With customized policies, award-winning customer satisfaction, great prices, and a strong focus on community, Pemco Auto Insurance has established a name for itself in the regional auto insurance business. Here, we take a close look at Pemco’s auto insurance reviews, coverage options, discounts, and more.
We also reviewed the best car insurance providers in the country based on different factors such as coverage, costs, financial stability, and availability. While Pemco may not have made it on that list, it is undoubtedly one of the most popular providers in the Pacific Northwest.
Whenever you shop for car insurance, we recommend getting quotes from multiple providers so you can compare coverage and rates.
Pemco Car Insurance Rating
Our review team considered Pemco from many angles and rated it 4.3 stars overall. This score includes ratings for reliability, availability, coverage, cost, service, and technology. Below, you can see our ratings in each of these categories.
Pemco Pros And Cons
Below are a few pros and cons we found in our Pemco Insurance review.
About Pemco Auto Insurance
Pemco was founded in 1942 by Robert J. Handy as an auto insurance company for teachers who were members of the School Employees Credit Union of Washington. It later expanded its offerings to include home, renters, condo, umbrella, life, and boat. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and provides coverage to customers in the states of Washington and Oregon.
Pemco is a mutual insurance company, which means it’s owned by its policyholders. Pemco stands for “Public Employees Mutual Insurance Company.”
Pemco is known to take an active role in the communities it serves, donating to worthy causes and encouraging employees to take paid time off to volunteer at charities.
Pemco Auto Insurance Coverage
Pemco has a huge range of car insurance coverage options to suit different needs. You can get all the standard coverage options from the company:
- Liability property damage: Helps pay for damages to the other person’s car and/or property and court defense costs if you are responsible for the crash.
- Bodily injury liability insurance: Helps pay for injury and defense costs in covered accidents.
- Personal injury protection (PIP): Pays for medical expenses, income loss, and more if you, your family, or other passengers in your car are injured in an accident (required in Oregon).
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist: Pays for medical costs and other related expenses if a covered person is injured in a car accident caused by an uninsured or underinsured motorist (required in Oregon).
- Collision insurance: Pays for car damage in an accident and comes with a deductible (required if your car is financed).
- Comprehensive insurance: Covers car damage from theft, fire, natural causes, vandalism, etc.
The coverage options above are standard for any insurance company. Below, you can see details on the extra add-ons Pemco offers.
Pemco Auto Insurance Cost And Discounts
Our rate data shows Pemco costs about $1,063 per year or $89 per month for full-coverage insurance and $291 per year or $24 per month for minimum-coverage insurance. These rates apply to a single 30-year-old male driver with good credit and a good driving record in Washington State.
Pemco costs can vary depending on many factors in your driving profile. Below, we have Washington rates for Pemco based on different situations. Our data shows Pemco is more affordable than the state average in each situation.
Pemco Cost In Washington By Age
Your age can dictate what you pay for insurance to a large degree. Below, you can see how Pemco compares to the Washington average for different ages with full-coverage insurance. Again, Pemco is cheaper than the state average here.
Pemco Discounts
Pemco offers a number of discounts and benefits that can help drive your final car insurance policy costs down:
- Auto plus home discount: When you bundle home (rent or own) and auto insurance (bundling applies to boat and umbrella policies in Washington)
- Educator discount: For all employees of schools, colleges, or universities
- Defensive driver discount:For drivers aged 55 and above who have completed a certified defensive driving course
- Good student discount: Available for full-time students between ages 16 and 24 with a GPA of 3.0 or higher
- Distant student discount: Available if the student studies more than 75 miles away from home and does not have a car at school
- Accident forgiveness: No rate increase after your first minor accident if you’ve been accident-free for five or more years
- Minor ticket forgiveness: No rate increase for your first minor ticket if you haven’t had a ticket or accident in five years
- Loyal auto customer discount: Available after having a policy for more than one year with Pemco
- Homeownership discount: For customers owning a home, mobile home, or condo
- Low mileage discount: Available if you drive your car less than 8,000 miles a year
- New vehicle discount: For cars less than five model years old
- Paid in full discount: Available if you pay in one annual payment or two six-month payments
- Advance purchase discount: Available for new policies purchased at least seven days before coverage starts
- Paperless discount (WA only): Get a discount for using electronic policy documents
- Spin-off discount: Applies if you were on someone else’s Pemco policy and then started your own
Pemco Usage-Based Insurance
Even though it’s a small insurance company, Pemco offers a usage-based program called Pemcodometer. When you sign up, you get a small discount for participating. The Pemco app will then track your driving habits for 91 days. After that, you’ll get a discount based on how safe you drive. You can save up to 20 percent.
Pemco App
Pemco policyholders can use the Go Pemco app to access documents, view ID cards, pay bills, make changes to coverage, find local repair shops, and more. The app has good ratings from customers. It has a 4.1-star rating on Google Play and a 4.4-star rating on the Apple App Store. Most customers say the app works well, though a few have had issues with the Pemcodometer not displaying a consistent score based on driving.
Pemco Auto Insurance Reviews
Pemco’s mission is to, “free our communities to worry less and live more.” The company focuses on Northwestern residents and highlights how important it is for customers to have insurance from companies who understand their specific needs.
But does it live up to its promise? We took a look at what Pemco customers have to say online.
While Pemco has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), we noticed a few customer reviews relaying dissatisfaction due to rate increases. In general, policy rates can be affected by a number of factors, including changes to your credit, address change, tickets, accidents, etc. Pemco doesn’t offer a rate lock for its auto insurance policies.
Our team likes how Pemco has a well-designed online portal and mobile app for its customers where they can create an account to view all their policies, make changes, pay bills, and file claims. Even customers without an online account can still pay their bills using their policy number, name, and ZIP code. We have seen that such features give customers more transparency and increased control over their policies, which can lead to higher levels of satisfaction.
The 2023 J.D. Power Auto Insurance Customer Satisfaction Study ranks Pemco Auto Insurance second highest in the Northwest region. The 2023 study took into consideration several factors like policy offerings, price, billing process, claims, and policy information and was based on responses from over 41,000 customers.
Pemco Auto Insurance Reviews: Our Take
Pemco is a good option if you live in Oregon or Washington and want a local car insurance company with affordable average rates. Pemco offers plenty of coverage options and extras for a variety of situations.
Top Auto Insurance Companies
As with any major purchase, we recommend you shop around and get at least three quotes from auto insurance providers before you get car insurance. We recommend looking at State Farm and Liberty Mutual.
State Farm: Best Overall Provider
State Farm is our top pick for car insurance in the industry. It offers options and discounts that can apply to many different drivers, including a good student discount of up to 25 percent. You can save up to 30 percent if you’re a good driver and you participate in the Drive Safe & Save™ program. Young drivers can complete the Steer Clear® program to improve their driving skills and get a discount, too.
Learn more in our State Farm car insurance review.
Liberty Mutual: Best Customizable Coverage
Liberty Mutual has one of the widest coverage selections of any provider. It offers 19 options including teachers’ auto insurance, new car replacement, accident forgiveness, and original parts replacement. You can even get better car replacement, which covers the cost for a model one year newer. These options make it easy to customize a plan that’s right for your situation.
Learn more in our Liberty Mutual insurance review.
Pemco Insurance Reviews: FAQ
Below are a few frequently asked questions about Pemco insurance.
How We Rate Pemco Insurance
Our review team extensively researches auto insurance providers to deliver informed and unbiased assessments of leading companies. We evaluate several key rating factors that are important to consumers to determine which providers are the best in the industry:
- Reliability: It’s important that an auto insurer is able to meet its claims obligations. Companies with a strong financial strength rating from AM Best score best in this category. Established insurers with a long history of reliable service also receive positive marks.
- Availability: Insurance companies that offer wider availability to consumers in terms of state availability and few eligibility requirements are more likely to meet consumer needs.
- Coverage: To determine our coverage score, we look at the number of coverage options available as well as coverage limits and deductible options. Our ratings also take into account additional services and benefits like roadside assistance.
- Pricing: Cost can be difficult to compare between insurers because so many factors impact annual premiums. The cheapest insurer for one driver may not be the cheapest for another. To determine our cost score, we look at insurance rate estimates generated by Quadrant Information Services, discount opportunities, and consumer reports.
- Service: We comb through customer reviews on sites like the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to learn about customer experiences. Insurers with a low volume of complaints score well in this area. We also consider the claims process, giving higher ratings to car insurance providers that offer a smooth experience.
- Technology: Providers with an online quote tool, easy-to-use claims app and a usage-based insurance app score best in this category.
*Data accurate at time of publication.
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.