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? How do you know if your company is any good? Most consumers fail to check the complaint records of their insurance companies. Here I provide complaint information for 25 of the largest (by market share in Illinois, based on premium) auto insurance companies and rank them, from best to worst, based on their 2010 record of auto insurance complaints in Illinois (Accurate 2011 data not available yet). I also list 10 other insurance companies, not in the Top 25, but having significant market share in Illinois, with the worst complaint records.
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The Illinois Department of Insurance website is the source of my information about market share & complaint information. The Illinois complaint ratio is determined by the number of complaints per one million dollars of direct written auto insurance premium. The ratio is used so you can compare the complaint records among car insurance companies fairly.
For example, Country Preferred Insurance had .04 complaints per one million dollars of auto insurance premium it collected in 2010. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company had .14 complaints per one million dollars of auto insurance premium it collected in 2010, which is almost three times the number of complaints per one million dollars of premium than Country Preferred Insurance. But both of these companies have a much better 2010 complaint ratio than USAA Casualty Insurance Company, which at .56, is more than three times more than State Farm’s 2010 complaint ratio.
The complaint ratio is important, because a car insurance company with a lot more customers is likely to have a larger number of complaints than a smaller car insurance company, because it handles more customer transactions.
For example, a large insurance company may handle 10,000 total loss auto claims, and have 2 valid complaints in regards to how these claims were handled. A smaller car insurance company may have 500 total loss auto claims, and only one valid complaint.
Even though the larger insurance company had twice the number of complaints than the smaller car insurance company, the larger insurance company has 1 complaint per 5,000 claims, and the smaller company has 1 complaint per 500 claims. The larger insurance company really has the better complaint record.
The Illinois complaint ratio uses the number of Illinois auto insurance complaints per one million dollars of premium, so you can compare an insurance company’s complaint records with other companies fairly, regardless of the size of the companies.
Unlike the national complaint ratios on my website, each insurance company’s Illinois complaint ratio is not compared to an average number of complaints for the auto insurance market. The Illinois complaint ratio is useful only when comparing insurance companies.
Using the example from above, State Farm has almost triple the number of complaints than Country Preferred Insurance, but they are both great complaint records, when compared with the majority of the other auto insurance companies in Illinois.
You want to consider other factors, beyond one year’s complaint ratio, when deciding on an insurance company.
However, my second list below, of the ten auto insurance companies with the worst complaint records in Illinois for 2010, should be a cause of concern, and if you are insured with any of these ten companies, you should consider finding another company.
For additional information to help you choose an auto insurance company, go to my website to see national complaint ratios, AM Best ratings, & JD Power customer satisfaction ratings on auto insurance companies, or to find information regarding homeowners insurance.
Insurance companies frequently have several subsidiary auto insurance companies, and the name of the subsidiary may be different than the parent insurance group. For example, Zurich Insurance Group includes Farmers (including Mid-Century), Bristol West & Foremost. Make sure you know the insurance group, and the name of the insurance subsidiary company quoting or insuring you, to check the proper complaint ratio.
Here’s my list. Don’t forget to look at the second list below it for the 10 car insurance companies with the worst auto insurance complaint records in Illinois.
25 Top Auto Insurance Companies Ranked by their 2010 Illinois Auto Insurance Complaint Ratios (from best to worst)
1. Country Preferred Insurance Company = .04
2. Country Mutual Insurance Company = .08
3. Metropolitan Casualty Insurance Company (Metlife) = .10
4. Farmers Automobile Insurance Association = .12
5. Progressive Northern Insurance Company = .13
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6. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company = .14
7. Travelers Home & Marine Insurance company= .14
8. Erie Insurance Exchange = .15
9. American Family Mutual Insurance Company = .16
10. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company = .16
11. Progressive Universal Insurance Company = .16
12. Geico General Insurance Company = .19
13. Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois = .19
14. Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) = .23
15. Illinois Farmers Insurance Company (Farmers) = .25
16. Geico Indemnity Company = .30
17. Progressive Direct Insurance Company = .30
18. Trumbull Insurance Company (The Hartford) = .40
19. MemberSelect Insurance Company (AAA) = .50
20. USAA Casualty Insurance Company = .56
21. Allstate Insurance Company = .62
22. Esurance Insurance Company = .72
23. American Access Casualty Company = 1.60
24. Affirmative Insurance Company = 1.82
25. Founders Insurance Company = 2.55
Largest Auto Insurance Companies (by Illinois market share) not on the list above with the worst 2010 Illinois Auto Insurance Complaint Ratios
1. Safeway Insurance Company = 2.03
2. American Service Insurance Company, Inc. = 2.55
3. American Freedom Insurance Company = 2.57
4. Direct Auto Insurance Company = 2.90
5. Unique Insurance Company = 3.19
6. Universal Casualty Company = 3.23
7. Apollo Casualty Company = 4.47
8. Interstate Bankers Casualty Company = 5.56
9. American Heartland Insurance Company = 5.73
10. United Equitable Insurance Company = 5.89
Now you know how the largest auto insurance companies are rated for complaints, go and shop your car insurance. You can get better rates AND better service!
Do you have any questions or commentary about these Illinois car insurance rankings? Tell me about it. Please leave a comment on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch.