Costco partners with American Family Insurance to offer members discounted car insurance. Costco Executive Members get the best perks, including free roadside assistance and lifetime renewability. But the coverage itself is pretty simple, and there’s no mobile app.
Editor’s note: Costco previously partnered with CONNECT, which was part of the American Family Insurance Group. CONNECT recently changed its name to American Family Insurance. According to the company, “We aligned under the name American Family Insurance, to enhance your overall experience over time — while maintaining the same great value, service and coverage you have come to expect.”
Learn more: Best car insurance companies in the U.S.
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Accident forgiveness and diminishing deductible
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Gap insurance and new car replacement coverage
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Exclusive perks for Executive Members (Costco’s top tier)
Costco’s auto insurance is available in most states and includes standard coverage options like liability insurance, comprehensive insurance, and collision coverage.
What sets this insurance apart is the Costco membership tie-in. Members may receive exclusive discounts, and Executive Members could qualify for enhanced benefits that aren’t available to the general public.
Costco cost and customer satisfaction
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Average monthly cost for full coverage: Savvy Insurance Solutions doesn’t currently provide pricing estimates for CONNECT, but you will find rate info for American Family below. The best way to know what you’ll pay is to get a quote.
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J.D. Power customer satisfaction score by region: CONNECT by American Family scored better-than-average in the California region. It was not part of the studies in the other 10 regions. American Family scored better than average in three out of five regions.
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J.D. Power auto claims satisfaction: CONNECT by American Family was not included in J.D. Power’s auto claims satisfaction study. American Family scored five points below the national average.
We called CONNECT customer service back in November to fact-check a few things for our Costco car insurance review. There was virtually no wait time, and we were connected to a sales agent in about one minute.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the nine types of auto insurance coverage offered through Costco’s car insurance:
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Comprehensive coverage
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Collision coverage
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Rental care insurance
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Bodily injury insurance
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Property damage insurance
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Uninsured motorist coverage
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Medical expense insurance
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Personal injury protection (PIP)
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Roadside assistance and towing
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New car replacement coverage
Learn more: Most common types of car insurance explained
Yes, Costco car insurance comes with accident forgiveness if you go more than three years without an incident.
Learn more: Is accident forgiveness insurance worth it?
Yes, towing coverage, which includes emergency roadside assistance, is available as an optional add-on – or included for free if you’re a Costco Executive Member. If you have this coverage, you can get 24/7 emergency roadside assistance that can help with towing, flat tires, jump-starts, lockouts, and fuel delivery (you’ll still pay for the gas).
Learn more: Do I need emergency roadside assistance coverage?
Yahoo Finance’s data for American Family (the parent company) estimates AmFam has the cheapest average premiums for both full and basic coverage among major insurers.
However, CONNECT’s pricing wasn’t identical to AmFam’s in our previous research. The best way to know what you’ll pay is to get a personalized quote and compare it to other insurers.
Learn more: Cheapest car insurance in the U.S.
For most drivers, Yahoo recommends full coverage insurance to avoid major out-of-pocket costs after an accident.
American Family has the lowest average monthly premium of any insurer we’ve analyzed. Full coverage car insurance policies average $151 per month.
American Family currently offers the lowest average price for liability-only car insurance coverage: $89 per month.
Learn more: Car insurance rates are climbing. Here are 4 reasons why and 11 ways to save
Here’s a breakdown of what discounts Costco members might qualify for:
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Costco member discount: Just being a Costco member could earn you a discount on Costco’s auto insurance.
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Good driver discount: Available in California, this rewards safe drivers with clean records.
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Premier safety discount: Households with spotless driving records (no tickets, claims, or accidents in the last four years) could save even more.
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Defensive driver discount: If you completed a state-approved driving course recently, you could score a discount when you show your certificate.
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Safety feature discount: Cars with airbags and other safety tech may qualify for lower premiums.
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Garaging discount: If you park in a garage overnight, you might pay less thanks to the added protection.
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Good student discount: Full-time students with solid grades can often get a discount.
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Student away discount: If your child goes to college at least 100 miles from home and doesn’t take a car, you may be able to keep them on your policy for less.
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Multi-vehicle discount: You could also pay less per vehicle if you insure more than one car.
Learn more: Car insurance discounts: 17 ways to save
Costco car insurance claims are handled by American Family Insurance. You can file a claim 24/7 online or by calling 1-800-872-5246. Here’s what to do:
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Gather your info: Have your policy number, vehicle details, accident or damage info, police report (if applicable), and the other driver’s insurance details ready to go.
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Log in and report online: The fastest way to start your claim is by logging into your account. You can file everything from glass repair and roadside claims to theft and collisions online.
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Choose a repair shop: You’re free to pick your own body shop, but American Family also offers a search tool to help you find recommended shops in your area.
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Track the progress: After submitting your claim, you’ll get updates through your online account or by phone, depending on what you prefer.
If you’d rather speak to someone directly, calling the claims line works just as well. American Family customer service is available Monday through Saturday.
Learn more: How to file a car insurance claim
You should file a Costco car insurance claim as soon as you’re safe, especially if your car isn’t drivable.
American Family doesn’t list a specific payout timeline for Costco claims. But once you file, a claims rep will typically contact you within one business day. From there, how fast you’re paid depends on the complexity of the claim and whether your vehicle is repairable or totaled.
Costco car insurance does not have its own mobile app. Now that CONNECT has officially changed its name to American Family Insurance, you may be able to use the MyAmFam mobile app to manage your policy. However, the App Store description still says, “CONNECT customers are not able to use the MyAmFam app.” For now, it’s best to contact American Family about your Costco policy through the AmFam website.
It depends on what you’re looking for. Costco car insurance offers the best perks to Costco Executive Members, like roadside assistance and lifetime renewability, but the coverage is more bare-bones than what you’d get from some other insurers, like The Hartford or Farmers. There’s no mobile app, and fewer add-ons overall.
It’s hard to say without comparing quotes side by side. Progressive tends to be on the pricier side based on our data, but it also gives you more ways to customize your policy. Costco’s coverage is simpler, but members do get a discount, which could make it even more affordable.
Compared to other big-name insurers, Costco’s auto insurance is a simpler option. You won’t get extras like usage-based tracking discounts or a mobile app, but if you’re already a Costco member and want basic coverage with solid customer service, it might be worth considering.
Learn more: What to know before buying gold, silver, or platinum from Costco
Maybe. GEICO car insurance usually ranks around the middle of the pack for price (see tables above), and GEICO offers more discounts than any other major insurer. But if you’re just looking for straightforward coverage and already have a Costco membership, Costco car insurance could still be a good fit.
Tim Manni and Jamie Young edited this article.
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.
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:
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Policyholder age
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Number of vehicles
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ZIP code
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Vehicle age
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Insurer
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…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.
The following are definitions used by Savvy when providing its rate estimates for various types of coverage.
Full coverage car insurance: A policy with comprehensive, collision, and liability coverage.
Average policyholder: A 48-year-old driver who owns a 13-year-old vehicle and lives in an average-income ZIP code.
Senior driver: A 70-year-old policyholder with full coverage car insurance.
Good driver: Drivers across all coverage types, vehicle types, and locations who have no tickets, accidents or DUIs.
