Detailed and unbiased Selective Insurance Review 2023

To choose an insurance company, you need to consider the positives and negatives of each one to make sure they’re the right fit for you. Critical aspects like types of coverage, how to make a claim, how to contact the company, and what their customer service is like can make all the difference when you’re in a tight spot and need to take advantage of your insurance.     

Selective Insurance provides personal and commercial insurance for auto, home, business, and flood insurance, so it might be what you’re looking for. This Selective Insurance review will cover their financial strength, Selective Insurance reviews, and pricing and discounts guide, as well as how you can claim with and contact them. That way, you can efficiently and correctly assess whether Selective Insurance is the right fit for you.    

About the Company   

Selective Insurance is available in 25 states across the United States and the district of Columbia. It was founded by Daniel L.B. Smith in Branchville, New Jersey, in 1926 after becoming dissatisfied with local insurance companies. With an initial investment of $20,000, Smith and some colleagues set up Selective Risks Insurance Company.           

Selective Insurance company expanded steadily, and by 1946 the company boasted 45,000 policies from 25,000 policyholders across eight different states. Selective Insurance added different types of insurance to keep up with the growth of technology and in 1986 changed its name to Selective Insurance Company of America.       

Nowadays, Selective Insurance operates in 15 states for personal insurance and 25 for business coverage, including the following states: AZ, CO, CT, DE, GA, IL, IN, IA, KY, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, WI, and the District of Columbia. 

Selective Insurance company reviews show a high standard of financial strength, with an A+ rating from A.M. Best, an A rating from Standard & Poor’s, a financial strength rating of A2 from Moody’s, and another A+ rating from Fitch. In addition, they have succeeded in maintaining a financial strength rating of A or more from A.M. Best for over 90 years, which means there’s no sign of a Selective Insurance rating downgrade.      

They also state that, as of late 2020, they have a solid capital base of $2.7 billion and a debt-to-capital ratio of 16.7%. Selective Insurance also manages a $7.5 billion investment portfolio with an average fixed income portfolio rating of A+ to demonstrate a high level of financial security across the company.        

In addition, Selective Insurance has several subsidiaries and affiliated insurance companies. Selective Insurance subsidiaries include Selective Insurance Company of New York, Selective Insurance Company of South Carolina, Selective Insurance Company of the Southeast, Selective Fire and Casualty Insurance Company, and Selective Auto Insurance Company of New Jersey.     

Overall, Selective Insurance is a well-established and trusted company with many years of experience, consistently rating highly for financial stability from different companies. They allow claims to be made all day, every day, through various methods. However, you are limited by which state you are in, as they do not offer nationwide coverage.

 

Coverages Offered

Selective Insurance provides a wide variety of insurance options for personal and business coverage. For personal insurance it focuses on:   

• Personal Auto Insurance
• Homeowners Insurance
• Apartment / Renters
• Condominium / Townhouse
• Umbrella
• Flood Insurance 

For business insurance, they offer:

• Business Owners Policy
• Cyber Liability Insurance
• Product Recall 
• Management Liability
• Errors & Omissions 
• Commercial Flood

They also offer a wide variety of different types of companies that can take advantage of their insurance, including: 

• Aging Services
• Auto Care and Service
• Bonds
• Child Care and Early Learning
• Civic Organizations and Clubs
• Commercial Properties
• Contractors  
• Emergency Service Organizations
• Excess and Surplus Lines
• Golf Operations
• Hotels
• Manufacturing
• Municipalities
• Private Schools 
• Professional Offices
• Religious Institutions
• Restaurants 
• Retail
• Senior Living Facilities
• Service Businesses
• Social Service Organizations
• Technology
• Wholesalers

Particularly prevalent for Selective Insurance is flood insurance— they provide a guide to flood insurance to help simplify the process of claiming for flood damage.   

Photo by Carlos Muza on Unsplash

Discounts Offered

If you want to avoid breaking your bank, it’s worth looking into which discounts Selective Insurance offers.   

There are several opportunities to look for a discount for homeowner’s insurance. If you already have installed smoke, burglar, fire alarms as well as automatic sprinklers, and smart home safety, you may be eligible for a discount.      

If you have auto insurance, there may also be an opportunity for a discount for having two coverages with Selective Insurance. A discount may also apply for taking out both auto and renter insurance.      

More generally, helpful general rules to adhere to when looking for a discount on an insurance plan is to consistently pay your insurance bills promptly, a high deductible, and, for homeowners insurance, quoting your home in advance by at least 15 days of the renewal date.           

In addition, consistently paying your insurance bill on time, not reporting any claims for three years, and having a higher deductible can help provide a discount with Selective Insurance. 

There are also several auto-specific discounts, such as a young driver discount. There may also be an option for a discount if your car has anti-theft or other safety features, if you have completed a defensive driving course or if you own a commercial vehicle in your household.

Unfortunately, although Selective Insurance offers discounts for dual insurance holders and specific auto and household discounts, there are no advertised discounts available for commercial insurance.         

Customer Service  

There’s nothing more frustrating than not being able to contact your insurance company in a time of need. Luckily, Selective Insurance was recognized by the Business Intelligence Group with an Excellence in Customer Service Award in 2021, suggesting a reliable and effective customer service team.    

Selective Insurance has a form on their website that sends an email onward when completed to contact them for an issue that isn’t a claim. Alternatively, you can contact Selective Insurance’s phone number, although they have different numbers available for specific districts in the US.    

However, Selective Insurance is not Better Business Bureau accredited and has a score of just 1.33 out of 5. In addition, they’ve had 15 closed complaints in the last three years, with seven of those in the previous 12 months. These complaints seem to revolve around a disagreement on what is and isn’t insured, so make sure to read and establish the terms of your insurance agreement carefully.    

 

Pricing

Unusually, Selective Insurance does not provide online quotations, and you can only discover your different pricing options by contacting one of their local agents. Not giving an online quote for insurance may be because Selective Insurance offers higher rates than average and relies on their local agents to sell you the insurance. Or, it may be that the pricing for their insurance plans relies heavily on the details involved, so they require an extensive description of what insurance you need to let you know a quote.         

On average Selective Insurance‘s commercial insurance costs between $22 and $179 a month, but this is dependent on where you’re based, the industry you’re in, the number of employees and payroll at your business, gross sales, endorsements, deductibles, claims history, and policy limits.  

Unfortunately, there is no Selective Insurance calculator to calculate rates. Instead, you have to contact an agent directly by entering your zip code. They then connect you with an agent who can discuss the different options. This process does prevent you from quickly making a decision, but it does mean you can discuss your choices and any questions you may have with an agent.

 

Claims 

Similarly to contacting customer service, the efficiency with which you can claim your insurance is vital to a positive experience with Selective Insurance. There are two different ways to report a claim with Selective Insurance, depending on whether your insurance is to do with flood coverage or not.          

You can raise a ticket with Selective Insurance via phone, through the app, or an online application. If your insurance is not related to flooding, you can use the Selective Insurance claims phone number: (866) 455-9969, which is available 24/7. 

You can also file a report online with your online account, which you can also use to keep up-to-date with your insurance bills. To do this, you can follow these steps:  

1. Use your Selective Insurance login to access your account and click on the ‘Claims’ tab. 
2. From there, you can choose the applicable insurance policy.  
3. Then, ‘Report a New Claim.’ If you don’t have an online self-service account, you can still report a claim without phoning but clicking the report a claim icon on the website.     

If it is related to a flood insurance claim, you can call the number (877) 348-0552 to get in contact, send a fax to (877) 647-1798, or email Selective Insurance at [email protected]. You can also fill in a form with your zip code and policy number for flood insurance claims.    

Customer Satisfaction and User Ratings  

You can find some Selective Insurance reviews directly on their website, but it’s worth looking in several places to make sure Selective Insurance isn’t cherry-picking comments.             

It might be worth selecting which kind of review you’re interested in, whether that’s Selective flood insurance reviews, Selective insurance google reviews, Selective business insurance reviews, Selective auto insurance reviews, or even Selective car insurance reviews. Be as specific as you can.            

On their website, Selective Insurance states that they have a rating of 4.5 out of 5 for business customer reviews based on 3,468 reviews and 4.3 out of 5 for personal customer reviews, based on 3,763 reviews.          

Additionally, Selective Insurance displays that they have 2,289 five-star reviews for personal insurance customers against 172 one-star reviews, but, unfortunately, there is no way to access these one-star reviews easily. However, most of these reviews seem optimistic, focusing on the ease of placing a claim and customer service help.        

Other sites like WalletHub rates Selective Insurance at 4.5 out of 5, based on 736 reviews, indicating that the rating remains consistent even when not on the Selective Insurance website. Selective Insurance also appears to reply to complaints made on this website. 

As previously mentioned, there have been several Better Business Bureau complaints, causing the Selective Insurance BBB rating to be much lower with 1.33 out of 5. Unfortunately, there is only one available complaint to read on the BBB website, which takes issue with Selective Insurance failing to cover a sewer line sunk into the curb despite insuring the construction company that the customer claims inflicted the damage. That is, however, only one case and one complaint that Selective Insurance has denied.            

You may also be interested in Selective Insurance employee reviews, of which, according to Glassdoor they have a rating of 3.7 out of 5 based on 280 reviews. Of these reviews, 91% approve of Selective Insurance‘s CEO, but only 69% would recommend the company to a friend.