The General car insurance review 2026: 2.9 out of 5 stars

The General rating: 2.9 out of 5 stars

The General car insurance may be best for high-risk drivers, including those with accidents, violations, or even a suspended license. Policies are pretty basic, but the company will file SR-22 forms for you if your state requires one. The General’s rates land just slightly above average for both full and minimum coverage.

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Learn more: Best car insurance companies in the U.S.

The General auto insurance pros and cons

Pros

Has a rideshare endorsement
Offers gap insurance in select states
Issues policies to drivers with an SR-22

Cons

No accident forgiveness coverage
No diminishing deductible for safe drivers
Above-average costs and NAIC complaint ratios

The General auto insurance details

The General is middle-of-the-road when it comes to pricing and tends to cater mostly to drivers who need high-risk insurance. It operates in 46 states and Washington, D.C.

The General cost and customer satisfaction

Average monthly cost for full coverage: $197
J.D. Power customer satisfaction score by region: The General ranked below average in the Florida region study. It was not part of the studies in the other 10 regions.
J.D. Power auto claims satisfaction: The General was not listed in J.D. Power’s auto claims satisfaction survey.

Learn more: How does car insurance work? The basics explained

Our experience with The General customer service

When we called The General to fact-check this review, an agent picked up in under two minutes and was able to answer all of our questions very thoroughly.

The General coverage

Different coverage types: 6

The General discounts

Number of discounts: 8

Learn more: Car insurance discounts: 17 ways to save

Types of coverage The General offers

The General offers four core types of auto insurance without many extras:

Learn more: Most common types of car insurance explained

Does The General offer accident forgiveness?

The General does not offer accident forgiveness. Any accident you get in, regardless of fault, could cause your premiums to increase.

Learn more: Is accident forgiveness insurance worth it?

Does The General auto insurance include emergency roadside assistance?

Like most insurers, The General has emergency roadside assistance. It’s available 24/7 and can help with things like emergency towing (up to 15 miles), getting locked out of your vehicle, and running out of gas.

According to The General’s website, emergency roadside assistance is not available in California, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

Learn more: Do I need emergency roadside assistance coverage?

How much does The General auto insurance cost?

The General car insurance costs $197 for full coverage and $117 for liability-only coverage on average, which comes in slightly higher than the overall average for car insurance. Yahoo Finance recommends full coverage insurance for most drivers because it includes liability, comprehensive coverage, and collision coverage, protecting you from the more common types of damage you may experience on the road.

Learn more: Cheapest car insurance in the U.S.

Average auto insurance costs for full coverage

The average cost of full coverage car insurance with The General costs $197 per month — just $7 more than the national average. Average costs for The General tend to be less expensive than those of other big-name insurers like Nationwide, GEICO, and Progressive.

Average auto insurance costs for basic coverage

Basic liability-only coverage with The General averages $117 per month, which is $4 above the national average. However, it still comes out cheaper than Nationwide, GEICO, and Progressive for the average consumer.

The General car insurance discounts

The General doesn’t list every discount publicly, but here are a few it calls out on its website:

Paid-in-full discount: You could get a discount for paying your premium upfront (whether it’s a six- or 12-month policy). Some states also offer savings for quarterly payments.
Multi-car discount: If you insure more than one car with The General, you may qualify for a lower rate.
Homeowner discount: Even if your home insurance is with a different company, you could qualify for a discount just for owning a home.
Safe driver discount: If you’ve gone three to five years without an accident or moving violation, you could qualify for a discount from The General.
Academic achievement discount: Full-time students with good grades may qualify for lower rates.
Passive restraint discount: The General may issue discounts for having airbags and other factory-installed safety features.
Defensive driving discount: If you complete a state-approved defensive driving course, you could also save some money.
Double deductible discount: In some states, you can get a temporary discount from The General if you agree to double your deductible for the first 45 days.

Availability of the above discounts varies by state, and you might need to provide documentation for certain savings.

Learn more: Car insurance rates are climbing. Here are 4 reasons why and 11 ways to save

How to file a claim with The General

If you’ve been in an accident, you can file a claim with The General 24/7 using these steps:

Make sure everyone is safe: Call 911 if needed, and exchange information with any other drivers involved.
Collect details and documentation: You’ll need info like the date and time of the accident, location, other driver’s info, and a copy of the police report (if available).
Start your claim: The quickest way to file a claim is by uploading photos in the mobile app, but you can also call customer service.
Wait to hear from a claims adjuster: An adjuster will reach out within a few days to gather your side of the story, inspect your vehicle, and guide you through the next steps.
Send in any documents: You may be asked to send in additional documents based on what the claims adjuster needs to get you sorted. Send these in as quickly as possible to avoid any delays.

Learn more: How to file a car insurance claim

How long do I have to submit claims to The General?

The General doesn’t list a specific deadline, but most insurers recommend filing a claim as soon as you and any others involved are safe after an accident.

How fast does The General pay auto insurance claims?

The General aims to issue most claims within 30 days. However, it might only take a week for simple cases (like property claims), or it could take longer for more severe cases, especially if anyone is injured.

The General’s mobile app

The General’s app makes it easy to manage your policy from your phone. You can use the app to:

Get a quote for a new policy
Pay your bill or schedule payments
View and download your ID cards
File a claim or check your claim status
Chat with customer service or schedule a call

The General mobile app ratings

App Store: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Google Play Store: 4.7 out of 5 stars

The General auto insurance FAQs

Is The General cheaper than Progressive?

In our analysis, The General’s average rates came out about $5 a month cheaper than Progressive for minimum coverage and $8 a month cheaper for full coverage. But rates are personal, and factors like your age, ZIP code, driving history, and credit score can flip those numbers fast. The only way to know which company is best for you is to get quotes from each company and compare them side by side.

Learn more: Here’s how your car insurance premium is calculated

Is GEICO or The General better?

It depends on what you’re looking for. GEICO has many more perks and ways to customize your policy, including offering usage-based insurance, accident forgiveness, and a broader menu of discounts. Plus, it has a much lower complaint ratio than The General. That said, GEICO tends to cost a bit more and may not be as welcoming to high-risk drivers. If you’re having trouble getting coverage elsewhere, The General might be more likely to say yes.

Is The General good at paying claims?

The General holds a D- grade from CRASH Network for its claims handling performance, and the three-year average for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index is 2.910 — above the industry benchmark of just over 1.0. That suggests policyholders file more complaints than usual.

How much is The General’s deductible?

Deductibles vary by policy and state, but you typically choose your own when you sign up (usually between $500 and $2,500). The General also offers a “Double Deductible” discount in some states, where your deductible is temporarily doubled for the first 45 days in exchange for a lower premium.

Tim Manni edited this article.

Methodology

Auto insurance ratings

We researched the coverage details and prices for 20 auto insurance plans. We then weighted categories, and each auto insurer was scored relative to the others to find the best auto insurance companies. Here are the factors we incorporated.

Coverage types: 20% of score. We examined all the coverage options available, and assessed whether each insurer offered the following: new car replacement (5%), GAP insurance (5%), accident forgiveness (5%), and diminishing deductible (5%).

Average cost: 40% of score. The average cost was generated by Savvy Insurance Solutions in-house machine learning models based on over 3 million data points, and includes more than 20 of the largest insurance companies in Savvy's nationwide data set. These estimates are for policies with full coverage for the average policyholder who owns one car. Average policyholder here is defined as a 48-year-old driver, driving a 13-year-old car, in an average-income ZIP code with full coverage.

Customer satisfaction: 20% of score. We factored in information from two major sources: 1) National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaints (10%), in which we took the total number of complaints each company had over a three-year period (2022-2024) and 2) CRASH scores (10%) from the Crash Network which share how well each company ensures quality repairs and customer service.

Discounts: 10% of score. We gave points for each type of discount that each auto insurer offers.

App ratings: 10% of score. We included the average ratings for each company's apps across both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. All app ratings were accurate at the time of publication.

Auto insurance pricing data

Unless stated otherwise, the estimates above are provided by Savvy Insurance Solutions (“Savvy”). Savvy operates a marketplace for home and auto insurance, plus an agency licensed in all 50 states. Estimates are generated using Savvy’s in-house machine learning models based on over 3 million data points, and include more than 15 of the largest insurance companies in Savvy’s nationwide data set. This includes data from more than 2 million insurance accounts connected through Trellis Connect, an in-house technology allowing consumers to “link” their insurance accounts before searching for insurance, and tens of thousands of policies bound by Savvy’s own agents. It takes into account a myriad of factors to create predictions, such as:

Policyholder age
Number of vehicles
ZIP code
Vehicle age
Insurer
…and more

Savvy creates estimates by running models against multiple inputs to the parameters of interest. For instance, the “teen driver” estimates were created by adjusting the policyholder age input into the pricing model while keeping all other variables steady from the baseline for “full coverage.” The models enable hyper-personalized estimates that take into account a plethora of user attribute permutations (e.g., teen drivers in specific states, teen drivers with new vehicles, teen drivers in specific states with new vehicles) to provide individuals with a unique and tailored experience. The charts above are a subset of the kinds of personalization Savvy can do.