The Hartford Insurance Review & Complaints: Car, Life & Business Insurance (2024)

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Everything about The Hartford speaks of stability and strength — from their stately stag logo to a history spanning over 200 years in the insurance industry.

The Hartford has never been a playful, approachable insurance company like many modern competitors. However, they have recently made a foray into the world of humorous advertising. Let’s take a look at what this history of strength means in terms of their products, service, and value for your insurance dollar.

What is The Hartford?

The Hartford was founded in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1810 as The Hartford Fire Insurance Company by a group of local businessmen. The company survived multiple major catastrophic events, including the 1835 New York fire, after which the company’s president paid claims out of his own pocket.

In 1913, the company expanded its product lineup to include car, accident, business interruption, and many more lines of insurance with the new branch, The Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company. The 1959 acquisition of The Columbian National Life Insurance Company added life insurance products to the list.

In 1970, The Hartford Fire Insurance Company was purchased by ITT Corporation and operated as ITT-Hartford until 1995, when it once again became an independent entity and changed the name to The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.

In 2004, they expanded into Group Benefits by purchasing a division of CNA Financial, and in 2013, they sold the life insurance business to Prudential. In 1984, The Hartford became the provider of auto and home insurance for members of AARP, and they continue to hold this contract to this day.

Currently, The Hartford offers home insurance, auto, and other vehicle coverage for individuals, as well as annuities and mutual funds. They also write a large range of business insurance policies, including Business Owner’s policies, commercial auto, and more for small to large companies. In fact, they ranked eighth in the top 10 commercial property and casualty insurers in the nation in 2016. Additional products include their Employee Benefits packages, which encompass life, short-term disability, and accident coverage.

Today, The Hartford is a Fortune 500 company, ranked 153rd at the time of this review, selling products across the nation from its headquarters, which remains in Hartford, Connecticut. Policies and financial products are sold through agents and brokers to both individuals and businesses.

What types of insurance products are offered?

The Hartford offers products for both individuals and businesses of all sizes. They also provide financial products and group benefits.

The Hartford offers a wide range of individual insurance products, focusing mainly on homeowners insurance and various auto insurance policy options, but with specialty policies available as well. Let’s start with Hartford auto insurance.

Does The Hartford casualty insurance company offer car insurance?

The Hartford writes two levels of package auto insurance policies, each with a long list of features and benefits. The company is the 11th largest auto insurer in the nation, as of 2014 numbers.

The Advantage Package includes all auto insurance coverage options you would expect from a comprehensive policy, with a number of extras that aren’t always included in the average policy.

These features include:

• 6-month rate protection ensuring rates will not change in a 6-month term
• Lifetime Guarantee on repairs done at approved shops

The Advantage Plus package is slightly more costly and adds the following features to the included benefits of the Advantage package:

• Rate protection increases from 6 months to 12 months
• First Accident Forgiveness
• Disappearing Deductible, which reduces your deductible every year that you maintain a clean driving record
• One Deductible, which allows you to pay a single deductible when more than one vehicle or a vehicle and a home insurance policy are included in the same claim
• Waiver of Deductible and reduced deductibles for not-at-fault accidents included a $100 reduction in deductible when you use an approved repair shop

Insurance discounts available from The Hartford for your auto insurance premium include auto/home, multi-vehicle, good student, anti-theft, and hybrid vehicle.

TruLane

TruLane is The Hartford’s version of usage-based insurance, one of the biggest trends in car insurance in recent years. The program records information from your vehicle using a small device that plugs into the car, and the company provides drivers with a discount on their insurance rate in return for safe driving habits. You can read more about the TruLane program here.

Insurance for Other Vehicles

In addition to auto insurance, The Hartford also writes insurance policies for various specialty vehicles, although they do not underwrite all of these policies directly. Coverage is available for:

• Collectible cars/classic car insurance. Underwritten by American Modern Insurance
• Recreational vehicles. Both motorhomes and travel trailers
• Motorcycles. Underwritten by Foremost Insurance
• Boat Insurance. Underwritten by American Modern Insurance
• Golf Cart Insurance. Underwritten by Foremost Insurance
• ATV and Snowmobile Insurance. Also underwritten by Foremost Insurance

Now let’s move on to Hartford home insurance.

Read more: Best Car Insurance Company for a Golf Cart

Does it offer homeowners insurance policies?

The Hartford writes several variations of home insurance to cover a variety of different homes. Their standard homeowner’s insurance policy comes with two add-on package options:

• Home Advantage Package. It includes “new for old” replacement cost coverage for personal property, personal injury protection, identity theft coverage, and lock replacement reimbursement.
• Home Advantage Plus Package. It adds equipment breakdown coverage and a Disappearing Deductible program as well as increased identity theft coverage.

The Hartford also offers a discounted or no-deductible option on homeowner’s claims over $25,000 and various additional discounts and credits to reduce rates.

Condo insurance policies are also available with similar coverage to the homeowner’s package policies but designed for the specific needs of condos. Additionally, they offer renters insurance policies to cover personal property only for those who live in rental properties.

What other personal lines products are offered?

The Hartford also writes a selection of other personal lines products to protect you from special risks.

Insurance options include:

• Flood Insurance
• Identity Theft Insurance
• Umbrella Insurance

Business Insurance Products

The Hartford is one of the biggest companies in the commercial insurance market, writing policies for businesses of all sizes.

Offerings Include:

• Business Owner’s Policies that combine basic business coverage with commercial liability
• Commercial Auto and Fleet Coverage
• Commercial Flood Insurance
• Data Breach Insurance
• General Liability Insurance
• Global Insurance
• Professional Liability Insurance, including Errors & Omissions
• Marine Insurance
• Worker’s Compensation
• Surety and Fidelity Bonds

They also offer Fleet Management and Risk Management assistance for companies of all sizes.

Business types covered range from Accounting to Manufacturing, covering nearly every industry, including specialty markets such as contracting companies. This wide coverage range is part of what makes this company so well-known as an insurer in the business market. Many insurance companies only write small business policies.

Employee Benefits

The Hartford writes Employee Benefits packages that offer a range of coverage for employees, such as:

• Group Disability
• Group Life & Accident
• Group Retiree Health

Employee Benefits insurance coverage is also available for individuals, including short-term disability, life insurance, and accidental death and dismemberment coverage. For many people, their main interaction with The Hartford has been via benefits provided by an employer.

Financial Products

The Hartford is also a major supplier of retirement-planning products. Their products include annuities and mutual funds. These products are sold through insurance agents as well as other financial advisors, and the company offers account access online for both advisors and clients.

What AARP affinity products are offered?

For more than 25 years, The Hartford has been contracted with AARP to provide specialized policy offerings and package discounts for members. They are the only national insurance company endorsed by AARP to provide these products. (For more information, read our “AARP Life Insurance Program from New York Life Insurance Company Review“).

The program includes home and auto insurance, as well as RV insurance coverage options that can be bundled together with special discounts and services. Special programs for drivers 50+ provide discounted rates and benefits for older drivers, and policies include all of the same features and benefits of The Hartford’s auto and home programs along with these added perks. Small business insurance package policies are also available for AARP members.

As a result of this connection, it is not uncommon to hear Hartford policies referred to as AARP policies. Although they are affiliated, AARP does not underwrite any insurance policies, and none of the policies bear the AARP name directly.

Read more: AARP Auto Insurance Program from The Hartford Review

Does the company offer competitive rates?

The Hartford Insurance company does not position itself as a discount insurance company, but rather presents itself as a stable and secure company that will be there when you need to take advantage of your benefits. As a result, we would not expect to see their premiums fall among the lowest.

Surprisingly, Hartford does not fall much above the average for car insurance rates, based on our rate test sample. While they are not the most affordable option, they sell their products on the promise of great service, making paying a higher premium worth the extra expenditure. We will look at whether they live up to the promise a little further in this review.

Since The Hartford policies are sold through agents and brokers, you can expect to see higher rates than you may with other insurance providers due to the need to pay commissions. That said, they do not seem to fall quite as high as other agent-driven insurance companies.

The Hartford is one of those companies that is likely to have some of the most competitive rates for low-risk drivers looking to insure multiple vehicles and bundle home insurance under one policy. While their home and auto discounts are not the most accommodating on the market, they will still serve to lower your overall monthly rates by up to 20% on a home policy and 5% on an auto policy.

The Hartford does provide online quotes, in spite of being an agent-driven insurer, which is convenient and allows customers to quickly compare their rates with those of other companies. Although the quoting system involves multiple steps, it does appear to be simple and straightforward.

Please consult with your insurance agent/broker or insurance company to determine specific coverage needs as this information is intended to be educational in nature.

Are consumer feedback and reviews positive?

The Hartford is not Better Business Bureau (BBB) accredited. However, the website gives the company an A- rating. The BBB site states that failure to respond to one complaint is the factor that resulted in an imperfect rating. The BBB lists 284 complaints against the company in the past three years, 123 of which were closed in the past 12 months.

Overall, the complaints rate with the BBB is quite low for a company as big as The Hartford. There are no government actions against the company on record.

The Hartford performed incredibly well in the J.D. Insurance Shopping Study 2017, earning a four out of five rating overall. The Hartford was given four out of five in each category, including: Policy Offerings, Pricing, and Local Agent.

Overall, the customer satisfaction  review experience seems stellar throughout most contact with the insurance company. It is worth noting, however, that many complaints about claims are born from a lack of understanding of the coverage available on the policy and how it works rather than a major fault of the insurance company.

Reviews found on ConsumerAffairs.com seem to be of the usual insurance company complaints: rates that have been raised unexpectedly, claims that were denied or handled slowly, and complaints about customer service. Of the 205 reviews posted, only 129 left a rating, 66 of which were one-star, and 26 were five-star.

This is fairly common for insurance companies, particularly on this site, which is often used as a place for people to vent. The reviews are of the same type found for other companies with little that is particularly alarming. It is surprising to see that there is not a single positive review left for the company, although few people bother to write a review when they are generally happy with a company.

What’s The Hartford’s financial ratings?

The Hartford Insurance Company boasts an A+ (Superior) rating for its financial strength from AM Best. 3 Regarding auto insurance offerings, it’s important to know that The Hartford only offers car insurance to AARP members.

What’s the bottom line?

Now that we’re at the end of our Hartford review, here’s our final verdict. As an insurance provider, Hartford is a strong company with a very long history, and they are likely to appeal to their target audience: low-risk drivers, homeowners insurance, and business owners who want the backing of a big name that understands their needs. The Hartford will definitely be on the list for members of AARP since they will receive specialized benefits and discounts from this insurance company.

Their rates are reasonable considering the company’s position and the fact that they are agent-driven sales insurers. They offer enough of a product lineup to satisfy the needs of most people for a one-stop shop, and offer enough discounts and added benefits to make the policies appear a relatively good value. Missing from the product lineup, and one of the big three in terms of personal lines insurance, is life insurance. However, this is often not a deal-breaker for most people.

The Hartford is well worth considering for homeowner policies, auto, and business needs, as well as for retirement planning services.