Wawanesa Insurance Review 2021

Wawanesa specializes in selling car insurance to California and Oregon drivers who have relatively clean driving records. Established in 1896 as a farmers’ mutual insurance carrier in Canada, Wawanesa opened up its United States branch in 1974 and sells auto, home, condo and renters insurance directly to consumers.

Wawanesa auto insurance

Wawanesa auto insurance earned 4 stars out of 5 for overall performance. NerdWallet’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account pricing and discounts, ease of filing a claim, website transparency, financial strength, complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and more.

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Eligibility to apply for Wawanesa car insurance varies between California and Oregon. Applicants with more than one at-fault accident or traffic violation point in the last 36 months are denied coverage. Drivers must also have had a license continuously for the past three years. While guidelines to apply are stricter than other insurers, Wawanesa says its auto insurance rates are 25%-35% cheaper than standard rates.

Wawanesa offers the usual auto insurance coverages, including roadside assistance and rental reimbursement coverage. If you have comprehensive and collision insurance and your vehicle is less than 11 years old, you can add vehicle manufacturer replacement parts coverage, which replaces parts from the original equipment manufacturer at an additional cost.

» MORE: Car insurance quotes: What you need to know

Wawanesa’s auto insurance discounts include:

• Discount if you have a policy with Wawanesa for a year or more.
• Good driver discount (California only).
• Multi-car discount.
• Discount for drivers 55 and older who take a driver improvement course.
• Driver training discount for those under age 19 who complete a driver education course (Oregon only).
• Insurance score discount (Oregon only).
• Discount if the vehicle is equipped with a recovery device, such as LoJack (Oregon only).
• Military discount (Oregon only).
• Discount for using monthly autopay (Oregon only).
• Discount based on insurance status prior to applying for coverage with Wawanesa (Oregon only).
• Multi-coverage discount if you also have an active Wawanesa property policy (Oregon only).

» MORE: Compare car insurance rates

Wawanesa homeowners insurance

Wawanesa offers renters, condo and standard homeowners insurance coverage. However, homeowners and condo insurance are only available in California.

NOTE: Homeowners and condo policies are currently unavailable as the company makes changes to its policies. 

Homeowners insurance includes additional perks such as:

• Wildfire defense program, which can help protect your property from wildfires through debris removal, fuel source mitigation and closing structure openings.
• Dwelling extended replacement cost, which ensures your home will be rebuilt if it’s destroyed and the cost exceeds your policy limit, up to 125% of your coverage limit. This coverage doesn’t pay for damage from an earthquake.
• Inflation guard, which keeps your policy amount equal to the replacement value of your home. Without this, your policy remains the same, while the cost to replace your home grows.
• Contents replacement cost, which pays to replace your items with new ones if they are destroyed or damaged by an event your policy covers. Excludes certain items like antiques and memorabilia.

Optional coverage options available for an extra cost include:

• Increased limits for valuables, which provides extended coverage for jewelry, firearms, silverware, money and other items.

• Scheduled property, which pays out if certain valuables are damaged. You will need appraisals for the items you want to cover.

• Earthquake coverage (California only), which provides limited coverage in the event of an earthquake including personal property up to $5,000 and up to $1,500 to cover temporary costs to relocate during repairs. You must pay a deductible of 15% of your dwelling limit before coverage applies.

• Credit card, fund transfer card, forgery and counterfeit money, which covers up to $10,000 of expenses due to check forgery or unauthorized use of your credit or fund transfer cards.

• Identity fraud expense,* which covers up to $25,000 for expenses related to identity theft.

• Home systems protection,* which pays up to $50,000 for an accidental breakdown to critical systems and appliances like water heaters; generators; heating, ventilation and air conditioning; and alarm systems.

• Service line coverage,* which covers repair or replacement costs for water, data, power or communications service lines up to $10,000.
• Home cyber protection,* which pays up to $25,000 for expenses from a cyber attack, cyber extortion or online fraud.

*You must pay a $500 deductible before coverage applies. A deductible is the amount subtracted from a claim payout.

Wawanesa’s home insurance discounts include:

• Multi-policy discount.
• Nonsmoker discount.
• Discount if you have a sprinkler system or burglar alarm.
• Discount if you have a water system that automatically shuts off.

Complaints about Wawanesa

Wawanesa had far more than the expected number of complaints to state regulators relative to its size for auto insurance, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. It had more than the expected number of complaints for home insurance.

More about Wawanesa

Website: Wawanesa’s website clearly outlines what traffic violations will result in application denials and provides a blog with insurance advice and auto and homeowner tips. You can also pay your bills, view policy information and get your ID card.

Mobile app: Wawanesa does not currently have a mobile app.

Recap: Wawanesa pros and cons

Auto insurance ratings methodology

NerdWallet’s auto insurance ratings reward companies for customer-first features and practices. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including financial strength, consumer complaints, website transparency and affordability. Using our editorial discretion, we also consider customer satisfaction surveys. These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.

Insurer complaints methodology

NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2018-2020. To assess how insurers compare to one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period. Ratios are determined separately for auto, home (including renters and condo) and life insurance.