The annual JD Power auto & home insurance customer satisfaction & claims satisfaction studies are great tools for insurance shoppers to measure an insurance company’s claims & customer service, but people make the mistake of weighing its power circle ratings too much. You may think a 4 power circle rated company (better than most) is a much better company, and companies with the lowest power circle rating of 2 power circles (the rest), provide poor service, but when you look at the numerical score many of these companies received, they are actually not much better or worse than average. However, some companies do outperform others, while some low scoring companies are far below average. Today’s blog post reviews the raw scores and ratings for the 19 major insurance companies included in the recent JD Power 2013 Property Claims Satisfaction Study for homeowners insurance, released earlier this month. I’ll compare this year’s scores with last years scores, and point out the companies really earning their high or low ratings.

People may be familiar with the JD Power rating system: 5 Power Circles (among the best), 4 Power Circles (better than most), 3 Power circles (about average), and 2 Power Circles (the rest). However, each company has a numerical score upon which its power circle rating is based. The numerical score is calculated on a scale of 1 to 1,000 points, determined from the customer survey results. Although an insurance company may have a high power circle rating, you need to consider its numerical score, to decide if the company actually provides better than average or superior customer claims satisfaction.

For example, the highest scoring company with a 4 power circle rating (better than most), received 867 points on the 1,000 point scale. It scored 35 points higher than the study average score of 832 out of 1,000 points. The lowest scoring company with a 4 power circle rating earned 844 points on the 1,000 point scale, only 12 points higher than the average study score of 832, but 23 points less than the top scoring 4 power circle rated company. These two companies have the same rating, but the one with the higher score has a higher level of claims satisfaction than the lower scoring one. In fact, the 4 power circle rated company scoring 844, is only 5 points (on a 1,000 point scale!) more than a company scoring 839 rated at 3 power circles (about average). These two companies have about the same level of satisfaction, considering their study scores, but one company is rated at 4 power circles (better than most), and the other at 3 power circles (about average). As a customer, you don’t want to pay more for a high rated company that is hardly better than most. There are 19 companies included in this property claims satisfaction study. 12 of them are rated better than most or higher, 7 of them are rated about average, and none below average. Many of the companies rated better than average are not much above average. However, when you consider the numerical scores, which most articles showing the JD Power ratings do not provide, some companies really do distinguish themselves as providing a superior level of property claims satisfaction.

Below, I show you the numerical scores for each insurance company in the study, ranked from the highest score to the lowest score, so you can see which companies really are providing superior claims satisfaction. This list will also help you avoid paying more, for what you may think is a better homeowners insurance company with a high power circle rating, by finding out its numerical score is not much better than average.

JD Power 2013 US Property Insurance Claims Satisfaction Study: 19 Major Insurance Companies ranked from Best to Worst for Overall Property Claims Satisfaction

1,000 points is a perfect score.

This first group of three companies scored the highest in the study, and you should consider insuring with them, if superior property claims satisfaction is important to you. All three companies are rated 5 power circles in this study, and I think their scores are high enough to consider them among the best. I considered all three of these companies as well-above-average for last year’s 2012 study, too.

1. Amica insurance — 907 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #2) (Up from 894 out of 1,000 last year).

2. USAA insurance — 904 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #1) (Up from 895 out of 1,000 last year).

USAA is not available to everyone. You must be in the military, an immediate family member of someone in the military, or an honorably discharged veteran, to be eligible for USAA.

3. Chubb insurance — 902 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #6) (Up from 859 out of 1,000 last year).

The next eight companies did not score as high, but did rate 4 power circles (better than most) not only for overall property claims satisfaction, but in the important sub-category of claims settlement. They did not score much above the average score, but they may be a good choice for you if they offer the coverage options you need at a competitive price:

4. Encompass insurance — 867 out of 1,000 points (Not included in last year’s study)

5. Country insurance — 859 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #8) (Up from 847 out of 1,000 for last year).

6. Hartford insurance — 858 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #12) (Up from 841 out of 1,000 for last year).

7. Nationwide insurance — 858 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #4) (Down from 872 out of 1,000 for last year).

8. Erie insurance — 856 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #5) (Down from 864 out of 1,000 for last year).

9. Auto Club of Southern California (AAA) insurance — 853 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #7) (Up from 848 out of 1,000 for last year).

10. Metlife insurance — 853 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #17) (Up from 823 out of 1,000 for last year).

11. Auto-Owners insurance — 849 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #3) (Down from 873 out of 1,000 last year).

The next five companies scored close to average, with the highest scoring company scoring only 12 points on the 1,000 point scale higher than the study average. Although the first company in this group rated 4 power circles (better than most) in the study, I don’t think their scores are high enough to distinguish them as being much above average:

12. American Family insurance — 844 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #10) (Up from 842 out of 1,000 for last year).

13. Liberty Mutual insurance — 839 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #16) (Up from 824 out of 1,000 for last year).

14. Allstate insurance — 838 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #15) (Up from 829 out of 1,000 for last year).

15. Travelers insurance — 834 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #14) (Down from 835 out of 1,000 for last year).

16. State Farm insurance — 832 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #9) (Down from 846 out of 1,000 for last year).

The 2013 JD Power US Property Claims Satisfaction Study average score for all home insurance customers responding to the survey: 832 out of 1,000 points (One point lower than the study average of 833 out of 1,000 points for 2012).

The next three companies scored slightly below average. The lowest scoring company of these three companies is only 15 points on the 1,000 point scale below the study average. If you are insured with these companies, these lower scores are no reason to panic, but you may be able to save money, improve your coverage, and expect higher claims satisfaction, by getting home insurance quotes from the companies closer to the top of this list.

17. Farmers insurance — 825 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #18) (Up from 818 out of 1,000 for last year).

18. Northern California, Nevada, & Utah Auto Club (NCNU AAA Insurance Exchange, formerly CSAA) — 819 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #11) (Down from 842 out of 1,000 for last year).

19. Safeco insurance — 817 out of 1,000 points (2012 rank was #13) (Down from 835 out of 1,000 for last year).

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