Review of Savvy Auto Insurance

Savvy is a company that promises to help you avoid overpaying for your car insurance. You can think of Savvy as the bridge between you and the auto insurance companies that will give you the lowest auto insurance rate. So if you’re someone who’s had the same auto insurance policy forever, you may want to consider using Savvy to do some comparison shopping.

What is Savvy?

Savvy is an insurance comparison tool. Instead of offering you actual auto insurance policies, it offers to compare multiple insurance companies for you to help you find the best deal.

How does Savvy work?

Savvy claims to offer a simple no-hassle experience. I began my comparison on their website and clicked on the “Start Saving” button, which prompted a small pop-up window to open. Here, I was asked to select my current auto insurance company. (If you don’t have any auto insurance currently, you can click on “my car is not insured.”)

From here, I was provided with a number of auto insurance companies to find my insurer, which is Geico.

The next screen provided me with information about Trellis. A small link at the bottom of this screen took me to the Trellis End User Privacy Policy, which said: “Our mission at Trellis is to enable modern distribution of home and auto insurance. Our technology makes it easier for you (the “end user”) to get and maintain the best insurance coverage by making it safer and easier to connect your personal insurance information to software applications that help you do things like save money, buy a car, or understand and select coverage options.”

I was OK with this and continued. Since I have already created an online account with GEICO, I’ll click on “Yes.”

If you don’t have an online account or don’t remember your login information, that’s perfectly fine. All you need to do is click on the “No” option(s). Savvy will then bring you to a screen that will allow you to either create an online account with your current insurance company or gain access to your already-existing account. On this screen, you’ll also notice that Savvy provides a few of what it considers to be the best insurance options. You can go ahead and click on those company’s offers if you don’t feel like creating an account or figuring out your forgotten password.

If you can successfully log into your account with your current insurance company, Savvy will be able to compare other insurance companies with your current policy. The process usually takes less than a minute. Once Savvy has had the time to compare your policy with other options, you’ll move to the next screen.

Savvy will tell you how much you’re currently paying each month for your car insurance and suggests that you write this number down.

Then, you’ll see a list of insurance companies, all with “See Offer” next to their name. Unfortunately, Savvy did not directly tell me how much my insurance policy could cost with these companies, which is what I thought was the point of using Savvy.

Clicking on any of the “See Offer” buttons, I was taken to that insurance company’s website. From there, I needed to follow their process to get an auto insurance quote, which meant I had to complete a whole new online registration for each one in order to get a quote. If I wanted to do that, I could have done so without using Savvy. I already knew my premium costs at Geico, so really all it was suggesting were companies similar or with presumed lower insurance premiums.

For anyone who doesn't have auto insurance, you can use Savvy to compare your insurance options. It might not look like a button, but you can click on “My car is not insured” at the bottom of the pop-up screen. Since Savvy doesn’t have a current insurance policy to compare anything to, it will bring up a few of what it considers to be the best insurance options “for someone not currently insured in your area.”

You can click on “Check Offer” next to any of these options. Again, this will open up that company’s website in another window. From there, you’ll follow that company’s quote process to see what your auto insurance options are.

How much does Savvy cost?

Using Savvy is 100% free. Getting a quote from the insurance companies that it suggests is also free. There is no premium or paid option from Savvy.

Savvy merely helps you compare your options so you can save money on your insurance policy.

Savvy features

Quick results

Savvy’s process moves quickly. As soon as you’ve entered your current insurance information, Savvy goes to work to give you immediate results. You can expect to receive a list of insurance companies that you may want to consider in less than a minute.

If you don’t currently have auto insurance or decide not to log into your auto insurance account, the process is even quicker. Instead of comparing companies to your current insurance policy, Savvy will simply give you a list of insurance companies available in your area.

Hundreds of options

Savvy claims that their website checks rates from hundreds of insurance companies. By comparison, it says that other websites shop “a handful or maybe dozens of insurance companies.”

Assistance

Savvy isn’t just a company that hands you a list and moves on. You can expect to hear from someone on the Savvy team after you’ve used their service. If you want help, the team member can answer your questions and help you find an insurance company that may be able to help you save.

Who is Savvy best for?

People who want to compare auto insurance options

If the thought of scouring the internet looking for insurance companies in your area is exhausting to you, Savvy might be a good option. Instead of seeking out the companies yourself, Savvy can send you directly to the right places to get your insurance quote.

People who are considering switching auto insurance companies

Is it getting close to your current auto insurance policy’s renewal date? It doesn’t hurt to check out some other options. There might be other insurance companies out there that offer more discounts than the one you’re currently using. If your circumstances have changed, you may also be eligible for a lower auto insurance cost. To keep your costs down, having a good driving record, increasing your deductible, and bundling renters or homeowners insurance can help you find the best rates.

New drivers or drivers without auto insurance

Purchasing auto insurance for the first time can be both exhausting and confusing. By using Savvy, you can skip the hassle of looking for auto insurance. Savvy can give you a list of options to consider and allow you to take your time to review them. This can be a great opportunity if you’re purchasing a new car. Otherwise, you could get stuck with making a decision on-the-spot at the dealership before you drive off the lot.

Who shouldn’t use Savvy?

People who are happy with their auto insurance company

If you’re comfortable with your current insurance policy and have no intention of switching companies, then you don’t need Savvy.

People who don’t feel comfortable sharing their personal information By using Savvy, you’re authorizing access to your personal information. To compare your insurance options, Savvy uses Trellis to collect information from your current insurance company. This includes information about your vehicle, insurance policy, and your billing transactions with the insurance company.

Trellis also collects information directly from your phone, computer, or another device that you’re using to access Savvy. Trellis receives information about your device, including your IP address, hardware model, and your operating system. They use this information to determine where you are located so that Savvy can only show you insurance companies that are available in your area.

People who don’t want to receive follow-ups

If you’ve ever gotten an insurance quote before, I’m sure you’re all too familiar with the follow-up afterward. One of Savvy’s services is that their team is there to help you after you compare your insurance options. Within an hour or two of using Savvy, I received the following text message:

I didn’t enter my phone number at any point in the process, so it seems that Savvy obtained my number from GEICO and used that to contact me after the fact.

You should also keep in mind that if you go to an insurance company’s websites to get a quote, you will probably also receive follow up communication from an insurance agent. Savvy’s top choice for me was Liberty Mutual, so I went to their website and began the quote process. I didn’t get around to finishing the quote and received this email less than an hour later.

Pros & cons of Savvy

Savvy is a free service

Since it’s free to use Savvy, you have nothing to lose. The worst thing that could happen is that you spend a few seconds using Savvy to find out that it isn’t for you.

You’ll get immediate results

It doesn’t take very long to use Savvy. Once you’ve chosen your current insurance company or let Savvy know that you don’t have one, you’ll be able to get a list of available insurance companies. You don’t need to wait around for it to calculate your options and get back to you.

It can make finding auto insurance easier

Savvy can save you a lot of time that you might otherwise spend running Google searches to find “auto insurance near me.” You can get a list of insurance companies within a minute or two and move straight onto the process of comparing your auto insurance options.

You still need to visit other websites

Unfortunately, Savvy isn’t able to provide you with actual numbers. It can show you insurance companies that might be able to offer you a better insurance rate, but you’ll still need to go through the quote process. This involves going to the company’s website and filling out the forms that it asks to calculate your auto insurance price. If you truly want to compare your insurance options, you’ll have to visit multiple insurance company websites and go through the quotes process with each one.

You can’t narrow down your options

Savvy doesn’t offer the opportunity for you to filter out companies based on what they offer. If there’s a particular type of coverage that you want your auto insurance policy to have, such as collision coverage or comprehensive coverage, the companies suggested by Savvy may or may not offer them. You would have to go to that insurance carrier's website to see if it offers what you’re looking for. This is especially important to keep in mind if you’re someone who needs rental or rideshare insurance.

Savvy vs. competitors

Insurify

Insurify allows you to compare home insurance and life insurance options as well as auto insurance options. To use Insurify, you start by entering your zip code on their website. Then it will take you through a series of questions about your car, how you primarily use your car, your license status, your credit score, and so on. Finally, after all of that, you’re asked if you currently have an auto insurance policy and who your current insurance company is.

To get your quotes from Insurify, you have to enter your contact information. After you’ve entered your email address, phone number, and home address, you’ll be brought to a page with your quotes. Insurify will provide you with actual numbers from some companies. For other companies, you still need to click through to their website to complete the quote process. You will also receive an email from Insurify with a link to your insurance quotes.

The Zebra

You can use The Zebra to compare both auto insurance and home insurance quotes. Like Insurify, The Zebra requires you to answer questions on their website before it will give you a list of insurance companies available in your area. These questions include whether you own or rent your home, why you’re shopping for insurance, and details about yourself and your vehicle.

The Zebra also gives you the option to select discounts that you may be eligible for or wish to enroll in, such as paying in full at the start of your policy. During The Zebra’s quote process, I was only asked for my email address, not my phone number. After answering all of their questions, The Zebra gave me a few quotes.

As you can see, at the top it also informed me of what coverage options were included in these quotes. By clicking on the blue text, I was able to select the coverage options that I wanted to explore.

FAQs

What types of auto insurance can I purchase through Savvy?

Savvy does not directly sell auto insurance (or any other kind of insurance) to consumers. What it does is connect you to insurance companies that offer auto insurance in your area. You can purchase any auto insurance coverage that is offered by those companies by visiting their websites.

What information do I need to provide Savvy with to get my quotes?

Savvy doesn’t require you to provide any information at all. Their process does ask you to select the company that currently provides your auto insurance, but you don’t even need to provide that information if you don’t want to. While this makes for a quicker process upfront, it does mean that you won’t be able to be given a quote directly from Savvy. Instead, Savvy will give you a list of insurance companies that offer coverage in your area. To get an actual quote, you then need to visit each company’s website to complete their quote process.

The bottom line

Should you use Savvy? That depends. While it is free and easy, it also requires you to take further action to get your insurance quote. If all you’re looking for is a list of insurance companies that you can choose from, you should use Savvy. However, if you’re looking for a tool that will take all of your information once and give you back actual insurance quotes from multiple companies, you may want to look elsewhere.