Wisconsin Home Insurance Reviews: Complaint Ratings for the Major Companies

Does your homeowners, condo, mobile home, or renters 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 twenty of the largest (by market share in Wisconsin) insurance companies and rank them, from best to worst, based on their 2010 national home insurance complaints. (Accurate 2011 data not available yet). I also list fifteen insurance companies you may want to avoid, with a higher than average number of home & renters insurance complaints filed against them in Wisconsin.I am always blogging to help you find the best policies and prices for auto, home, and life insurance, so bookmark or place my website in your favorites!

The Wisconsin Department of Insurance website (Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance) is the source of my information about property insurance market share & state complaint information. The Wisconsin home insurance complaint ratio is determined by the number of complaints per $100,000 of direct written home insurance premium. The ratio is used so you can compare the complaint records among residential property insurance companies fairly.

For example, Metropolitan Property & Casualty Insurance Company, a Metlife subsidiary company, had .10 complaints per $100,000 of home insurance premium it collected in 2010. Allstate Insurance Company had .15 complaints per $100,000 of home insurance premium it collected in 2010, which is 50% more than the number of complaints per one $100,000 than Metropolitan. Both these companies have 2010 complaint ratios higher than the Wisconsin home insurance industry average complaint ratio of .05 complaints per $100,000 of home insurance premium collected by all insurance companies in Wisconsin for 2010. Metropolitan has a 2010 home insurance complaint record twice as much as the industry average, and Allstate has a 2010 complaint record three times as much as the average home insurance complaint ratio.

The complaint ratio is important, because a property insurance company with a lot more customers is likely to have a larger number of complaints than a smaller insurance company, because it handles many more customer transactions.

For example, a large insurance company may handle 2,000 wind damage claims, and have 10 valid complaints in regards to how these claims were handled. A smaller property insurance company may have 200 wind damage claims, and only 2 valid complaints.

Even though the larger insurance company had five times the number of complaints than the smaller insurance company, the larger insurance company has 1 complaint per 200 claims, and the smaller company has 1 complaint per 100 claims. The larger insurance company really has the better complaint record.

The Wisconsin home insurance complaint ratio uses the number of Wisconsin homeowners & renters insurance complaints per $100,000 of insurance premium for this line of business for each company, so you can compare an insurance company’s complaint record with other companies fairly, regardless of the size of the companies.

The Wisconsin Department of Insurance publishes the 2010 home & renters insurance complaint ratios for companies collecting 1 million dollars or more of home insurance premium, have 5 or more complaints for the year, and have a complaint ratio greater than the average for the 2010 Wisconsin home insurance market (.05 home & renters insurance complaints per $100,000 of insurance premium).

So, if your company does not show up on this list, does that mean it has a good complaint record? This may not be the case. Small companies, collecting less than one million dollars of property insurance premium in 2010, are not measured. But it’s not too likely you are insured or intending to insure with a company this small. However, you may be insured with a company with less than 5 complaints or the year, but with an home insurance complaint ratio worse than average.

The biggest drawback about the available Wisconsin home insurance complaint ratios is they show only the companies with a worse than average complaint ratio, and do not show the companies with better than average complaint ratios.

Ideally, you want to insure with a company with a consistently better than average complaint ratio over the years, not simply know which companies to avoid.

My second list ranks the 20 insurance companies insuring the most homes in Wisconsin for 2010, from best to worst, by their 2010 national homeowners insurance complaint ratings, to help you find companies with good complaint records.

You want to consider other factors, beyond one year’s complaint ratio, when deciding on an insurance company.

However, if you are getting home or renters insurance quotes, or insure your home with any of the companies making my first list below, for fifteen insurance companies with some of the worst home insurance complaint records in Wisconsin for 2010, you may want to consider choosing another insurance company. Particularly if you are insured with any of the companies with an asterisk, denoting they also had a higher than average home insurance complaint ratio in 2009.

Home Insurance Companies with a Worse than Average 2010 Wisconsin Homeowners & Renters Insurance Complaint Record

The Wisconsin home insurance industry average complaint ratio for 2010 = .05.
Companies with an * also had a higher than average home insurance complaint ratio for 2009.

*1. Partners Mutual Insurance Company = .18

2. Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest = .17

*3. Farmers Insurance Exchange = .17

*4. Allstate Insurance Company = .15

*5. Homesite Insurance Company = .14

6. Safeco Insurance Company of America = .12

7. Foremost Insurance Company = .12

*8. Auto Club Insurance Association (AAA) = .10

9. Metropolitan Property & Casualty Insurance Company (Metlife) = .10

*10. Sentry Insurance A Mutual Company = .09

*11. Badger Mutual Insurance Company = .08

12. Mt. Morris Mutual Insurance Company = .06

*13. Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Company = .06

*14. Wisconsin Mutual Insurance Company = .06

*15. State Auto Insurance Company of Wisconsin = .06

Below is my second list with national homeowners insurance complaint ratings for the top 20 home insurance companies in WI, totaling 73% of the 2010 Wisconsin home insurance market.

I devised a letter grade system, using the national homeowners insurance complaint ratios for the insurance companies listed, to make it easy to tell an insurance company with a great or good complaint record, from an insurance company with a poor or average complaint record.

Although I list the leading 20 companies, there are 155 companies insuring homes in Wisconsin, and the rest make up 27% of the 2010 Wisconsin home insurance market. Some of these companies are large national insurance companies with great reputations, Like Amica Mutual Insurance Company. The 20 leading companies may not be the companies with the best rates for you, so you should consider other companies not on the list below, too.

For additional information, go to my website to see more auto & home insurance complaint ratios, AM Best financial strength ratings, and JD Power customer satisfaction ratings & claims satisfaction ratings, for insurance companies, including insurance companies not on this list.
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Here is my grading system. I also show the national homeowners insurance complaint ratio for each company. The lower the number of the complaint ratio, the better the complaint record.

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!

Insurance companies frequently have several subsidiary insurance companies insuring homes in Wisconsin, and the name of the subsidiary may be different than the parent insurance group.

For example, Farmers Insurance Group includes Farmers Insurance Exchange and Fire Insurance Exchange, and other Farmers subsidiaries not making the top 20 list. Although the first company may seem obvious it belongs to Farmers, the second company, Fire Insurance Exchange, does not indicate it is part of Farmers in its name.

Sometimes a company with “Farmers” in its name does not belong to Farmers Insurance Group, nor does “Hartford” in its name make it a part of The Hartford. for example, Farmers Automobile Insurance Association is not a part of Farmers Insurance Group, but is owned by Pekin Insurance, and not affiliated with the better known Farmers Insurance Group. I include the parent company name when I know it, and when it’s needed to avoid confusion. 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.

It’s not on the list, but since American Family Insurance is the largest insurer of homes & autos in Wisconsin, I want point out if you are insured with American Family Home Insurance Company, it is not a part of American Family, but is owned by American Modern Insurance Group, and specializes in limited coverage for people having a hard time qualifying for standard home or property insurance.

Here’s my list. Not all these companies may be selling new home insurance policies. You may not be eligible or qualify for every company. Don’t let it bother you. There are plenty of companies wanting your business.

Be sure to shop with as many companies as possible, so you can choose the best combination of low rates, coverage, & service.

20 Top Wisconsin Home Insurance Companies Ranked from Best to Worst by their 2010 National Homeowners Insurance Complaint Ratings

Companies marked with an asterisk — * — are among the companies with a worse than average Wisconsin home & renters insurance complaint ratio in 2010.

*1. Wisconsin Mutual Insurance Company = A+ (No national home insurance complaints in 2010 — which is inconsistent with its higher than average 2010 Wisconsin home insurance complaint ratio.)

2. Secura Supreme Insurance Company = A+ (No home insurance complaints in 2010)

3. Farmers Automobile Insurance Association (Pekin Insurance, NOT a part of Farmers Insurance Group) = A+ (.25)

4. State Farm Fire & Casualty Company = A (.44)

5. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company = A- (.49)

6. Wilson Mutual Insurance Company (Motorists Insurance Group) = A- (.50)

7. Erie Insurance Exchange= B+ (.53)

8. Fire Insurance Exchange (Farmers Insurance Group) = B (.62)

9. West Bend Mutual Insurance Company = B (.65)

10. General Casualty Company of Wisconsin = B (.69)

11. American Family Mutual Insurance Company = B (.79)

12. Auto-Owners Insurance Company = B (.83)

*13. Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Company = C+ (.90)

*14. Sentry Insurance A Mutual Company = C (.93)

*15. Allstate Insurance Company = C (.99)

16. Acuity A Mutual Insurance Company = C (1.00)

*17. Farmers Insurance Exchange = C- (1.07)

*18. Auto Club Insurance Association (AAA) = D (1.58)

*19. Badger Mutual Insurance Company = D (1.80)

20. Rural Mutual Insurance Company = F (2.61)

Now you know the complaint ratings for the biggest home insurance companies in Wisconsin. The next step is to get price quotes by shopping your auto insurance & homeowners insurance with ALL the leading insurance companies, you can get a great price AND great customer service & claims handling. Use my website to find all the leading insurance companies, evaluate their customer service, and find the best price for you.

Do you have any questions or commentary about these Wisconsin home insurance ratings or 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.