and administered by C. Taylor Insurance.
• Recreational Vehicle Insurance for motorcycles, boats, ATVs and other recreational vehicles. Policies are underwritten by Foremost Insurance.

Commercial auto policies are also available through Farmers Insurance.

21st Century Discounts

Category Rating: 20% (1 out of 5)

• Multi-car discount
• Anti-theft discount
• Good driver discount
• Superior driver discount
• Mature driver discount
• Good student discount
• Multi-policy discount

While 21st Century Insurance has some generous discounts, it doesn’t offer nearly as many options as its top competitors, so it got a low score in this category. Keep in mind that eligibility criteria for auto insurance discounts vary by location.

21st Century Transparency

Category Rating: 60% (3 out of 5)

You can find most key information on the 21st Century Insurance website quickly and easily, so it gets a good score in this category. You can also contact 21st Century’s customer service department, at 877-401-8181, Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. PDT, and on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Bottom Line

21st Century is a basic insurance company that underwrites a few insurance policies itself, but the company offers even more coverage options to customers across the country as a subsidiary of Farmers Insurance Group. While 21st Century is best known for its auto and homeowners insurance policies, customers can also get coverage for travel, watercraft, rental properties and more.

21st Century is in good shape when it comes to its transparency and its claims process, and it’s an especially good choice for customers who feel comfortable managing claims themselves online. However, 21st Century’s basic policies don’t offer quite as many extra features as its top competitors. People who want excellent customer service and lots of discount options will want to look elsewhere, too.

21st Century Insurance vs. Competitors

*Complaints Score represents the company's overall NAIC rating. Car insurance-specific rating may differ.

*Average annual premiums are based on a variety of driver profiles. Individuals premiums may differ, but these rates illustrate how costs from these insurers typically compare. Learn more about how these rates were calculated in the methodology section below.

For more car insurance research, check out WalletHub’s Cheap Car Insurance Study. And if you have experience with 21st Century Insurance that you think might help other consumers, you can also write a review of 21st Century Insurance.

21st Century Insurance Review Video

Methodology

In order to provide fair, helpful reviews of insurance companies such as 21^st Century that can lead consumers to the best insurance coverage for their needs, WalletHub rates each insurance company in seven major categories: Cost, Insurance Types, Customer Service & Reviews, Discounts, Claims, Financial Stability and Transparency. Below, you can find an overview of what each section in our scoring rubric entails.

1. The “Cost” section includes information about how expensive the insurance policies are. 21^st Century’s average premiums and quartile rankings are based on data from California, the largest state 21^st Century operates in. Rate information is provided by Quadrant Information Services. Individual rates will be different.
2. The “Insurance Types” section examines what types of insurance policies the company offers.
3. The “Customer Service & Reviews” section measures the insurance company’s reputation as well user reviews and information from watchdog organizations.
4. The “Discounts” section examines how many and what types of discounts the company offers. It also takes into consideration whether or not there are discounts for bundling policies.
5. The “Claims” section examines the ways in which customers can make claims with the policy. It considers whether or not customers can make claims by phone or online, as well as whether or not the company has a 24/7 support line.
6. The “Financial Stability” section considers the company’s status with credit rating agencies A.M. Best, S&P and Moody’s.
7. The “Transparency” section measures how clearly the insurer discloses key information on its website.

The final score takes these seven categories into account and reflects how close an insurance company is to WalletHub’s definition of a 5-star insurer. For more information, please read WalletHub’s full insurance company methodology.