Toggle Insurance Review: Is It Legit?

Toggle Insurance is a technology-forward newcomer to the insurance industry that promises policies that are anything but one-size-fits-all. Owned by Farmers, Toggle offers customizable car insurance policies that you can adjust as needed, potentially saving serious money on your monthly premium. It’s designed so that you can quote, purchase, and manage your policy online in less than a few minutes.

But it doesn’t have all its features up and running. There’s currently no mobile app (though one is in the works, according to the company’s website). Instead, you can access your account through its mobile-friendly website. And since Toggle has absorbed policies from 21st Century Insurance (another Farmers subsidiary), it’s unclear if it’s also absorbed the same problems.

Is Toggle a Good Choice for Car Insurance?

Toggle may be a newcomer, but it’s a legitimate auto insurance company — and a good choice for some. But that doesn’t mean you can expect to find the best coverage at the best price.

Let’s take a look at how the insurance newcomer scores across five key categories.

Toggle has an excellent industry reputation as part of the Farmers Group, but it isn’t performing exceptionally well in other categories, even where expected — like with ease of use. Of course, the insurer is still new, so it may be working out kinks and building out features that could quickly raise some of these middling scores.

Where Toggle stands out

You can buy a new car insurance policy hassle-free online in less than five minutes. Self-managing an active policy is easy since you can customize your coverage options from your online account.

Where Toggle falls short

So far, customer reviews are limited but skew overly negative. Prices are also higher than the national average for drivers of all ages, credit scores, and various driving histories.

How Toggle Car Insurance Works

Toggle gives you the ability to purchase a fully customized car insurance policy entirely online. The company takes your basic information — including your name and address — and automatically fills in the rest (vehicles, age, driving history, etc.). You can go from zero to quote in about a minute. Impressive.

Once you get your quote, the site allows you to customize everything from coverage to limits to deductibles. You’ll see your quoted premium as it changes, and you can buy your policy immediately — no need to speak to an agent.

Toggle prides itself on being entirely self-serve so that you can file and manage your claims (should you have one) through your online account. The company also offers an AI chatbot to help you find answers to your questions quickly and is continually building its resource library.

But that self-service can often be a drawback, as we’ll cover in the next section.

How to adjust your coverage with Toggle

You can change your policy whenever you need to by logging into your account and making the changes yourself. You’ll see how your changes affect your rate before finalizing the adjustment — and once finalized, the changes go into effect immediately.

If your costs are higher than before, the company charges you for additional costs when you make the adjustment. If the price is lower, it refunds your overpayment within three days, according to Toggle’s website.

Toggle Insurance Reviews: What Real Customers Are Saying

As a new insurance company, online reviews of Toggle are relatively scarce. The company receives 2.79 out of 5 stars on Clearsurance and 3 out of 5 stars on WalletHub.

Despite mid-range scores, the only customers taking the time to review the company had negative experiences to report. The main complaint is the difficulty contacting customer service over the phone or through live chat.

The customer shown in the screenshot below describes the wait time as “endless” with both.

Several reviews also mentioned administrative issues. The below reviewer experienced a policy cancellation due to a company error, and Toggle allegedly refused to issue a refund for the unused premiums.

Many of the reviews and testimonials, like the two below from Reddit, came from previous 21st Century customers. Most of them share the same complaints — a lack of communication and a total inability to get someone on the phone. Not a great sign if you value personalized, responsive service from your insurer.

What You Can Expect to Pay for Toggle Car Insurance

Your car insurance rates are based on several factors, including your coverage levels, age, gender, relationship status, driving history, location, credit history, and more. Older drivers with clean records and good credit usually pay lower rates, while young drivers with marks on their records and poor credit pay higher rates.

With that in mind, let’s look at average rates from Toggle, how they change based on the most significant pricing factors, and how prices compare to the national average, according to Compare.com data.

Because Toggle is still so new, average rate data is limited. To give you a better picture of what you can expect to pay with Toggle, we’ve used data from 21st Century policies. The company has stated that prices should remain the same for users who’ve switched, so the figures you see above should be fairly representative of what Toggle charges its current customers.

In any case, Toggle’s average rates are higher than average across every major category. They’re significantly higher for senior drivers, those with excellent credit, drivers with an at-fault accident, and people with a DUI. Prices are closer to the average for drivers with a speeding ticket, liability-only policies, and teen drivers, but they’re at least 20% higher across the board.

Still, remember that these are broad averages, and though they indicate more expensive coverage, the same may not be true for you. The best way to know if you can save with Toggle is to compare quotes against those from other insurers.

Does Toggle offer car insurance discounts?

Information about Toggle’s available car insurance discounts is scarce. But Toggle offers some, depending on your state — including the following:

• Accident/claims-free: for having no recent accidents or claims
• Automatic emergency braking system: for owning a car with automatic braking (ABS)
• Bundling: for purchasing more than one insurance product with Toggle (e.g., auto and renters insurance)
• Good student: for maintaining good grades in school
• Homeowner: for owning your own home

Unfortunately, the company doesn’t specify exactly how to qualify for these discounts, where each discount is available, or how big each discount is.

Toggle vs. the Competition

Toggle may have higher-than-average rates and score below average for its customer service, but are there better options out there?

In the table below, we show how Toggle compares to some of its closest competition.

Parent company Farmers has cheaper average rates than Toggle, and tech-forward insurers Hugo, Metromile, and Mile Auto all offer significantly lower average premiums. Hugo offers policies that you can manage yourself, turning coverage on and off and paying only for the days you use your car, taking flexibility to an even greater degree.

Metromile and Mile Auto are pay-per-mile insurers whose rates above reflect the “base rate” customers pay. The actual monthly premium fluctuates based on monthly mileage and is higher than what’s shown here. Still, either could be a good option if you drive less than 10,000 each year.

The unorthodox nature of Toggle and its closest competitors makes it hard to know which is cheapest. So it’s worth getting personalized quotes to investigate costs further.

Toggle’s Available Auto Insurance Coverages

Again, information is limited, but Toggle offers at least the following coverage options in some states.

• Bodily injury liability: Covers medical bills for injuries you cause to others.
• Property damage liability: Covers damage you cause to other people’s property.
• Collision coverage: Covers repairs to your vehicle if you cause an accident.
• Comprehensive coverage: Covers non-collision damage to your vehicle, such as animal damage, storm damage, theft, and vandalism.
• Medical payments coverage (MedPay): Covers your medical expenses, regardless of fault.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist protection: Covers damages caused by another driver without any or enough insurance.
• Towing and roadside service: Covers emergency roadside assistance.
• Temporary ride coverage: Pays for a rental car while yours is in the shop after a covered claim.
• Side hustle: Covers you if you drive for a ridesharing platform, such as Uber or Lyft.
• Gap insurance: Covers the difference between your totaled vehicle’s actual cash value (ACV) and the remainder of your loan balance.
• Original parts replacement: Pays for factory-manufactured or OEM parts if you file a claim.
• New car replacement: Pays to replace a totaled vehicle with a brand-new equivalent.
• Pet passenger: Covers vet bills after an accident.

How to Purchase a Toggle Car Insurance Policy

You can buy a Toggle policy entirely online in under five minutes (as long as you have your driver’s license number, VIN, and payment information on hand). The process is intuitive, with customizable coverage options and add-ons.

I started the quote process by going to the auto insurance homepage and clicking “Get my price.”

Next, I entered my name, address, and date of birth. Toggle highlighted its data-sharing policy at the bottom of this page.

I entered my requested policy start date and hit “next.”

In the final step, I entered my email.

Toggle automatically filled in my vehicle and driver information, which I could change if needed.

Next, it showed me my coverage details and quoted premium, with minimum liability coverage set as the default.

It also set my deductibles at $500 and didn’t include uninsured motorist property damage protection. But my state requires uninsured bodily injury protection, so Toggle included this automatically.

From here, I customized my policy to my liking. I started by raising my liability protection limits.

My quote price changed as I continued to customize my policy — an extra $10 a month for an extra $250,000 of coverage seemed reasonable. But I didn’t like that the pricing left out taxes and fees, and I couldn’t find any information about what fees to expect.

The quote page also allowed me to toggle “on” optional coverages, which I could customize for each vehicle.

Once I was satisfied with my policy, I hit “Complete quote.” At this stage, the company requested my license number and payment information, but the system automatically found the VINs for each of my vehicles.

Overall, the process was fast, convenient, and transparent (though I would’ve liked to see the fees and taxes included).

What to Expect When Filing a Claim with Toggle

Toggle’s website states that using your online account is the fastest way to submit a claim. To start the process, click on “Claims” and follow the instructions, and the company should begin processing your claim quickly.

Seems easy enough, but what do customers think? Based on limited reviews, the experience is poor. The main complaints are much like the reviews we saw above, including long wait times, unresponsive adjusters, and an overall confusing process.

For example, the customer below allegedly waited weeks for a simple auto-glass claim.

Another customer — featured in the screenshot below — claims their claim settlement check was unexpectedly canceled, leaving the customer on the hook for overdraft fees.

Other drivers — including the Reddit user below — were involved in an accident with Toggle customers and reported negative experiences, especially with getting in touch with the claims team. Not great signs.

More About Toggle Insurance

Toggle renters insurance

At the moment, Toggle primarily focuses on customizable renters insurance policies. It offers three tiers of “subscription levels”: basic, standard, and premium, all with diminishing deductibles. Coverage travels with you, even internationally.

Optional add-on features include:

• Customized personal property coverage for high-value items
• Identity theft protection
• Pets coverage
• Side gig valuables coverage
• Credit monitoring

Toggle renters policies are available in 33 states and Washington, D.C.

Toggle Insurance FAQs

Since Toggle is a new car insurance company, many shoppers have questions about how it works and how trustworthy it is. Check out the answers to some of the most common questions below.

Does Toggle have cheap car insurance?

It depends. Toggle offers car insurance coverage that is more expensive than the national average, according to Compare.com data. But for some drivers, Toggle may offer cheap coverage — the only way to find out is to get a personalized quote and compare it to others from top companies.

Is Toggle insurance legit?

Yes. Toggle Insurance Company is a legitimate insurer and a member of the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies (with 90 years of insurance experience). It offers digital insurance products and services, aiming to provide a convenient experience for customers.

Who owns Toggle Insurance?

Farmers Insurance Group — a nearly 100-year-old insurance company based in Woodland, California — owns Toggle. Farmers is one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S., owning several subsidiaries, including Toggle, Bristol West Insurance Group, and more.

Is Toggle Insurance the same as 21st Century Insurance Company?

Toggle and 21st Century Premier Insurance Company were originally two different insurance subsidiaries under Farmers. Toggle previously sold exclusively renters insurance policies underwritten by 21st Century. Now, all 21st Century policies — including auto insurance — are transitioning to Toggle, according to its website.

Which states does Toggle insurance cover?

You can currently purchase a Toggle car insurance policy in 14 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The company has announced that it has plans to offer coverage in more states in the near future.

Data Methodology:

Data scientists at Compare.com analyzed more than 50 million real-time auto insurance quotes from more than 75 partner insurers in order to compile the rates and statistics seen in this article. Compare.com’s auto insurance data includes coverage analysis and details on drivers’ vehicles, driving records, insurance histories, and demographic information.

All the rates listed in this article have been collected from a combination of real Compare.com quotes and external insurance rate data gathered in collaboration with Quadrant Information Services. Compare.com uses these observations to provide readers with insights into how auto insurance companies determine their premiums.

Rating Methodology:

Compare.com’s mission is to help our readers make more informed decisions when it comes to their personal finances. Our editorial staff has crafted a proprietary, objective rating formula — the Compare.com Rating — to make it easier for our readers to analyze and compare many of the industry’s most well-known insurers. The score you see referenced in this article is based on several factors, including:

• Cost: How the insurer’s average rates compare to its direct competitors and the industry as a whole. This includes available savings opportunities, such as discounts and other factors.
• Customer satisfaction: How satisfied existing customers are with the service they receive. This includes the insurer’s scores among various third-party studies, such as the J.D. Power U.S. Insurance Shopping and Claims Satisfaction studies, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Complaint Index, among others.
• Ease of use: How easy it is for policyholders to utilize their policies. This includes mobile app availability, customer service availability, payment flexibility, and other related factors.
• Availability: The overall scope of the company’s insurance offerings. This includes available coverage types, national footprint, and other related factors.
• Industry reputation: A measure of the insurer’s overall standing within the industry. This includes its AM Best financial strength rating, BBB accreditation, and other related factors.

Sources:

1. WalletHub, “Toggle,” accessed April 13, 2024.
2. Clearsurance, “Toggle,” accessed April 13, 2024.
3. Reddit, “Toggle auto insurance,” accessed April 13, 2024.