Penn National Insurance Review & Complaints: Home, Auto & Business Insurance (2023)

Nearly 100 years old, Penn National is a regional insurance outfit born from the common tradition of mutual companies created for farmers. They offer auto and home insurance for individuals as well as business insurance, all from a mutual company owned by its policyholders.

What is Penn National?

Penn National Insurance was founded in 1919 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania under the name Pennsylvania Threshermen’s and Farmer’s Mutual Casualty Company. The company originally offered

• Worker’s Compensation

coverage for farm employees who operated steam-driven threshing machines, but moved into auto insurance as the number of vehicles on the road increased over the years.

Originally covering only Pennsylvania, the company has expanded over the years to offer insurance in nine other states: Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Wisconsin.

Penn sells policies through independent agents and offers no online quoting or sales.

What insurance products are offered?

Penn writes both auto and home insurance for customers and business insurance coverage for a variety of different companies.

Is auto insurance offered?

Penn writes basic auto insurance policies that offer all the required coverage, as well as common options.

The PennPac package is an available add-on that offers several options for a more complete insurance package. The package includes pet coverage, death benefits, seat belt and restraint benefits, towing, trip interruption, and locksmith services.

Towing and labor can also be added as an individual option, as well as gap protection and replacement cost coverage for the vehicle.

Available discounts include multi-policy, good student, driver education, and paid in full.

Is home insurance offered?

Homeowner’s insurance from Penn is available from basic to full package policies to cover the structure, personal property, and liability. Penn National also offers condominium insurance to cover the specific needs of condo owners, as well as renter’s insurance to protect tenants.

There is also a PennPac package option that can be added to a home insurance policy. This includes identity theft, refrigerated property, and money and credit card theft. Individual coverage options that can be added on include:

• Personal property replacement cost
• Personal injury
• Water back-up and sump pump overflow
• Identity theft
• Specified additional coverage
• Valuable items coverage
• Loss assessment

Penn offers a range of discounts that includes an auto/home discount.

What additional products are offered?

Business Insurance

The company covers a variety of different businesses ranging from auto repair shops to hotels. Their commercial offerings include:

• Business Owner’s Policy
• Commercial Auto
• Property
• General Liability
• Worker’s Compensation

They also offer specialty coverage like Professional Liability, Contractor’s Errors & Omissions, and Cyber Security. Like the other programs, there is a PennPac package that adds a group of options to a commercial policy.

Umbrella Insurance

The insurer writes umbrella insurance both for individuals and for companies for an additional 1 million dollar limit, with the option of higher limits.

Are the company’s rates reasonable?

Since the company does not offer online quoting, we are unable to provide a quote comparison to other companies. Quotes can only be obtained through agents, and the website will direct you to the agent nearest you to get a price comparison.

Companies that sell through agents tend to have higher rates due to the need to pay agent commissions, therefore we wouldn’t expect rates to be competitive with large direct-buy companies.

How are claims handled?

The company accepts auto, home, and business claims by phone 24/7 at They also accept claims through the customer contact center via an online claims form, which is somewhat unusual for a smaller regional company and always a good sign that the company is staying on top of technology.

The company promises to contact the insured within 24 hours of the adjuster being assigned, which occurs within one business day. The customer contact center offers an excellent run-down of their claims process. The adjuster will investigate and determine fault, then confirm coverage and estimates and offer a settlement for repairs.

The insurer has a preferred repair network available that will guarantee the repairs on the vehicle, although customers are welcome to select their own repair shop.

Are there any consumer complaints against the company?

Penn National is not Better Business Bureau accredited, however, they have an A- rating currently. The website lists a total of 11 complaints in the last three years, three of which have been closed in the past 12 months.

The BBB lowered the company’s rating to an A- due to their failure to respond to one of the filed complaints. Overall, though, the complaint volume is very low, which is likely why the BBB didn’t lower their rating of the company further – they are generally fairly harsh about the failure to respond to complaints.

There are a few negative reviews throughout the internet regarding the company, mainly focused on difficulty with claims. Again, the volume is low and there is nothing unusual about the content of the complaints compared to what we see for other insurance companies of similar size and with similar products.

Overall, for a company the size of Penn National, neither the complaint volume nor the content of the claims leaves any serious feeling of concern.

What is the company’s financial strength rating?

Rating Company	Grade	Financial Outlook
AM Best	A-	Stable
Fitch	N/A	N/A
S&P	N/A	N/A

What is Pen National Insurance’s customer service availability?

Penn National Insurance provides 24/7 customer service and claims reporting for its customers. The carrier also has an active social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, making them even more accessible to customers.

Does Penn National Insurance create a user-friendly experience for customers?

Penn National Insurance’s website is excellent. Customers can locate important information quickly and easily. The carrier provides plenty of details for customers such as a broken down claims process. The insurance company offers several modern customer service options such as 24/7 claims reporting, online bill pay, and find an agent features. The carrier works with independent insurance agents to ensure their customers are matched with the best coverage possible for them. A mobile app is available for smartphone users. Penn National Insurance also has a strong presence on social media, overall making for a highly user-friendly experience.

The Bottom Line

Penn National has a long history, a good reputation and a lineup of basic but solid insurance products for home and business. They aren’t exactly one-stop shopping due to the lack of life insurance or specialty offerings, but they do have some good add-on options and an auto/home discount available.

For those who prefers to work with an agent and are willing to put in the time to obtain quotes from agents for price comparison purposes, Penn National could be an OK choice.