Costco has entered a partnership with American Family Insurance to provide its members with discounted car insurance policies. The offering is now available to Costco members across most states.
Executive Members, who represent Costco's top membership tier, qualify for enhanced benefits. These include complimentary roadside assistance and a guarantee of lifetime renewability for their policies.
The insurance coverage itself is described as straightforward, providing standard options such as liability, comprehensive, and collision coverage. A notable absence is a dedicated mobile application for policy management.
This partnership follows a rebranding. The insurer was previously known as CONNECT, which was part of the American Family Insurance Group. The company recently unified under the American Family Insurance name. A company statement indicated the change was made to improve the customer experience over time while maintaining existing value and service levels.
Available coverage types through the program include bodily injury, property damage, uninsured motorist, medical expense, and personal injury protection. Optional add-ons encompass rental car reimbursement and new car replacement coverage.
Specific perks for Executive Members extend to free towing and emergency roadside assistance, which covers services like jump-starts, lockouts, and fuel delivery, though customers pay for the fuel itself. The program also includes accident forgiveness for drivers who remain incident-free for over three years.
Pricing details for the Costco-branded insurance are not publicly estimated by third-party analysts like Savvy Insurance Solutions. However, data for the parent company, American Family Insurance, suggests it offers some of the lowest average premiums in the market. Yahoo Finance data indicates American Family has the cheapest average monthly cost for both full coverage, at $151, and basic liability-only coverage, at $89.
Customer satisfaction scores show mixed results. In J.D. Power studies, the former CONNECT by American Family scored better-than-average in the California region but was not included in studies for ten other regions. American Family itself scored above average in three out of five regions. In auto claims satisfaction, American Family scored five points below the national average.
Members may qualify for up to nine different discounts. These include a standard member discount, good driver and premier safety discounts for those with clean records, and discounts for safety features, garaging vehicles overnight, and insuring multiple cars. Student-related discounts are also available.
Claims are handled directly by American Family Insurance. Policyholders can file claims online or by phone at 1-800-872-5246, available 24 hours a day. The process involves reporting the incident, choosing a repair shop, and tracking progress online or by phone. A claims representative typically makes contact within one business day of filing.
Regarding digital access, there is no standalone Costco car insurance mobile app. Following the name change from CONNECT, it is unclear if policyholders can use the existing MyAmFam app. The App Store description currently states that CONNECT customers cannot use it, directing users to the American Family website for account management.
In a recent test call to customer service in November, there was virtually no wait time, and a connection to a sales agent was made in approximately one minute.