NerdWallet: Is it the Best Place to Compare Car Insurance?

Many people have heard of NerdWallet, but how does their car insurance quote process work? How much can you save, and should you even bother? Our review guides you through the entire process of getting auto insurance quotes at NerdWallet. You’ll also find out what other consumers are saying about the popular car insurance comparison site.

Tim Chen is the founder and CEO at NerdWallet, which he launched in 2009. The site provides insights, advice, and tools that answer financial questions about investing, loans, saving, insurance, and other monetary issues. One option allows visitors to compare car insurance quotes.

Another available tool compares life insurance rates.

NerdWallet claims to offer expert advice that enables consumers to make the best financial decisions. Our review takes an in-depth look at NerdWallet’s insurance quote comparison tool, so you know what to expect.

How does NerdWallet work?

While searching for your next car insurance policy, you come across NerdWallet’s quote comparison tool. You want to get the best quotes, but where should you start? Without knowing what to expect, you might be hesitant to begin. That’s where we step in to help.

First, you’ll need to enter your zip code. Then, NerdWallet will ask for information about the drivers and the car. Below are some factors that the site uses to determine car insurance rates.

Driver

• Address
• Birthdate
• First and last name
• Gender
• Phone number
• Marital Status
• Email
• License status
• Whether you rent or own your house
• Education
• Current insurance and coverage length
• Past accidents, claims, or tickets

Vehicle

• Your car’s make, model, and year
• Car’s purpose (commuting to work, school, vacation, or ridesharing)
• Your average mileage
• If you own or lease

*For our sample quote, we chose a female driver profile, age 30, with a 2017 Honda Accord LX, and CVT transmission. Our hypothetical policyholder has one at-fault accident on her record, completed high school, has an average credit score, and is employed full-time.

After entering our zip code on NerdWallet, we’re redirected to their quote comparison partners, Insure.com. From here, we provided our details and received a list of offers instantly.

I entered my information. Can I compare quotes now?

Now that you’ve filled in all the blanks, you’ll receive a list of car insurance quotes. Unlike other quote comparison websites, we weren’t asked for our preferred level of coverage.

The results should load in a few seconds. For our search, we only received three different options. Instead of listing quotes as we’d expect, each insurer has a “Get Quote” button that takes you to the individual carrier’s website.

At first, the limited results and lack of dollar sign amounts seem discouraging. To make sure, we’ll take a closer look by selecting “Get Quote” from each insurer.

First up is InsuredNation. After selecting this option, we’re redirected again to a different quote comparison website. Two insurers are listed, and we have the choice to click on “Get Quote” once again.

If we go one step further, we end up at the insurance provider’s website, where we have to reenter all the information we just typed in up until now. This feature seems to defeat the purpose of comparing quotes, so we’re ready to move on to the next choice.

Next, we try Progressive auto insurance. Fortunately, all the information from our previous search is automatically entered, and we get a quote in less than two minutes.

Having this quote visible on the search results page would have been more practical and timesaving. Considering that we only got three options to choose from, the entire process won’t take us long, but it’s still a bit of a hassle.

Progressive lets us choose from three different coverage options. Then, we can click on “Finish & Buy” to complete the purchase of our policy. The quoted amount is precisely what we’re asked to pay, and coverage can begin immediately.

Finally, we get a quote from the last insurer on the list, Allstate. When clicking on the link, we’re redirected to Allstate’s website, where we have to enter all of our personal data again. That makes it three times, now.

Additionally, Allstate asks for more detailed information about your household, employment, and any accidents on record. After another five minutes of completing the form, we get a quote and the option to purchase coverage immediately.

One major flaw of NerdWallet’s quote comparison tool is that it didn’t provide any actual quotes. Ultimately, we had to visit each insurer’s website to get a quote and had to enter our personal information multiple times. That seems like an awful lot of work. Why can’t we just enter our info once and get real, actual quotes?

NerdWallet Reviews: What do customers and employees have to say?

NerdWallet reviews are generally mixed. Although some consumers report positive experiences with NerdWallet, others say they didn’t find the help they wanted.

The company’s Google and Shopper Approved ratings are highest, and also have the most reviews. Fewer consumers left reviews at Trust Pilot and the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and these experiences tended to be negative.

Google NerdWallet Reviews

The reviews of NerdWallet on Google Play are overwhelmingly positive, at least for the mobile app. Consumers can use the app to keep track of their financial lives in a variety of different ways. Unfortunately, the platform doesn’t include any helpful tools for comparing car insurance.

You could find the app useful while shopping for car insurance to figure out your credit score and how to improve it.

Trust Pilot NerdWallet Reviews

NerdWallet’s reviews on Trust Pilot were the lowest at an average of 1.8.

A common theme among consumers seems to be that they find NerdWallet’s recommendations unhelpful. Shoppers also say the site gives biased preference to companies that pay for promotions.

Shopper Approved NerdWallet Reviews

You’ll find an abundance of positive reviews for NerdWallet at Shopper Approved. Many consumers say they found useful information on the website, but there aren’t many comments about the car insurance comparison tool.

What stands out about the reviews on Shopper Approved is that they tend to be short and lacking details. We didn’t find any reviews that distinctly mentioned the quality of the company’s car insurance quoting capabilities. NerdWallet specialized in all aspects of financial wellness, not just saving on car insurance, which is why we weren’t surprised by the abundance of generalized reviews.

Better Business Bureau NerdWallet Reviews

NerdWallet has an A+ rating at the BBB, but only seven customer reviews. Most of the reviews were written over one year ago and are primarily negative. Consumers report receiving spam after using the site’s comparison tools, and say that they sold their personal information.

Customers didn’t leave reviews of NerdWallet’s insurance quoting process, making it more challenging to determine how the site uses your data when searching for an auto policy.

Glassdoor NerdWallet Reviews

Glassdoor reviews are mixed. Some employees say the work/life balance is ideal and that the company offers competitive benefits.

Many individuals who worked at NerdWallet had something positive to say about the company. One negative comment that appeared multiple times criticizes NerdWallet’s ambiguous leadership. Some reviewers say the company is the missing direction that could help it grow in a competitive landscape.

Is NerdWallet mobile friendly? Do they have a mobile app?

How often do you really search for information on your desktop or laptop? Most of us prefer to search through mobile-friendly websites that don’t require us to switch devices. Does NerdWallet give you this option?

The NerdWallet app is available to all consumers, but it doesn’t provide car insurance quotes at your fingertips. Instead, the app helps individuals keep track of their spending, investing, and other financial decisions.

If you want to compare car insurance quotes, you’ll have to access NerdWallet on your mobile browser. The mobile website is simple to navigate and looks the same as the desktop version.

The interface is straightforward to use, no matter which device you’re using. As a result, an app isn’t necessary.

Your car insurance journey doesn’t need to end with NerdWallet

It’s easy to get discouraged while searching for the best car insurance policy, especially when quote comparison websites don’t live up to your expectations.

You might think you’ve run out of options after comparing all the insurance companies on sites like NerdWallet.com. You should remember that there are many other options for car insurance on the market than what you see advertised.

At Compare.com, we understand how frustrating it can be to repeatedly waste your time filling out information fields, only to get a limited number of inaccurate or unaffordable results. Instead, we live by the motto, “seeing is saving.”

We offer straightforward quotes on affordable car insurance that get you the best coverage in your area. We won’t show you ads and we won’t sell your information.

Compare our quotes now and see how easy it can be to buy an auto insurance policy.

NerdWallet vs. Compare.com: How do they stack up?

*Quoting profile: 30-year-old female, 2017 Honda Accord LX, one accident, proof of insurance, single and renting

NerdWallet FAQs

• What is NerdWallet? – NerdWallet is a website that offers financial advice and guidance to individuals. The site also provides free tools to find insurance, credit cards, mortgage rates, and other savings.
• How is NerdWallet different from Compare.com? – You can use both websites to compare car insurance quotes. The main difference is that NerdWallet doesn’t specialize in auto insurance. Compare.com works with over 60 of the country’s top insurers to match customers with the best policies. NerdWallet typically returns fewer search results than Compare.com, and you’ll end up visiting the carrier’s website to get the final quote, most often after entering your personal info multiple times. At Compare.com, you enter your info once and receive real, actual quotes in minutes.
• Is NerdWallet an insurance company? – No. NerdWallet isn’t an insurance company. The site provides advice on financial decisions through reviews, resources, and tools that act as guidance. NerdWallet’s partnership with Insure.com allows consumers to find and compare quotes by redirecting them to the auto insurer’s websites.
• Does NerdWallet have physical offices? – Yes. NerdWallet has a physical location in San Francisco. The company has approximately 500 employees, but their services are only available online.
• How does NerdWallet protect your personal information? – NerdWallet claims to protect your data privacy, but consumer reviews report individuals receiving unwanted spam and offers for credit cards. NerdWallet’s official privacy policy says they may use your data to contact you with promotional emails and recommendations for financial products that their partners are offering.
• What are the pros and cons of NerdWallet? – NerdWallet can help you find car and life insurance quotes, but you may have to visit each insurer’s website before you get a definitive offer. Another disadvantage of using NerdWallet is that you’re likely to get unsolicited emails from their affiliate advertisers.
• What platform is best to compare car insurance? – Compare.com is the best way to find the most affordable car insurance quotes. You won’t have to enter your information multiple times or get frustrated with sites that continually redirect you. Compare.com also protects your data, and won’t fill your inbox with spam.