2015 JD Power Property Claims Satisfaction Study: Homeowners Insurance Company Scores & Ratings

Below is my analysis of the survey scores and ratings for the major U.S. homeowners insurance companies included in the 2015 JD Power Property Claims Satisfaction Study. This analysis is needed because insurance shoppers using the JD Power insurance studies often make the mistake of paying attention only to the power circle rating for overall satisfaction, instead of comparing the numerical scores & factor ratings achieved by each company included in the study. Don’t worry about having to compare the scores (or factor ratings making up the overall satisfaction rating) on your own, because this review will do the work for you, and make it easy to see the real difference among insurance companies for property claims handling.

Here’s why you need to look deeper than the JD Power overall satisfaction rating:

In the 2015 JD Power Property Claims Satisfaction Study, both Country Insurance and CSAA received the rating of four power circles (better than most), but Country scored 2.1% higher than CSAA. This means Country customers, as measured by the JD Power survey, are more satisfied with how their homeowners insurance claims were handled than CSAA customers, in spite of the two companies having the same overall satisfaction rating.

CSAA & Country Insurance have the same overall satisfaction rating, but five factors are considered (and rated by JD Power) to arrive at a company’s overall satisfaction rating. For the very important factor of claims settlement (customer satisfaction with the speed and amount paid for a claim), Country rated four power circles (better than most) and CSAA rated three power circles (about average), which is another important difference between the two companies.

Another example of why the power circle rating for overall satisfaction can be misleading, is when one company gets a higher rating than another company, but only scores a few points (on a 1,000 point scale) above the lower rated company. In the 2015 JD Power Property Claims Satisfaction Study, Nationwide rated higher than Country, receiving the highest JD Power rating of five power circles (among the best), but scored just 5 points higher (only .5% better on the 1,000 point scale) than the lower rated Country Insurance at four power circles. In the same study, CSAA, receiving a rating of four power circles (better than most), scored only 3 points higher (.3%) than Encompass, rated at three power circles (about average).

This review will analyze the raw scores and ratings for the twenty-one U.S. homeowners insurance companies included in the 2015 JD Power Property Claims Satisfaction Study for you. I’ll make it easy for you to see the companies really performing much better or worse than average, so you can avoid the worst companies, and not pay more for a company with a higher rating, but with a score close to average or a lower rating for an important factor.

The annual JD Power insurance studies are great tools for insurance shoppers to measure an insurance company’s claims & customer service, which is why I analyze each insurance company’s JD Power auto & home insurance study scores and ratings for the most recent three years in my insurance company reviews, which you can find linked on my home page.

The 2015 Property Claims Satisfaction Study is based on more than 6,100 responses from homeowners insurance customers who filed a property claim between January 2013 and December 2014.

You 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 rated in a JD Power customer survey 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.

In addition, the 2015 JD Power US Property Insurance Claims Satisfaction Study surveys participants regarding five categories (factors) used to determine the overall property claims satisfaction rating for each company, and each factor is rated, too. Homeowners insurance customers are surveyed about the following five factors, of concern when filing a property insurance claim: first notice of loss (initial reporting of the claim), estimation process, service interaction, repair process and settlement. I consider the “settlement” factor most important, which assesses the customers opinion of the fairness and timeliness of the claim payment, although the other factors, particularly “service interaction” (rating the insurance company representatives handling the claim), are also important.

Although an insurance company may have an average or above average overall property claims satisfaction power circle rating, you need to consider its numerical score, and factor ratings lower than its overall satisfaction rating, to decide if a company actually provides better or worse property claims satisfaction compared to other companies.

Below, I show you the numerical scores for each home insurance company in the study, ranked from the highest score to the lowest score, noting lower or higher factor ratings, so you can see which companies really are providing higher property claims satisfaction, and how each company compares to the others, as well as the study average.

Homeowners Insurance Companies Ranked by 2015 Property Claims Satisfaction

1,000 points is a perfect score.

These four companies scored the highest in the study, and you should consider insuring with them, if superior property claims satisfaction is important to you. USAA, Amica, & Nationwide are rated 5 power circles for overall property claims satisfaction in this study, and Country is rated 4 power circles for overall property claims satisfaction, but Country’s score is closer to Nationwide’s score, than the other companies rated 4 power circles for overall property claims satisfaction. USAA provides slightly higher satisfaction, Amica & Nationwide provide about the same level of satisfaction, and Countrywide provides slightly lower satisfaction than Amica & Nationwide.

USAA, Amica, and Nationwide received the top rating of 5 power circles for the important factor of Settlement, where Country rated 4 power circles for Settlement, which is still a higher than average rating.

Unfortunately, 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.

1. USAA insurance — 895 out of 1,000 points and 4.4% above the study average. Factor ratings below 5 power circles: Service Interaction at 4 power circles.

2. Amica insurance — 888 out of 1,000 points and 3.7% above the study average. Factor ratings below 5 power circles: Service Interaction, Estimation Process, and Repair Process at 4 power circles.

3. Nationwide insurance — 886 out of 1,000 points and 3.5% above the study average. Factor ratings below 5 power circles: First Notice of Loss and Service Interaction at 4 power circles.

4. Country insurance — 881 out of 1,000 points and 3% above the study average. Factor ratings below 5 power circles: First Notice of Loss, Service Interaction, and Settlement at 4 power circles.

The next three companies rated 4 power circles for overall property claims satisfaction, but still scored 1.7% to 2.3% above the study average. In spite of their scores, I’d consider Erie performing slightly better than Travelers, and Travelers performing better than Chubb, due to factor ratings.

5. Erie insurance — 874 out of 1,000 points and 2.3% above the study average. Factor ratings below 4 power circles: Repair Process at 3 power circles (about average). Factor ratings above 4 power circles: Service Interaction at 5 power circles (highest rating). None of the higher scoring companies above rated as high as 5 power circles for Service Interaction. However, since Erie rated 4 power circles for what I consider the most important factor of Settlement, I would not consider property claims satisfaction in the most important factors equal to USAA, Amica, or Nationwide. However, Erie might be a better choice for you than the higher scoring Country Insurance, if Service Interaction is more important to you than the Repair Process, if you live in a state where both companies are an option for you.

6. Chubb insurance — 872 out of 1,000 points and 2.1% above the study average. Factor ratings below 4 power circles: Service Interaction at 3 power circles (about average) and Repair Process at 2 power circles (lowest rating).

7. Travelers insurance — 868 out of 1,000 points and 1.7% above the study average. Factor ratings below 4 power circles: Service Interaction at 3 power circles (about average).

Two of the next three companies rated only 3 power circles (about average) for overall property claims satisfaction, but all three scored in a range from .5% to .9% above the study average.

Although CSAA received the higher rating of 4 power circles for overall property claims satisfaction than Encompass & Allstate, which each rated 3 power circles (about average), CSAA (California State Auto Association, also known as AAA NCNU) scored close to the study average and “about average” rated companies, than it scored from the next lowest scoring company (Travelers) rated 4 power circles for overall property claims satisfaction.

CSAA received the highest rating in the factor of Service Interaction (and has the highest score of the three companies), but it rated “about average” (three power circles) in what I consider the most important factor of Settlement. Since both Encompass and Allstate rated 4 power circles for the factor of Settlement, I’d consider Encompass and Allstate, slightly better than CSAA, and Encompass slightly better than Allstate, because Encompass received a higher rating for the factor of Service Interaction than Allstate.

8. CSAA/AAA NCNU insurance — 860 out of 1,000 points and .9% above the study average. Factor ratings above 3 power circles (about average): Estimation Process, Repair Process at 4 power circles, and Service Interaction at 5 power circles (highest rating).

9. Encompass insurance — 857 out of 1,000 points and .6% above the study average. Factor ratings above 3 power circles (about average): Estimation Process, Service Interaction, and Settlement at 4 power circles.

10. Allstate insurance — 856 out of 1,000 points and .5% above the study average. Factor ratings above 3 power circles (about average): Repair Process and Settlement at 4 power circles.

The next eight companies are all rated three power circles (about average) for overall property claims satisfaction, but scored from close to the study average to somewhat below average, with the highest scoring company scoring only 1 point (.1%) on the 1,000 point scale higher than the study average, and the lowest scoring company scoring 10 points (1%) below the study average. When a company scores about average or lower, higher ratings in certain factors are offset by mediocre performance in other factors. The scores for the companies below are not strong enough to recommend them, but they may be a good choice for you based on rates, coverage available, or performance in the latest JD Power Homeowners Insurance Customer Satisfaction Study.

11. State Farm Insurance — 852 out of 1,000 points and .1% above the study average. Factor ratings above 3 power circles (about average): Service Interaction at 4 power circles.

12. Metlife Insurance — 851 out of 1,000 points and the same score as the study average. Factor ratings above or below 3 power circles (about average): None.

13. Hartford Insurance — 851 out of 1,000 points and the same score as the study average. Factor ratings above 3 power circles (about average): Estimation Process at 4 power circles. Factor ratings below 3 power circles (about average): Repair Process at 2 power circles (lowest rating).

2015 JD Power US Property Claims Satisfaction Study average score for all homeowners insurance customers responding to the survey: 851 out of 1,000 points.

14. Safeco Insurance — 847 out of 1,000 points and .4% below the study average. Factor ratings above 3 power circles (about average): Service Interaction and Estimation Process at 4 power circles.

15. Farmers Insurance — 847 out of 1,000 points and .4% below the study average. Factor ratings above 3 power circles (about average): Service Interaction at 4 power circles.

16. Liberty Mutual Insurance — 846 out of 1,000 points and .5% below the study average. Factor ratings above or below 3 power circles (about average): None.

17. Auto Club of Southern California Insurance — 844 out of 1,000 points and .7% below the study average. Factor ratings below 3 power circles (about average): Estimation Process at 2 power circles (lowest rating).

18. American Family Insurance — 841 out of 1,000 points and 1% below the study average. Factor ratings above 3 power circles (about average): Repair Process at 5 power circles (highest rating).

The remaining three companies received the lowest rating of two power circles for overall property claims satisfaction, scoring from 2.5% to 3.3% below the study average. These scores are low enough where higher factor ratings should not be a consideration. If your home is insured with any of these three companies, it would be wise to see if another insurance company might be a better choice for you.

19. Hanover Insurance — 826 out of 1,000 points and 2.5% below the study average. Factor ratings above 2 power circles (lowest rating): Service Interaction at 3 power circles (about average).

20. Auto-Owners Insurance — 822 out of 1,000 points and 2.9% below the study average. Factor ratings above 2 power circles (lowest rating): First Notice of Loss, Service Interaction, and Repair Process at 3 power circles (about average).

21. Auto Club Insurance — 818 out of 1,000 points and 3.3% below the study average. Factor ratings above 2 power circles (lowest rating): None.

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