Before I review the results of the JD Power 2012 US Auto Insurance study, for each of the seven regions where auto insurance companies are rated, I want to explain the individual factors, such as Pricing and Billing & Payment, which make up the Overall Satisfaction rating for each auto insurance company included in the study.
Survey results for at least one of these factors may have no relevance for you as a customer, and performing well or poorly in one of the factors, may distort the Overall Satisfaction rating in a way which may mislead you, and cause you to choose or avoid the wrong insurance company.
Each of these individual factors receive a JD Power power circle rating, contributing to a company’s power circle rating for Overall Satisfaction. If you are unfamiliar with the ratings, you can read my analysis in this blog post about the JD Power power circle rating system.
The press release for the 2012 US Auto Insurance study says it includes 5 factors, but the claims factor is not listed when you check the JD Power ratings website.
I know for the last two years JD Power has had a separate annual auto insurance claims satisfaction study, so I think they may have dropped Claims as a factor in their general auto insurance study. How a company handles claims is one of the most important factors in choosing an auto insurance company, so it deserves a separate study.
I will analyze the 2012 auto claims satisfaction study when it’s released later this year. In the mean time, you can see the JD Power ratings from the 2011 auto claims satisfaction study, for each company in the insurance company reviews on my web site. Use the reviews on my site, in addition to this blog series about the JD Power auto insurance company ratings, to find a good company for you.
Here are the four factors considered in the 2012 JD Power auto insurance study, and how I think you should value them:
Auto Insurance Pricing
Although pricing is one of the most important factors for most people when choosing an auto insurance company, my experience in the business, and as a consumer, has taught me the opinions of others about car insurance rates has little relevance to you.
Most people are unaware of my advice to shop your insurance each year with all the leading companies. A person responding to the JD Power survey may be happy with the price of their auto insurance company, because they have not had a rate increase in 5 years. But since the customer has not shopped around to find better rates in 5 years, they may be unaware there are other companies offering the same coverage at much lower rates. You don’t have to switch your insurance every year, but customers who do not shop on a regular basis often pay way too much for their insurance without knowing it.
Many auto insurance customers have no clue if their auto insurance company’s pricing is good or not.
Even if all auto insurance buyers followed my advice about shopping each year, and knew the best companies with great rates for them, the insurance companies with the best rates for them may not have a good rate for you.
A 40 year old man in Moscow, Idaho with an old truck may get the best rate with Company X, and rave about the rates in the JD Power survey. But if you are a 32 year old woman with a new car in Seattle, Washington, Company X may have the worst rate for you.
Change any one of dozens of rating factors, such as a zip code, for your identical twin driving the same car as you, living in the same town, and the insurance company with the best rate for your twin may have the worst rate for you. This is why every insurance company can brag about the $100s they save their new customers over their old companies. Some people save big with some companies, and other people find these same companies too expensive. This is why it’s important to shop with all the leading companies, so you can find the company with the best rate for you.
Unfortunately, a survey about auto insurance company rates is not a short cut for finding reasonable rates for you.
In reviewing the JD Power rating for the Pricing factor for each company in each region, it’s a good sign if a company gets an above average rating of 4 or 5 power circles. But don’t rely on the JD Power survey to tell you if a company will have decent rates for you.
Even if a company has good rates for a lot of drivers in a particular state, the JD Power study supplies you with regional results, which may not help you. Here’s why:
Company Y may have great rates for some drivers in Delaware, but terrible rates in Pennsylvania. Company Y has a large market share in Delaware, but almost no market share in Pennsylvania. Company Y customers in Delaware may give the company a better than average rating for Pricing in the Mid-Atlantic regional study, which would mislead people in other states about Company Y car insurance rates for them.
Instead of relying on the JD Power survey, take your own survey by getting car insurance quotes from all the major companies each year.
Auto Insurance Policy Offerings
This factor applies to the coverage options available from a person’s insurance company, and how well the coverage meets their needs.
For example, a person upside down on their car loan, owing more on their car than the car is worth, needs gap coverage, to pay the difference between the balance owed on the loan and the actual cash value of the car, if its a total loss. Some companies offer gap coverage, and some companies do not offer it.
There are different coverage options available from some companies, but mostly there is little difference among insurance companies and the auto insurance they provide.
The differences can be important.
For example, if you are classified as a nonstandard auto insurance customer, due to a poor driving record or other considerations, some insurance companies will not allow you to take more Bodily Injury Liability than $100,000 per person, and $300,000 per accident, if you are legally responsible for injuring more than one person due to the use of your car.
Some companies may not offer coverage higher than $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident for Bodily Injury liability. This is an important limitation of your coverage options. To find out why, read my car insurance coverage page for an explanation of auto insurance liability coverage, if you want more information about its importance.
Difference in coverage among insurance companies can be very important, but often these differences do not impact many customers. Also, customers are frequently unaware of their limited coverage options.
However, customers are very aware when an insurance company limits their coverage options because of their situation.
For example, you may have an older car in good condition, and you want to insure the car against damage. Your insurance company tells you they cannot insure it against physical damage, because of its age. Insurance companies have rules that sometimes annoy customers, but the rules are needed, at least in the eyes of the insurance company, to avoid higher claims expenses in matters they consider a higher risk.
A low JD Power rating for Policy Offerings alone may not be a concern for you depending on your own situation.
Auto Insurance Billing & Payment
Other than claims, a good billing & payment rating is very important to assure good service. You may have a great agent willing to fix problems for you, but if your company has a poor billing plan, it can create a lot of headaches for you, particularly if you are on an automatic deduction plan.
Pay close attention to the JD Power rating for Billing & Payment before you choose any car insurance company.
Contacting the Insurance Company
This is another important factor. Poor communication between you and your insurance company can lead to confusion, frustration, uncovered claims, and poor service due to a slow response (or no response) from your agent or company.
My experience in the auto insurance industry and market knowledge can give you some insight, whether your insurance company receives a good, average, or poor rating for any of these factors, and how you should consider the ratings.
My next blog post in this series will start my review of each of the seven US regions included in the 2012 JD Power auto insurance study. After that, I will review each company, and give you my opinion of each company’s Overall Satisfaction rating, and the factors which influenced the rating.
All you do is delay the viagra online samples loss in your own case. Once taken, the medicine reaches the reproductive organ to facilitate blood flow. cheapest cialis 20mg Quite a large number of male users have found the buy cheap levitra medicine useful to their health. The research was conducted on 40 men, out of which half of them were levitra properien important link administered DHEA 50mg, every day, and other half was kept on placebo, both together for 6 months.