This review will show you the twenty largest companies insuring private passenger vehicles in New York, ranking them from best to worst, based on their number of upheld complaints filed with the New York State Department of Financial Services. Most consumers fail to check the complaint records of their insurance companies, and are unaware of all the major auto insurance companies in their state. The information I provide in this review not only helps you evaluate your auto insurance company, it helps you know about the other leading companies, so you can shop for lower rates and better service. I update this review or write a new review with the latest complaint statistics each year, so bookmark or place my website in your favorites! Continue reading
Tag Archives: high risk auto insurance
Louisiana Auto Insurance Reviews 2013: The Major Companies, their Customer Complaint Records, & JD Power Ratings
As frequent readers of my insurance company review blog know, some car insurance companies charge more than double as much as other car insurance companies for the same coverage. No single auto insurance company has competitive rates for all drivers. The only way to find the company with the best auto insurance rates for you, is to shop with all the leading car insurance companies. But the average person is usually not aware of all the major auto insurance companies in their state. Continue reading
New Jersey Auto Insurance Reviews 2013: The Major Companies, Ranked from Best to Worst by their Complaint Statistics, & their Customer Satisfaction Ratings
As readers of my blog know, some auto insurance companies charge more than twice as much as other companies for the same coverage. No single car insurance company has the lowest rates for all drivers. The only way to find the company with the best auto insurance rates for you, is to shop with all the leading car insurance companies. However, the average customer is usually not aware of all the major auto insurance companies in their state.
This review will show you the 12 largest auto insurance companies in New Jersey, if they have an above-average, average, or below-average customer complaint record over the last two years (2011 & 2010), their JD Power claim & customer satisfaction ratings over the last three years (2013, 2012, & 2011), and whether each company’s growth or loss of NJ auto insurance market share might be an indication of low rates or high rates for a broad base of customers. In addition, I’ll show you some other auto insurance companies, outside the top 12, with consistent much better-than-average customer complaint records since 2008, as well as the auto insurance companies with consistently poor complaint histories. I’ll also point out a few other companies, outside the 12 largest auto insurance companies in NJ, with rapidly gaining market share, which can be a sign the companies offer low auto insurance rates.
Reading this blog post can help you shop & identify the NJ auto insurance companies most likely to save you a lot of money, or if you may be paying too much for your auto insurance, if your company is losing market share. As of the date of this article, the 2012 auto insurance complaint data has not been published by the State of New Jersey. Bookmark this page, because I will update it or write a new review, as new data becomes available in the future. If you are a New Jersey auto insurance consumer, there is no better source on the Web than this blog review to help you shop for a good auto insurance company, get the coverage you need at a competitive price, and really save $100s per year. Continue reading
The Best & Worst Auto Insurance Companies for 2013
JD Power has recently released its 2013 US Auto Insurance Customer Satisfaction Study. Although these annual JD Power customer surveys are great resources for consumers to use, as an objective measure of customer satisfaction, for each of the major car insurance companies in the USA, the power circle ratings, used by JD Power to rate each insurance company, can mislead people about how well or how poorly each company performed in the survey.
Someone should expect a 5 power circle rated (among the best) auto insurance company to provide superior customer service. But in this latest JD Power study, most of the 5 power circle rated companies did not score much above the companies rated 4 power circles. Some of the 4 power circle rated (better than most) insurance companies did not score much above the 3 power circle rated (about average) companies. One might also expect, an auto insurance company with the lowest power circle rating (2 power circles), to provide consistently terrible service. But the scores of many of the two power circle rated companies are not much below the study average score.
Price is a factor considered in this JD Power customer satisfaction survey, but the study results can not be used to dependably show the companies having the best price for you. This study’s scores are lower than last year’s results, and explained by JD Power as being due to customer dissatisfaction with rate increases. There are big differences in the rates of competing auto insurance companies (Some companies charge double the amount of others for the same coverage), and there is no connection with paying more or less based on the quality of customer service.
When some companies increase the price of their auto insurance, it’s even more important to find a company with the best price for you. A smart auto insurance shopper checks the rates of all the major companies, then evaluates the customer service of the companies offering the coverage they need, at the lowest rates. Like my previous blog posts analyzing JD Power studies, this blog post will look at the numerical scores, and show you the best car insurance companies, truly distinguishing themselves above their competitors, and the worst companies truly performing below average. Continue reading
Why is auto insurance expensive? Why do some companies charge a lot more than others?
According to US Department of Commerce motor vehicle accident statistics, approximately 10.8 million motor vehicle accidents occurred on US roads in 2009. Considering how often car accidents occur, it is no surprise that auto insurance is a major expense for even the safest drivers. But what has always surprised me, no matter whether you are considered a good driver or higher risk driver by auto insurance companies, is some companies charge more than twice as much as other companies for the same coverage. This is why it’s so important to check the rates of many auto insurance companies, so you can find the companies that have the best rates for you. This is also why many auto insurance companies can honestly claim to save people hundreds of dollars a year. But there are not a few companies with low rates for everyone. You have to shop to find the auto insurance company with the best rates for you. It’s not unusual to find big price differences among companies for other types of insurance, too, like home and life insurance.
However, with auto insurance, I have always wondered why major companies, competing to have a good price for the best drivers, charge very different rates, when these companies use the same considerations to determine the lowest risk drivers. If you are married, in your thirties, own a home, have two late model cars, have great credit, had no claims in the last 5 years, and all the drivers in your household have clean driving records, every auto insurance company selling preferred or standard auto insurance wants your business. So why do some of these major companies charge so much more than other companies? Why would two or more households, having all the same qualities I listed, find a different group of auto insurance companies have the best rates for each household? Shouldn’t the same group of companies have the best rates for all the customers with the same characteristics? I will answer these questions in this blog post, and tell you why a part of the problem is consumer behavior, and what people can do to influence over-priced auto insurance companies to lower their rates. Continue reading
Are Insurance Companies Owned by their Policyholders Better or Less Expensive than Companies Owned by Stockholders?
I’ve noticed some insurance companies, like Nationwide Insurance, have been emphasizing their ownership by their policyholders, not investors, as a selling point in their TV ads. One of the more popular ways to organize an insurance company is as a mutual company, like Nationwide, where the policyholders are the owners of the company, instead of the typical ownership of companies in other industries, where the companies are owned privately, or by stockholders. But some insurance companies are organized as stock companies, owned by stockholders. Some examples of major mutual companies are State Farm, Amica, American Family, Northwestern Mutual Life, Mass Mutual, Guardian Life, & Nationwide. Some examples of major stock companies are Geico, Progressive, Allstate, Prudential, Travelers, & Metlife. Are mutual companies better for the customer than stock companies? Do mutual insurance companies have lower rates, since they don’t need to provide a profit to investors? Do mutual companies provide better service, because the companies operate for the benefit of their policyholders? I’ll answer these & other questions in this blog post, and explain why I think, whether an insurance company is a mutual company or a stock company, its type of ownership should not sway your opinion when buying auto, property, or life insurance, except in certain situations. In fact, in spite of the appeal of policyholder ownership, where an insurance company works for its customers, instead of investors, I’ll tell you how some mutual insurance companies can cost you money. Continue reading
Are Big Auto, Home, & Life Insurance Companies Better than Small Companies?
When insurance companies want to convince people they should insure with them, they often cite their long history and size, usually expressed by the dollar amount of their assets. For example, Prudential Financial, Inc., a major life insurance & financial services company, states on their website they have been in business for 137 years and have $1.061 trillion of assets under management. Does this make Prudential better than a competing company like TIAA-CREF Life Insurance Company, which has been in business 95 years, and has only $520 billion assets under management? Is Prudential financially stronger than TIAA-CREF? Not according to the rating agency AM Best, which rates Prudential at “A+” for financial strength, but gives the higher grade of “A++” to TIAA-CREF. State Farm states on its website it has 81 million policies & accounts in the USA & Canada. State Farm is the largest insurer of cars in the US, and its subsidiary, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, has close to 115 billion dollars in assets for 2012 (according to the financial statement from its website). In comparison, Auto Owners Insurance has less than 6 billion dollars in written premium. But Auto Owners Insurance scored higher than State Farm in both the 2013 JD Power US Property Claims Satisfaction Study and the 2012 JD Power 2012 US Auto Claims Satisfaction Study. It’s good to see any potential insurance company has a long history, and a significant asset base, but bigger does not mean better for the customer, beyond a certain point. When it comes to getting a competitive price for insurance, size does not matter at all. However, there are pros & cons for both small & large companies. This blog post will give you tips about how to consider a company’s size, when buying auto, home, or life insurance. Continue reading
An auto insurance shopping strategy that really does save you $100s a year
In a previous blog post, I wrote about how important it is, when shopping for insurance, to speak with more than a few companies with familiar brand names, if you really want to save money and choose the best coverage. There are many fine companies you may not know, some sold through independent insurance agents, that could have the best price and coverage for you. Some auto insurance companies charge some drivers twice as much as other companies with the same coverage. You have to shop to find the companies with low rates for you. But the insurance companies with low rates for you will change over time. Insurance company rules & rates are always changing, and your risk profile (length of your insurance history, driving record, age, etc.) changes over time, too. This blog post will tell you what you can do, to make sure you never overpay for your auto insurance. Continue reading
Auto, Home, & Life Insurance Companies: Stick with the Big Brand Names?
State Farm. Prudential. Allstate. AFLAC. GEICO. Metlife. Progressive. These insurance companies are household names. No one likes paying for insurance, much less paying more for insurance, but if you are in a major car accident, your house burns down, or you get a life threatening disease or develop a health condition, you want to be sure your auto, home, or life insurance company will be there to take care of your claim. Because of this concern, many people prefer familiar brand names when buying insurance. What if an insurance agent quotes you an insurance company with the coverage you need at a great price, but you have never heard of the company? Can you trust this unknown company to pay your claim? You know the big brand name companies are legitimate companies, even if you have heard stories about some of them having bad customer service. Is some insurance company unknown to you a fly-by-night company? Do they lure you in with low rates, but can’t be reached when you have a claim? It’s human nature to be inclined to buy a product from a company with a familiar name, but are you familiar with the company name because their customers rave about it being a great company, or is it because you are constantly exposed to the company’s advertising? An insurance company is not a better company because it spends a lot of money on advertising, or because it has a lot of customers and many agencies in your area. The wise insurance buyer does not limit their shopping to a few companies with brand name recognition. However, whether you know them or not, all insurance companies are not equally good. This blog post will tell you how to shop for your insurance without being misled by insurance company hype, and what you need to consider, when evaluating an insurance company, to see if it’s the right choice for you. Continue reading
21st Century Auto Insurance Reviews: Complaint Ratings & Customer Satisfaction Ratings
This blog entry is the first in my series of reviews of the leading insurance companies offering home & auto insurance in the United States, reviewing the customer service & complaint record of 21st Century auto insurance. Continue reading
Your Age & Your Auto Insurance — How to get the best rates.
Anyone who is (or was) under age 25, and paying for their own auto insurance, looks forward to attaining an age when their rates go down. In most states, your rates are very high on your own auto insurance policy, until you have three years experience as a licensed driver. This means if you were licensed on your 16th birthday, you should look forward to your 19th birthday, and that would be an excellent time to shop for much lower rates. Even for drivers with clean driving records, auto insurance can be very expensive until you are age 25 or 30. But this blog post is not just for younger people, because your age is an auto insurance rating factor throughout your life, and has big price implications whether you are 16, 30, 50, or 70 years old. I’ll give you simple tips, no matter what your age, on how & when to shop, so you can use your age to your advantage, to get lower auto insurance rates. Continue reading
Auto & Home Insurance Companies: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly?
Everyone wants a good price on auto & home insurance. But people also want to avoid the bad insurance companies that deny claims all the time. An affordable price for your car insurance and homeowners insurance is important, but you also want to choose a company that pays claims and does not hassle you.
Some people believe all insurance companies want to sell insurance, but none want to pay claims. Other people think some insurance companies are honest and pay claims, and other companies are dishonest and weasel out of paying legitimate claims. Some people think bad insurance companies automatically deny any claims over a certain dollar amount.
Many car & home insurance buyers have misconceptions about insurance companies, leading them to make mistakes they regret when they have a claim. This blog post will tell you about these misconceptions and mistakes, how to avoid them, and how to make better decisions when choosing your insurance company and coverage. Continue reading
Why Do Some Insurance Companies Ask So Many Questions?
If you have received an auto insurance quote online, or you have called an insurance company or agency for a home or car insurance quote, you know insurance companies ask a lot of questions before they give you a price. Why do insurance companies ask you for so much information, instead of just giving you the price quote you asked for? What do they do with your information? Do they sell it? Why do some companies ask for more information than others? In this blog post, I will answer these questions, and tell you how to get the insurance agent or company representative quoting you to do their best to give you the lowest insurance rates for the coverage you need, and all the discounts you deserve. It’s worth it to you to read this entire blog post, so you know what’s going on when an agent quotes your auto or home insurance, and how you can use it to your advantage. Continue reading
What is the best car insurance company in the North Central USA? Find out here!
Here are my summary and conclusions about the 2012 JD Power north central region auto insurance customer satisfaction study, surveying car insurance customers insured with the major companies in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. As is the case with the other regional studies, some of the companies rated among the best, or better than most, did not score much above the study average. Also, some of the companies receiving JD Power’s lowest rating, 2 power circles (the rest), are not much below the average score for the study. My analysis will help you tell the difference between the companies truly performing well, the companies performing about average, and any companies performing poorly, based on the numerical scores from the north central study. I will also discuss strengths and weaknesses for each company, in the factors considered by the study, such as Pricing, Policy Offerings, Billing & Payment, and Contacting the Insurance Company. Continue reading
JD Power 2012 Auto Insurance Southeast Region Study: Summary & Conclusions
Today, I’m writing about the JD Power 2012 auto insurance customer satisfaction study for the Southeast region of the USA, including the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, & Tennessee. More so than the other regional studies I have reviewed, I think the power circle ratings in the Southeast regional study are very misleading, with some top rated, 5 power circle (among the best) rated companies, scoring only a few points above the average score, and not many points above companies rated at 3 power circles (about average) for overall customer satisfaction. I’ll analyze the scores and ratings, and let you know my opinion why a company may be a good choice for you, and if I think the study results indicate truly better or worse customer satisfaction. Continue reading
JD Power 2012 West Region Auto Insurance Study: Summary, Conclusions, & Shopping Tips
Here is my summary, conclusions, and shopping tips regarding the 2012 JD Power West Region auto insurance survey, measuring car insurance customer satisfaction in 10 Western states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Remember, each state’s automobile insurance market is unique. The top insurance companies in Washington, Wyoming, and Arizona are likely to be different companies. Any of the companies on this list, and even smaller companies not making the list, might be the company saving you hundreds of dollars on your auto insurance. If you don’t want to grossly over-pay for auto insurance coverage, decide on the coverage you need, and get quotes for the same coverage from all the companies on this list, to find the companies with good service and competitive rates. Continue reading
JD Power 2012 US Auto Insurance Study: Summary, Conclusions, & Shopping Tips
Before I write my summary of my analysis of the results for the JD Power 2012 California region auto insurance study, let me explain how to use the summaries I’m writing for the seven regional studies, making up the JD Power 2012 US auto insurance company customer satisfaction study, so you can find the auto insurance company with the best combination of coverage, service, & price for you.
I don’t think many auto insurance buyers choose a company on service alone, without consideration of price. So, I will list the companies rated by JD Power for each regional survey summary, from best to worst, discuss their strengths & weaknesses, and tell you which type of customers should get a quote from them. Continue reading
JD Power 2012 California Region Auto Insurance Study: Companies Rated Below Average
This blog post finishes my review of the car insurance companies rated by the JD Power 2012 California region auto insurance study. Was your auto insurance company rated less than “about average” for customer satisfaction? Was it classified with the lowest rating of 2 power circles? JD Power diplomatically refers to companies with the 2 power circle rating as “the rest.” The good news is some of the companies scoring below the California regional average score are not far below the average. I will review the company scores, and the factors leading to the scores, such as Billing & Payment or Pricing, and let you know if you should be looking for a better company. Some of these companies you may want to avoid, but some of them may meet your insurance needs at a great price. I’ll give you the information behind the power circle rating for each of the companies below the California average, to help you make better decisions when choosing an auto insurance company. Continue reading
JD Power 2012 California Region Auto Insurance Study: Companies Rated Better Than Most
My last blog post told you about the two highest rated companies for customer satisfaction in the JD Power 2012 California region auto insurance study. The top company was USAA, but it restricts eligibility for its insurance to the military. The only other company in the California survey to receive a 5 power circle rating, was Wawanesa, and its score was not much higher than the companies rated 4 power circles.
Now, I examine the numbers and considerations behind the companies rated 4 power circles (Better than most), to let you know my thoughts about what the JD Power survey results really say about these companies. Continue reading
JD Power 2012 California Region Auto Insurance Study: Companies Rated Among the Best
Which auto insurance companies in California received the best rating — 5 power circles (Among the best) — for customer satisfaction by JD Power in 2012? I’ll tell you not only the companies with the top ratings, but how I think you should consider each company’s rating, and how it compares with other leading companies. I’ll help you avoid the mistake of paying too much for car insurance, because of the possibly false expectation of excellent customer service. If you look at the JD Power number scores behind the power circle ratings, you will find some companies rated among the best may not be really much better than other companies. Continue reading
JD Power 2012 US Auto Insurance Study: Customer Satisfaction Factors
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.
Continue reading
JD Power 2012 US Auto Insurance Study: Understanding the Power Circle Rating System
Before I analyze the results of the JD Power 2012 US Auto Insurance study for each of the seven regions rating auto insurance companies, I want to tell you about how the JD Power rating system works. Trusting the power circle ratings alone, without understanding how they are calculated, or the point score associated with them, can lead you to think an insurance company is better or worse than it actually is for customer satisfaction. Don’t worry about following the math in this post, but it’s important to read the conclusions I make about it. Continue reading
2012 JD Power National Auto Insurance Study Considered
JD Power has recently released its 2012 auto insurance study, and there have been big changes to how the study is presented. Instead of providing national study results, from surveying customers for each of the largest auto insurance companies in the USA, JD Power has broken down their annual auto insurance customer satisfaction survey into seven regional study results. This blog post is the first of a series discussing the changes to the study, lets you know the best rated companies in each region. and how to use the JD Power auto insurance study results to help you decide on the best insurance company for you.
JD Power uses a “circle” rating system, where 5 power circles is the best rating, and 2 power circles is the worst rating, but I will show you why you have to look deeper than the circle rating, before you decide to select or pass on an insurance company Continue reading
Choosing an insurance agent: Questions to ask before you buy
Most people do not know the important questions to ask, or what to look for in the replies of an insurance agent, to know if an agent is deserving of your business. This blog post will give you tips on what questions to ask, and how to ask them. so you are able to see through empty claims of great customer service & expertise.
If you have visited the “about us” section of almost any insurance agency web site, you read the same things: Our customers are the focus of our business. We are committed to personal service. We work hard to get you the coverage you need at a low price, etc. The truth is anybody can claim to provide a high level or personal customer service, and just about everyone claims to provide it. Continue reading
Choosing an insurance agent: What to expect from a good agent
I started this blog series about how to choose an agent, telling you about the hype you hear from every agent, usually in a confident, friendly manner: “I have many years experience. I represent a large, old, financially stable company with 24 hour claims service. I’m an independent agent, and I can shop the home & auto insurance market for you (except I don’t tell you I don’t represent some of the biggest & best companies). I put my customers first. Yadda, yadda, yadda.”
There are lots of well-established, financially strong insurance companies. Most companies have 24 hour claims reporting. Almost all of the reasons agents tell you why you should insure with them are not unique, and they are common among all insurance companies. If other companies offer the same benefits, why shouldn’t you choose the company with the lowest price?
Some agents do add value with the service they provide, and this blog post will show you how to recognize this value, and allow you to tell the agents really putting their customers first, from the majority of agents merely claiming to put their customers first. Continue reading