CURE Car Insurance Review 2022 | Bankrate

If you have a low credit score, affordable car insurance might be harder to find. Citizens United Reciprocal Exchange (CURE) auto insurance may be a good fit for your needs. When determining premiums, CURE does not view credit score, occupation or education level as insurance rating factors. Bankrate’s CURE insurance review looks at the carrier’s coverage options, discounts and third-party rankings to help give you an idea of if the company is the right fit for you.

Perks
Drawbacks

Does not use credit, occupation or education level as rating factors
Only available in three states

Offers a few discounts
No third-party ratings

Most consumers want to find good, solid auto insurance coverage at a reasonable price. If you have low credit, you may be surprised to learn that your average car insurance cost is usually more expensive than drivers with higher credit scores. CURE auto insurance — available in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan — doesn’t use credit score as a rating factor. Occupation and educational level, which are used occasionally to rate insurance policies, are also not considered. CURE could be a good fit for your needs if you’re looking for a no-credit-check auto insurance company.

CURE car insurance | Bankrate Score: Unrated

CURE could be good for drivers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Michigan who have lower credit scores or who otherwise do not want their credit tier used as an insurance rating factor. While car insurance companies don’t use your actual credit score to rate your policy — your credit score is usually translated into a credit-based insurance score. Both Pennsylvania and Michigan already have state-regulated bans against the use of credit as a rating factor, but CURE takes this a step further and excludes credit as a rating factor altogether — including for policyholders in New Jersey.

Because drivers with bad credit tend to pay higher premiums, a company that doesn’t use your credit rating could result in a cheaper car insurance policy. However, keep in mind that CURE is a smaller car insurance company.  As such, it does not have customer satisfaction ratings from J.D. Power or financial strength ratings from either AM Best or Standard & Poor’s (S&P).

CURE offers its customers three options for coverage. If you are getting a quote with CURE, you can choose a basic policy quote, a standard policy quote or a personal quote. According to CURE, the basic policy quote generally costs significantly less than a standard policy but provides limited benefits. The standard policy quote, also called the “quick quote” option, prefills certain coverage choices and provides more options for coverage and additional protection.

With the policy quote option, you can personalize your policy by choosing from all CURE’s available coverage options. However, the coverage available from CURE is relatively basic. Standard policy options are available, including bodily injury liability, property damage liability, comprehensive, collision and personal injury protection (PIP). A few optional endorsements are also available, like roadside service and extended transportation coverage, but you may not be able to build a highly-personalized policy with CURE.

CURE car insurance discounts

Like many of the best car insurance companies, CURE offers several discounts that could help drivers save on their car insurance:

  • Three-year good driver discount: According to CURE’s online quote system, if all the drivers on your policy have been driving for at least three years, you may qualify for up to a 35% discount. This can apply to new policies, too, provided that everyone on the policy has a clean driving record for a minimum of three years before the date of application.
  • Five-year good driver discount: If your driving record has been clean for five years and you have been a CURE customer for at least two years, you may qualify for up to a 40% discount.
  • Multi-vehicle discount: CURE offers customers a discount if they insure multiple cars under one vehicle policy rather than having a separate policy for each.
  • Parking discount: CURE offers up to a 15% discount for off-street parking, which means you park in a driveway rather than on the street. The company also offers up to a 50% discount if you park in a more secure spot than a driveway, like a garage, a 24/7 monitored facility with a guard or a parking area that requires a security code to enter or exit.

Because CURE is available in three states, discount availability could vary, as could the eligibility requirements. Getting a quote from CURE is the best way to see what savings you are eligible for.

CURE car services

CURE does not list any other vehicle-related services other than car insurance and car insurance endorsements on its website.

Other CURE perks worth considering

CURE auto insurance is relatively basic. The biggest perk is that the carrier does not check credit when rating your policy, which could be helpful for drivers with low credit scores. However, CURE does not offer any other types of insurance, so you’ll need to shop around for a separate home insurance company and life insurance company. CURE does have an online customer portal that allows you to manage your policy, but does not have a mobile app option.

CURE social responsibility

CURE does not disclose any social responsibility or charitable giving information on its website.

Not sure if CURE is right for you? Consider these alternatives

If you’re searching specifically for car insurance companies that don’t check credit scores, your options will be limited due to credit being a common rating factor in most states. However, there are other carriers that you may want to consider, even if they do check your credit.

If you have poor credit and aren’t sure if CURE is a good fit for your needs, you might want to check out these carriers:

  • Nationwide: Although this carrier does use credit as a rating factor, it has the lowest average full coverage premium for drivers with bad credit, based on the carriers we reviewed.
  • Geico: Geico is another carrier that checks credit, but could still be a good choice for many drivers. You may be able to offset a higher premium (due to your credit) with Geico’s overall low rates and plentiful discounts.
  • Good2Go: If you’re specifically looking for minimum coverage, Good2Go could be a good choice. The carrier specializes in minimum coverage policies for high-risk drivers in most U.S. states.

Methodology

Bankrate Scores

Bankrate Scores primarily reflect a weighted rank of industry-standard ratings for financial strength and customer experience in addition to analysis of quoted annual premiums from Quadrant Information Services, spanning all 50 states and Washington, D.C. We know it is important for drivers to be confident their financial protection covers the likeliest risks, is priced competitively and is provided by a financially-sound company with a history of positive customer support.

To determine how well the best car insurance companies satisfy these priorities, third-party agency ratings from J.D. Power, AM Best, S&P, NAIC, and Moodys had the most impact on the companies’ Bankrate Scores. As price is a common consideration for drivers, we analyzed quoted premiums based on 40-year-old male and female drivers with a 2019 Toyota Camry. This profile, assessed across more than 35,000 ZIP codes in the U.S., provided a basis on which drivers may compare each provider.

While coverage options, insurer availability, affordability and customer experience are often the top priorities, Bankrate also analyzed each insurer’s online and mobile resources for policy management and claims handling. Insurance is rapidly evolving to keep pace with our digital world, so these aspects also carried weight in determining Bankrate Scores.