Direct Auto Insurance was established on April 10, 1991, as the first insurance carrier under the Direct General Group by William Adair. The goal of Direct Auto was to establish a quality non-standard auto insurance company that cared more about its customers than any other non-standard auto insurance company. Direct Auto is headquartered in Nashville, TN and has expanded their coverage areas across the southeast to the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, & Virginia.
Coverage Options
Direct Auto specializes in providing non-standard auto insurance. In the auto insurance world, non-standard means “high risk”.
Direct Auto offers more lines of coverage than almost any other non-standard carrier:
- Liability – Almost every state requires some form of liability insurance. If you cause an accident, Liability coverages include Bodily Injury coverage which will assist with the other parties’ medical expenses and property damage. Property damage covers damages caused to another vehicle or any type of property such as a fence or wall.
- Collision and Comprehensive – Collision coverage covers your vehicle if it is involved in an accident regardless of fault. Comprehensive coverage includes damages caused by vandalism, theft, or a storm.
- Medical Payment – Most non-standard insurance carriers do not offer medical payment coverage. This is an optional coverage that will help pay for medical funeral expenses related to an accident regardless of who is at fault.
- Personal Injury Protection – This is very similar to Medical Payment coverage. However, this coverage is state-specific and is required in some states. Also, it is not available in every state.
- Uninsured Motorist – This line of coverage will help if you were injured in an accident and the at-fault driver can’t be identified, doesn’t have valid insurance, or doesn’t carry enough liability coverage.
- Rental Reimbursement – If your vehicle is being repaired or if it is not drivable, this coverage will reimburse you for a fixed amount to obtain a rental car.
- Towing – If the damages from your loss are severe enough to deem your vehicle non-drivable, Towing coverage will reimburse you up to a fixed amount for tow services.
- Accidental Death – This optional coverage would pay $5,000 to your beneficiaries if you passed away from an accident.
In addition to auto insurance, Direct Auto offers Life, Motorcycle, Commerical Auto, and Term Life insurance. If you bundle different types of insurance together, you will obtain a multi-insurance discount.
J.D. Power Review
J.D. Power only gives limited information without a subscription. With smaller companies, they do not provide open information.
A.M. Best Review
A.M Best gives Direct Auto an “Excellent” rating. This is extremely important as they are capable of paying claims in a timely matter especially in the event of a major crisis.
Customer Reviews
One very important aspect to consider is non-standard auto insurance policies are much more expensive as they cover those the mainstream insurance carriers will not want to insure. With that stated, nearly all customer review websites give Direct Auto Insurance 3 out of 5 stars. Obtaining a 3 out of 5 star rating in the non-standard auto insurance industry is stellar.
Pros
- The most commonly seen positive review includes flexible payment options that can also be beneficial to some drivers.
- Customer service seems to be better than most other non-standard carriers. After all, providing quality customer service is Direct Auto’s goal.
- In addition to auto insurance, Direct Auto offers life, motorcycle, commercial auto, and term life insurance. If you bundle different types of insurance together, you will obtain a multi-insurance discount.
- Senior citizen discount starts at 55 years old. Most insurance carriers do not apply a Senior citizen discount. And if they do, it begins at age 65.
- They have their own smartphone app, “DirectDrive”. Using this app you can monitor your driving behavior, log car trips or access ID cards.
Cons
- They are a regional insurance carrier. So if you need to relocate outside the Southeast, you’ll likely need to switch auto insurance carriers.
- Claim reporting can be only taken by phone and take well over 20 minutes.
- Claim handling is slow. Adjusters do not answer phone calls and take several days to return messages.
- If the policy lapses, in addition to the lapse fee, the premium rate increased dramatically. In some cases, well over 50%.
- There is no longevity/loyalty discount.