You may come across Otto Insurance while looking for vehicle insurance online. Before you begin the Otto quote process, you should be aware that Otto is not an insurance company. It is a website that generates leads.
That is, once you offer your information to Otto, it is shared with its marketing partners. Major insurance companies such as Progressive, Geico, State Farm, and Allstate are among its partners. Regional carriers and other marketing firms are also among its partners.
In other words, if you submit an online quote request, you may receive a large number of phone calls, texts, and emails. Obtaining many estimates may be beneficial in locating the best vehicle insurance rate, but Otto may not be the ideal option for doing so.
What is Otto Insurance?
The Otto Insurance website says the organization can help you acquire free vehicle insurance quotes in seconds. The company works with an extensive network of countrywide carriers, regional carriers, and individual agents to provide you with the best vehicle insurance rates.
Is Otto Insurance a Trustworthy Option for Coverage?
Otto is a genuine business, but it is not an insurance company. It’s a lead generation website that links customers with insurance companies and carriers. According to the firm, it offers auto insurance rates as well as quotations for pet, house, and life insurance. Its headquarters are located in Miami Beach, Florida.
There isn’t much information about when Otto Insurance Group was started. Joshua Keller is the company’s owner and CEO, according to Crunchbase. Keller’s LinkedIn profile reveals that he is an entrepreneur who founded multiple businesses, including Union Square Media Group, the parent company of Otto Insurance.
According to Crunchbase, the Otto Insurance website has over 1.7 million visitors every month.
Otto Insurance does not have an AM Best financial strength rating because it is not an insurance firm. For the same reason, it does not feature on J.D. Power’s rankings of vehicle insurance firms. It also does not have an active Better Business Bureau profile.
Be prepared for a lot of phone calls if you go through the Otto quote process. The majority of Otto Insurance negative online customer reviews are about people receiving several calls, emails, and texts after applying for a quote on the Otto Insurance website.
What insurance does Otto Insurance offer?
Otto Insurance does not provide insurance coverage because it is not an insurance business. The company, on the other hand, claims to deal with over 1,000 affiliate insurance companies that provide various types of automobile insurance coverage, such as:
- Liability coverage: Most states require all drivers carry a minimum level of bodily injury liability and property damage liability that will help to cover injuries and damage to another driver if you are in an accident and found to be at fault.
- Collision: This assists in covering damage to your vehicle if you are in an accident with another car or an object like a fence or light post. Collision insurance helps to pay to repair or replace your vehicle regardless of who was at fault for the accident.
- Comprehensive: This coverage helps to pay to repair or replace your car if it is damaged by something other than a collision. Covered incidents could be vandalism, fire, water damage, theft, and accidents with animals like deer.
- Personal injury protection (PIP): If you are in an accident, PIP insurance helps to cover your medical expenses, lost wages, or funeral expenses, regardless of who was at fault.
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist: This coverage helps to protect you if you are in an accident with someone who has no or little car insurance.
- Medical expense: This coverage is a backup to your health insurance coverage to help cover your medical bills if you get in an accident.
- Guaranteed Auto Protection (GAP) insurance: If you are still financing your car and get into an accident, this coverage pays the difference between the current value of the car and the original amount of your car loan.
- Rental reimbursement: When your car is damaged in an accident, this coverage will reimburse you up to the policy maximum if you need to rent a car while yours is being repaired.
- Roadside assistance and towing: This coverage is helpful if your car battery dies, you get a flat tire, or you lock your keys in the car.
- Non-owner insurance: This covers any property damage or injuries you cause when driving a car you don’t own, like a rental car or if you borrow a friend’s car.
The Otto Insurance website also enables you to get quotes on other types of insurance:
- Pet insurance.
- Home insurance.
- Life insurance.
Although bundling is not accessible on the site, it may be possible through the Otto Insurance partner insurance business. You will be asked if you want to bundle your car insurance with your home or renter’s insurance during the estimate process. Your response may influence the insurance company Otto suggests to you.
Otto Insurance: Finding Affordable Coverage
The Otto website claims to be able to find auto insurance for as little as $19 per month, however this is difficult to verify because you are never told a price during the quote process. Instead, you are led to the website of a suggested insurance company, where you must fill out additional information, some of which is copied from Otto, in order to receive an actual quoted price.
Step-by-Step Guide: Requesting an Insurance Quote from Otto Insurance
To begin the process of obtaining vehicle insurance rates from Otto Insurance, go to the website and enter your zip code. The site will then ask you a series of questions to help you locate the best auto insurance carrier for your needs.
Questions you’ll be asked include:
- Your vehicle’s year, make, model, and trim.
- If you want to add a second vehicle.
- If you’ve had auto insurance in the past 30 days.
- Who currently handles your car insurance.
- Your gender.
- Your marital status.
- Your credit score.
- Whether you own or rent your home.
- If you’d like to receive renters/homeowners insurance policy quotes? (for bundling options).
- Your birthdate.
- The number of drivers in your home.
- Your name.
- Your email.
- Your address.
- Your phone number.
After you’ve entered your information, you’ll see a button that says “Get Your Free Quote.” A lengthy paragraph of text follows that button.
By clicking the button, you agree, among other things, to have your information shared with and contacted by Otto Insurance’s marketing partners and their affiliates, and that you can be contacted through email, phone, or text. It also mentions that you can get a free quote by phoning 888-804-5641 without providing this consent.
You can remove your consent at any time by visiting Otto Insurance’s privacy page and submitting a deletion request.
After completing the process and submitting all of your information, the website will deliberate for a moment before announcing a “winner” insurance company that best meets your demands. However, the system does not provide any rate information. Instead, it simply directs you to the website of the suggested insurance company, where you must enter all of the same information you just entered to obtain an actual quote for vehicle insurance premiums.
In other words, it is not a quotation comparison tool that provides multiple quotes at once. Instead, insurance and marketing companies approach you and you obtain prices from each.
