Does your auto insurance company have a lot of complaints? Will you have difficulty placing a claim, or have a valid claim delayed or denied? Can you be certain your company is good or bad? Most consumers fail to check the complaint records of their insurance companies. Here I provide complaint information for the 10 biggest (by New York market share) auto insurance companies, and rank them from best to worst based on their 2010 complaint record.(Accurate 2011 data not available yet)

I’m always blogging to help you get the best policies and prices for auto, home, & life insurance, so bookmark or place my website in your favorites!

The New York Department of Financial Services website, and my own website, are the sources of my information about market share & complaint information.

New York lists 2011 complaint ratios, but the complaint information is from 2010. The New York complaint ratios compare the number of each auto insurance company’s upheld complaints as a percentage of the average of its last 2 year’s New York auto insurance premium.

Calculating the NY complaint ratio in this way helps you compare a large auto insurance company with a smaller auto insurance company — the company with the lower number for its complaint ratio has less complaints. The New York complaint ratio allows you to compare two insurance companies, but unlike the national complaint ratios I use on my website, you can’t use the New York complaint ratio to tell whether one insurance company has a better than average, or worse than average complaint ratio. The insurance company ranked number one has a better complaint record than the insurance company ranked number ten, but you can’t tell if the car insurance company ranked number 10 has a worse than average complaint record.

Therefore, in addition to ranking the ten largest auto insurers in New York, from best to worst, by their New York complaint ratios, I use my letter grade system, based on each car insurance company’s national complaint ratio listed on my website (see the link below), to make it easy to tell if an insurance company has a better than average or worse than average complaint record.

I also list a few large car insurance companies which you may want to avoid, based on their complaint records. I will also note a few auto insurance companies with very good complaint records.

Here is my grading system explained:

A+ = Insurance companies with complaints 25% or less than the average insurance company.

A = Insurance companies with complaints 50% or less than the average insurance company.

B = Insurance companies with complaints 90% or less than the average insurance company.

C = Insurance companies with complaints from 90% to 110% of the average insurance company.

D = Insurance companies with complaints from 110% to 200% of the average insurance company.

F = Insurance companies with complaints over 200% of the average insurance company. More than twice as much as average!

Consider these grades, along with price and other factors (as listed on my website), when choosing an auto insurance company.

Insurance companies frequently have several subsidiary auto insurance companies. For example, GEICO has 3 subsidiary companies on this list. Make sure you know the correct name of the insurance subsidiary quoting or insuring you, to check the proper complaint grade.

10 Largest Auto Insurance Companies in New York Ranked from Best to Worst by their 2010 New York Complaint Ratings

1. New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance Company = A+ (.0130)

2. Geico General Insurance Company = B+ (.0156)

3. Progressive Northern Insurance Company = B+ (.0225)

4. Geico Indemnity Company = B (.0227)

5. Government Employees Insurance Company (a GEICO company)= A (.0336)

6. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company = A (.0361)

7. Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Company = B+ (.0475)

8. Travelers Home & Marine Insurance Company = B+ (.0504)

9. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company = B+ (.0547)

10. Allstate Insurance Company = C (.1423) (Notice how high the number is for the New York complaint ratio, in relation to the other 9 ranked insurance companies. This Allstate insurance subsidiary has 140 upheld complaints in 2010, which stands out at as an alarming signal.)

Major Auto Insurance Companies in New York with Poor Complaint Records

Allstate Insurance Company = C (.1423) (As noted above in number 10).

 Allstate Indemnity Company = B (1.2310) (The national complaint ratio, as represented by the letter grade is okay, but the New York complaint ratio indicates this is another Allstate subsidiary having problems in New York.

Country-Wide Insurance Company = D (NAIC 1.30) (.3643)

AutoOne Insurance Company = F (NAIC 3.88) (.2474)

Esurance Insurance Company = D (.1998)

Permanent General Assurance Corp. (The General auto insurance) = F (NAIC 2.62) (.8171)

Auto Insurance Companies in New York with the Best Complaint Records

Erie Insurance Company = A+ (No 2010 auto insurance complaints in New York).

New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance Company  = A+ (NAIC .08) (.0130)

Kemper Independence Insurance Company = B (1.33) (No 2010 auto insurance complaints in New York).

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company = B+ (.0081)

Make sure that you purchase the appropriate treatment, the levitra samples particular dosage that the physician has prescribed, and recognize when to assume your supply at the same time. However, it could be resolved by adjusting the dose or replacing the medication. viagra super active viagra prescription for woman So complete the requirements for your driver’s license once you have passed the course. Mechanism generic cialis in usa of Kamagra fizz : The efficient flow of the blood vessels.