Kemper Auto Insurance Review
Kemper auto insurance specializes in covering higher-risk drivers, but its prices and service are both worse than average.
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Editor's Rating
Kemper Preferred is a lackluster car insurance company. It doesn't offer affordable rates, and its customer service reviews are below average. However, it does offer some appealing discounts and coverages, especially for families.
Kemper stopped selling its "preferred" home and auto insurance in 2023, which means many current policies will be canceled or not renewed. You probably won't be able to get a new policy from Kemper unless you're a high-risk driver with tickets or accidents on your driving record.
Pros and cons
Pros
Specializes in coverage for high-risk drivers
Cons
Expensive rates for most people
Poor customer service
Can’t buy a policy online
Kemper auto insurance: High prices and subpar service
Kemper is a below-average car insurance company that has higher prices and worse service than its competitors.
As a non-standard insurance company, Kemper specializes in providing coverage to drivers with multiple at-fault crashes, speeding tickets or a DUI, but we only recommend Kemper as a last resort. The company may not even cover drivers who don’t have issues on their driving records.
The price of Kemper insurance is higher than average for most drivers, whether you have a clean record or multiple recent infractions. The average price for a good driver is $2,013 per year, which is 13% more than we found at competing insurers.
You may be able to reduce its higher costs slightly by taking advantage of Kemper’s discounts. These include lower rates for teenage drivers with good grades and discounts for taking driver safety classes. There are also bundle discounts for home and auto coverage.
Drivers can only get Kemper quotes through independent car insurance agents, meaning you can’t buy coverage directly from Kemper online. That makes the process of buying a policy more time-consuming and complicated. The company’s website has links for “quotes,” but those direct you to other companies.
Kemper’s customer service also leaves a great deal to be desired. Customers are seven times more likely to file a complaint about Kemper than an average insurer, and it finished dead last in J.D. Power’s claims satisfaction survey.
Bottom line: Kemper offers expensive rates and subpar service, and it is only worth considering if you can’t find coverage elsewhere. Geico and Mercury Insurance could both be better options if you have issues on your record.
Kemper auto insurance quotes
Kemper car insurance is more expensive than its competitors, both for people with clean driving histories and those with a recent accident or ticket on their records.
For drivers with no recent incidents, ValuePenguin found an average price of $2,013 per year for full coverage at Kemper Insurance. That’s 13% more than average among its competitors.
Drivers with a recent at-fault accident or DUI on their records can expect to pay around $4,350 per year. That’s the most expensive price we found for each of those drivers and more than $1,000 per year more expensive than other insurers.
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Kemper car insurance rates vs. competitors
Clean record | Accident | DUI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geico | $1,393 | $3,541 | $3,528 |
| Mercury | $1,487 | $2,235 | $2,455 |
| Infinity | $1,709 | $3,101 | $3,101 |
| Kemper | $2,013 | $4,350 | $4,350 |
| Farmers | $2,368 | $4,163 | $4,163 |
All quotes are annual prices of full coverage in California.
A speeding ticket will cost you more at Kemper, too. Its average price after one ticket was $2,659, which is 13% more than average.
Every insurance company calculates its rates differently, so you should always check with multiple companies for the best rates on car insurance.
Kemper auto insurance discounts
Kemper offers a range of discounts to its customers including family discounts, car safety features discounts and multi-policy discounts. The discounts available for families with young drivers are particularly desirable, as they allow Kemper customers to lower the typically high cost of car insurance for a family with a teen driver.
- Family discounts: You’re eligible for a family discount if you have a driver away at school, a young driver with good grades in school and driver training (for young and senior drivers)
- Car safety features discounts: Discounts offered for cars with anti-lock brakes, anti-theft devices and passive restraints/air bags
- Multi-policy discounts: Multi-car discounts and home and auto insurance bundles
Auto insurance coverages from Kemper
Kemper provides policyholders with all of the standard coverage options offered by the majority of national insurance companies. Additionally, Kemper offers a few notable coverage packages.
- Kemper Total: Bundles multiple benefits for owners of new cars. First, it includes new car replacement coverage. This means if your car is totaled in a crash or stolen, Kemper will pay for you to purchase a completely new vehicle, even if your vehicle is more than a year old. You’ll also receive an increased payment for renting a car while your vehicle is being repaired. Kemper Total is only available when you’re insuring a brand-new vehicle.
- Parked auto protection: With this optional coverage, your collision deductible is waived if your car is parked and unoccupied when it is struck by another vehicle.
- Auto loan/lease coverage: If your car is totaled in a crash or stolen, loan/lease coverage — also referred to as gap insurance — pays the difference between what your car is worth and the amount you have left to repay on your loan or lease.
Standard coverages from Kemper
- Liability (bodily injury/property damage)
- Uninsured motorist
- Collision
- Comprehensive
- Roadside assistance
Frequently asked questions
What companies does Kemper own?
Kemper operates Infinity Insurance, which also specializes in providing car insurance to higher-risk drivers. Other Kemper subsidiaries include Kemper Direct, Kemper Specialty and Financial Indemnity Co.
Is Kemper Unitrin?
Yes, Kemper and Unitrin merged into a single company starting in 2011.
Is Kemper a good insurance company?
Kemper is not a good company for most drivers, as its rates tend to be expensive and its customer service is poor. Instead, consider Geico or Mercury Insurance.
Methodology
To evaluate Kemper’s car insurance, ValuePenguin collected quotes from across the state of California from Kemper and five competitors: Farmers, Geico, Infinity, Integon and Mercury.
Rates are for a 30-year-old single man who has full coverage on his 2015 Honda Civic.
Coverage | Limits |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | $50,000 per person/$100,000 per accident |
| Property damage liability | $25,000 per accident |
| Medical payments coverage | $10,000 |
| Uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury | $50,000 per person/$100,000 per accident |
| Comprehensive and collision | $500 deductible |
Car insurance quotes used insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services. These rates were publicly sourced from insurer filings and should be used for comparative purposes only — your own quotes will be different.
Customer service review data was collected from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, J.D. Power and AM Best.
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the author’s opinions and recommendations alone. It has not been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.