Freeway Insurance has added five new franchises across California and Alabama, and the choice of states is not incidental.
California has seen major insurers scale back or restrict new business between 2022 and 2024, citing wildfire risk and inflation pressures under a Proposition 103 prior approval process that can take 12 to 18 months to complete - a regulatory environment that has expanded the non-standard addressable population at exactly the moment standard carrier capacity contracted. California also raised its minimum liability limits to 30/60/15 in 2025, up from 15/30/5, adding further volume of drivers requiring coverage from carriers willing to write non-standard business. Alabama, meanwhile, carries an estimated uninsured driver rate of around 18%, one of the highest in the country, creating a persistent demand base for accessible coverage options that standard market pricing and qualification criteria do not serve.
Both states, in other words, illustrate the structural dynamic behind Freeway's growth: the non-standard segment expands when standard carriers retreat, and franchise distribution is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach that population locally.
Freeway, a division of Confie, now operates in 28 states and has expanded its franchise network by 174% over the past two years, with more than 75 locations sold. The latest locations and their owners are: Millbrook, Alabama, owned by Beontre Carter; Clovis, California, owned by Van Vasquez and Blanca Perez; Brentwood, California, owned by Stephen Paris; Pomona, California, owned by Marione and Joyce Llarena; and Galt, California, owned by Rafael Guzman Jr. The franchise opportunity carries a $25,000 initial fee, with a discounted $15,000 option for honorably discharged veterans.
Freeway has served the non-standard auto insurance segment since 1987, providing coverage for drivers with prior violations, accidents or SR-22 filing requirements that many standard carriers decline. Confie describes non-standard drivers as more than a third of the market - a population that grows when major carriers pull back, as they have done in California and elsewhere in recent years.
Independent agents overall continue to hold their ground, placing 39.5% of US personal lines premiums in 2025, up from 39.2% in 2024 and 36.7% in 2021, according to the Big "I" 2026 Market Share Report. Franchise brands like Freeway are competing for a growing share of that channel at a moment when large brokerages continue to consolidate smaller agencies, leaving an opening for franchise and cluster models to serve first-time owners and underserved local markets. Freeway competes most directly with Pronto Insurance, another franchise brand built around non-standard coverage for Hispanic communities in Texas, Florida and California, alongside more established personal lines franchise players including Brightway and Goosehead.
Alex Trachtman, senior vice president of franchise sales and operations at Freeway, said the model is built around giving owners a reliable framework, mentorship and direction to serve their communities and build lasting businesses in the auto insurance market.
The franchise push has coincided with a higher public profile for the Freeway brand. In October 2025, NASCAR named Freeway Insurance as its fourth Premier Partner for the NASCAR Cup Series, replacing GEICO, following earlier motorsports sponsorship work with Trackhouse Racing and Spire Motorsports. National brand visibility of that kind is a meaningful franchise recruitment asset, giving new owners a recognised name to build on as they enter local markets.
Confie's ownership has included a series of private equity backers over its history, most recently through a 2021 merger agreement with Alliant Insurance Services, itself backed by Stone Point Capital.
