Elephant Insurance Company is a customer-centric direct insurer headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Founded in 2009, Elephant is a subsidiary of Admiral Group, one of the United Kingdom’s largest insurance carriers with over 6 million insureds across eight countries. On June 30, 2018, Elephant Insurance surpassed insuring over 200,000 vehicles.
In addition to auto insurance, Elephant offers homeowners, renters, life, motorcycle, ATV and condo insurance. However, most of these coverages are underwritten through a partner company. Meaning, you can purchase insurance through them but they do not directly provide the insurance.
Coverage Options
At this time, Elephant offers coverage in only six states: Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Elephant policy coverages include:
Liability
If you cause an accident, liability coverage includes 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.
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.
Personal Injury Protection
Also known as PIP, this pays the medical and hospital costs for you or your passengers when there’s an auto accident, regardless of who caused the accident. This coverage differs greatly state to state.
Rental Car Reimbursement
While your car is being repaired after a covered loss, you receive a rental with no daily expense limit. Your policy also provides coverage while driving your rental replacement vehicle.
A.M. Best Review
As part of the Admiral Group, Elephant Insurance is rated with an A+ Superior rating. This is an important distinguish because only 10% of insurance companies qualify with an A or A+ rating.
Customer Reviews
Pros
- Elephant utilizes their website to provide transparent information and discount information.
- The more you use their website, the more likely you’ll get discounts. Some online only discounts are “Online Quote”, “Paperless”, and “E-Signature”.
- They offer a unique add-on “Legal Assistance Coverage”. This coverage would pay for legal fees associated with traffic charges and some but not all family affairs.
- Able to purchase a one-year term policy instead of a six-month policy. More companies are leaning toward six-month polices to decrease claim severity and add more administration fees.
- The A+ A.M. Best rating is extremely rare and ensures your claim should be paid in full and timely in case of a major natural event.
Cons
- Only available in six states. However, the company is only 11 years old and they have recently added Indiana and Tennessee. As they become older, they should expand their coverage map as well. Their coverage map is a bit all over the place at the moment.
- Their multi-policy discount is fair but this requires you to interact with a different company altogether if a claim needs to be reported. So you may think you have Elephant home or renters insurance but it is not through Elephant directly.
- Numerous complaints regarding customer service on claims.
- If you do not like handling business online, Elephant will not be a competitive option.
Overall
Across all review websites, the average score for Elephant Insurance is 3.8 out of 5 stars. Elephant’s ability to utilize online services cuts down on their operating expenses to give competitive prices. However, their strong online presence is a deterrent on the claims side. Claims are extremely time-sensitive events. Sending an email and anxiously awaiting a reply is not how insureds want to do business. Insureds want to speak with someone, confirm the information, and proceed accordingly. Having a ten minute phone call can answer all questions in a timely matter instead of sending multiple emails back and forth. It seems like young Elephant is still working out the best way to use their online services and give good customer service.
Despite being a newer insurance company they have absolutely no issues with financial backing as their affiliation with The Admiral Group allows them room to grow even if that means they are not profitable in every aspect.
Their website is extremely user-friendly for those more inclined to obtain a quote online. You can go through the options of applicable discounts to see if they are a good option for you. The more you use their website to purchase a policy, the cheaper it goes. But again, if you prefer a more hands-on experience Elephant is not a good option.