Editorial Standards

Last Updated: September 29, 2026

These are the rules we hold our own work to. They are published so you can check whether we followed them, and hold us to it when we have not.

1. What we are trying to do

Car insurance is a category full of pages that exist to capture a lead rather than to answer a question. Our test for anything we publish is simple: after reading it, can you do something you could not do before? Decide on a coverage level, recognise a fee on a renewal bill, know what your state actually requires. If a piece does not pass that test, it is a topic, not an article, and it does not go out.

2. Sourcing

Four rules, applied without exception.

1. Cite the primary source. State statutes, insurance department publications, DMV pages, regulatory filings, and named datasets. We do not cite another blog that cites the source. If we cannot find the primary source, the claim does not go in.
2. Date every number. A premium figure or a legal minimum is only true as of a date, and rules change. Anything we publish carries the date it was checked.
3. Separate fact from estimate. Statutory minimums are facts. Premium ranges are estimates, and we label them as such rather than presenting a modelled figure as a quote.
4. Say when we are unsure. Where a figure is contested, stale, or we could not verify it to our own standard, we say so on the page instead of quietly publishing it. We would rather show our uncertainty than launder it.

3. How our insurer scores are set

Our scores are editorial judgements against a published method, not a ranking bought by anyone. The method, the four sub-scores, and how they combine are set out in How It Works.

• The same criteria are applied to every insurer we review.
• Scores are reviewed on a schedule and when something material changes, such as a regulatory action or a significant change in complaint data.
• No payment, partnership, or advertising relationship has ever moved a score, and none ever will. If we are paid by a company we review, that fact will be stated on the review itself. See How We Make Money.
• An insurer has no advance sight of a review and no right of approval. We will correct a factual error they identify, like anyone else’s, through the process in our Corrections Policy.

4. Expert review

Car insurance decisions affect people’s money and their protection after an accident. Our standard is that any page making a claim about coverage rules, eligibility, or what a policy will pay should be checked by someone licensed in the field.

We are being straight about where we are with this: that review process is being introduced, and it is not yet applied to every page. Until a page carries a reviewer’s name, credential, and review date, it has been written and edited to the sourcing rules above but has not had a separate professional review. Where a page has been reviewed, it will say so, with the date.

5. Named authors

Every article carries the name of the person who wrote it, with their relevant background. Author pages list their credentials and everything they have written for us.

We do not publish under invented bylines, we do not attach a name to work that person did not do, and we do not describe anyone as an expert in something they are not qualified in.

6. How we use AI

We use AI tools in our production process, and we would rather tell you exactly where than leave you guessing.

What we use it for: research triage, summarising documents we already hold, drafting outlines and headline options, first-pass proofreading, checking our own text against our style guide, drafting alt text for images, and writing code for our own charts and tools.

What we never use it for:

• Facts, figures, citations, or legal minimums. Language models invent plausible sources and plausible numbers. Every number on this site is taken from a primary source by a person and checked against it.
• The byline. A named human wrote and is accountable for anything published under their name.
• The expert review, where one applies.
• Publishing unreviewed generated text. Nothing goes out that a person has not read, checked, and taken responsibility for.

Anyone who writes for us must tell us if they used AI assistance and warrants the work is original and independently verified either way.

7. Conflicts of interest

• Nobody who writes or edits for us may hold a financial interest in an insurer they cover, or take payment, gifts, or hospitality from one.
• We do not write about a company in exchange for anything, and we do not accept copy written by a company or its agency.
• Where a conflict is unavoidable, we disclose it on the page rather than quietly reassigning the work.
• We are not part of a group that owns any insurer or insurance intermediary. If our ownership ever changes in a way that affects this, we will say so on the About page and here.

8. Independence from commercial pressure

The people who decide what we publish and how an insurer scores do not report to anyone whose pay depends on commercial relationships, and no commercial partner sees a piece before publication.

9. Advertising and sponsored content

We currently carry no advertising and publish no sponsored content. If we ever do, it will be labelled as advertising at the top, it will not be written by our editorial team, and it will never appear in a review, a score, or a state guide.

10. Telling us we are wrong

If we have published something inaccurate, tell us and we will fix it in the open. Our Corrections Policy explains what we do, how quickly, and how we log it. You can also pitch us, suggest something we should cover, or complain about a piece, through our contact page.

11. Contact