The top 10 car insurance companies serve over 72 percent of the U.S., and once you see the revenue, it’s clear they’re banking millions of Benjamins. Appropriately, their namesake, Mr. Benjamin Franklin himself, jump-started part of the insurance industry, too.
Franklin helped form the Philadelphia Contributionship in 1751, which was the first in the colonies to offer fire insurance. From there, we zoom 150 years into the future to Ohio, which led automotive development in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1897, one company on the top 10 list issued the first car insurance policy, 11 years before the release of Ford’s Model T.
The innovation of assembly lines and mass production increased car ownership among early motorists. By the time the worst of the Great Depression started, all of these top 10 companies were founded.
Each company targeted a niche, such as government employees or military personnel. But most focused on uninsured farmers because they rarely drove in the winter and clocked far fewer miles than city dwellers year-round. Low risk equals high profits for insurers. Some things never change.
Fast forward to the end of World War II, and prosperous Americans wanted cars, suburbs, and consumer goods. It’s then that insurers saw they needed to go past the regional model and reach all states––in other words, nationwide. Sound familiar?
And the rest, as they say, is history. But the real secret of auto insurers’ staggering success is minimizing underwritten losses and reinvesting excess insurance premiums. Put the money in the oven for 90 plus years, let the compound interest rise, and you get:
Top 10 Largest Car Insurance Companies by Market Share
When you’re ready to grab a slice, use Insurify to compare cheap car insurance from these carriers and more in less than two minutes. And if you’d like to learn more ways to save, check out the top 10 companies: