Nationwide Insurance Review: Auto / Homeowners Insurance Price Competitiveness, AM Best Financial Strength Ratings & Complaint Records 2009-2014

This Nationwide Insurance review will evaluate, for the most recent six year period where reliable statistics are available (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, & 2014), the home & auto insurance complaint ratings for the subsidiary companies of Nationwide insurance group, to determine whether each subsidiary, such as Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company or Nationwide Property & Casualty Insurance Company, has a better-than-average, average, or worse-than-average customer complaint record.

I’ll also look at the JD Power ratings for Nationwide’s auto & homeowner insurance pricing, and increases & decreases in market share (as measured by annual written premiums) for each Nationwide subsidiary, as a possible indication of high or low insurance rates. In addition, I’ll analyze the AM Best Financial Strength Ratings for the Nationwide insurance companies, too. Continue reading

Farmers Review: Auto / Homeowners Insurance Price Competitiveness, AM Best Financial Strength Ratings & Complaints 2009-2014

This Farmers Insurance review will evaluate, for the most recent six year period where reliable statistics are available (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, & 2014), the home & auto insurance complaint ratings for the subsidiary companies of Farmers insurance group, to determine whether each subsidiary, such as Farmers Insurance Exchange or Mid-Century Insurance Company, has a better-than-average, average, or worse-than-average customer complaint record.

I’ll also look at the JD Power ratings for Farmers auto & homeowner insurance pricing, and increases & decreases in market share (as measured by annual written premiums) for each Farmers subsidiary, as a possible indication of high or low insurance rates. In addition, I’ll review the AM Best Financial Strength Ratings for the Farmers insurance companies, too. Continue reading

American Family Insurance Review: JD Power Ratings, AM Best Financial Strength Ratings, & Multi-Year Complaint Records

American Family is a major US auto & home insurance company, and is available in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and it is the largest insurer of private passenger vehicles in its home state of Wisconsin. This review will analyze the change in the JD Power home & auto insurance scores & ratings for American Family Insurance over the last few years, and compare them to the scores of major competitors, like Allstate, State Farm, Progressive, Farmers, & GEICO.

In addition, this review will analyze the auto & home insurance customer complaints for American Family over the last six years, and let you know if American Family has a better than average, average, or worse than average complaint record. I’ll review the AM Best Financial Strength Rating (FSR) for the American Family insurance subsidiaries insuring cars & homes, too. Continue reading

Choosing an insurance agent: Experience is not expertise

In my last blog post, I wrote how you should choose an agent with enough experience to be competent. More than 2 years is enough, but 5 to 10 years experience is preferable. Anything more than 10 years is not relevant. But experience does not guarantee expertise.

True expertise is hard to find. I have always been surprised how little your average, experienced & successful agent knows about the products they sell, or how much bad information they can provide to their customers & prospective customers. Continue reading

Armed Forces Insurance Exchange Review: Complaint Statistics & Financial Strength Rating

Armed Forces Insurance Exchange (AFIE), founded in 1887, is an insurance company selling auto, home, renters, & condo insurance to active and retired military members, including National Guard & Reserve members, active & retired Department of Defense civilian employees, their spouses and children, and honorably discharged veterans. If you have had an Armed Forces Insurance Exchange insurance policy in the past, you, your spouse or ex-spouse, and your children can always be considered for a new policy.

AFIE also acts as an independent insurance agency, under Armed Forces Insurance Agency, to sell the products of other insurance companies, so if you don’t qualify for AFIE due to your driving record or other reasons, the company may be able to offer you coverage through another insurance company. For auto insurance, Armed Forces Insurance Exchange can quote you multiple companies. If you meet the AFIE eligibility requirements of having a relationship with the US military, you should contact them to see if they have the coverage you need at the best price. You really can save $100s on your insurance, but the only way to find the lower priced companies, is to shop with as many companies as you can. Often, you can find a good deal for insurance offered through special relationships, like an association with the military.

This blog post will tell you how you can get insurance price quotes from Armed Forces Insurance Exchange, the type of insurance it sells, its recent AM Best financial strength ratings, and most importantly, its auto & home insurance complaint statistics & ratings for the last three years, so you have some objective measure of their customer service. I’ll also recommend a few other companies, with special rates for military members & their families, to help you shop for the best price, coverage, and service. Continue reading

American Modern Insurance Review: Home Insurance Customer Complaint Statistics & Ratings

This American Modern Insurance review will evaluate, for the most recent five year period where reliable statistics are available (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014), the home insurance (mobile home & homeowners) complaint ratings for the subsidiary companies of American Modern Insurance Group, to determine whether each subsidiary, such as American Family Home Insurance Company, has a better-than-average, average, or worse-than-average customer complaint record. American Modern Insurance Group insures mainly mobile homes, homes in need of repair, trailers, vacant homes, homes with a recent claims history, and other properties many other insurance companies won’t insure. I’ll compare the home insurance complaint records for the American Modern subsidiary companies, with its major competitor offering specialty home insurance, Foremost Insurance. Continue reading

Allstate Insurance Review: AM Best Financial Strength Ratings & Auto / Homeowners Complaint Records 2009-2014

Allstate is the second largest insurer of autos & homes in the USA, so anyone buying car or homeowners insurance should consider getting a price quote from Allstate, to see if this company best meets their insurance needs at a reasonable price.

A measure of quality for an auto or home insurance company is the number of upheld complaints filed against it with a state’s insurance regulatory authority, adjusted for the company’s market share. This review will show you if Allstate has a better than average, average, or below average complaint record for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014. I’ll review the AM Best Financial Strength Rating (FSR) for the Allstate insurance subsidiaries insuring cars & homes, too. Continue reading

Foremost Insurance Review: Auto & Home Insurance Customer Complaints, AM Best & JD Power Ratings

This Foremost Insurance review will evaluate the AM Best financial strength ratings, any JD Power claims & customer satisfaction ratings, and the 2009-2014 home & auto insurance complaint record for the subsidiary companies of Foremost Insurance Group, to determine whether each subsidiary, such as Foremost Insurance Company of Grand Rapids, MI, has a better-than-average, average, or worse-than-average customer complaint record.

Foremost insures mainly high risk drivers, mobile homes, trailers, vacant homes, homes with a recent claims history, and other properties many other insurance companies won’t insure. I’ll compare the auto & home insurance complaint records for the Foremost subsidiary companies, with major competitors offering nonstandard auto insurance and specialty home insurance, like Progressive, Homesite, Dairyland, & American Modern. Continue reading

Imperial Fire & Casualty Insurance Reviews: AM Best Financial Strength Rating & Customer Complaint Record.

Imperial Fire & Casualty Insurance Company, offering auto, home, dwelling, renters, & flood insurance, primarily in the states of Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, had its Financial Strength Rating (FSR) affirmed as “B+” (good) on 6/18/2013 by AM Best, but with a negative outlook, which means there could be a rating downgrade in the future. Most insurance agents recommend not choosing any insurance company with less than an “A-” rating for financial strength by AM Best. A grade of “B+” might be considered above average when you are in school, but it’s not a good grade for an auto or home insurance company. This review will explain the reasons for the negative outlook from AM Best, give you information about the company, including its three year home & auto insurance complaint records, to help you decide if Imperial Fire & Casualty Insurance Company is the right company for you. Continue reading

State Farm Review: Auto & Homeowners Insurance Complaints 2009-2014

This State Farm Insurance review will evaluate, for the most recent six year period where reliable statistics are available (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, & 2014), the home & auto insurance complaint ratings for the subsidiary companies of State Farm insurance, to determine whether each subsidiary, such as State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, has a better-than-average, average, or worse-than-average customer complaint record. Continue reading

How to evaluate your Florida homeowners insurance company & the complaint records for major companies in the state

This review will explain how to evaluate your homeowners insurance company and other homeowners insurance companies insuring homes in Florida, so you don’t regret keeping the company insuring you now when you have a claim, or the company you chose for its lower rate.

If you want to evaluate your current company & coverage compared to other companies, this review will also analyse the largest insurance companies insuring many homes in Florida I have yet to review, including their Florida state complaint record, JD Power claims & customer satisfaction ratings, and AM Best Financial Strength ratings. Some of these companies may not be selling homeowners insurance policies in Florida anymore, so I’ll look at each company’s increase or decrease in their number of homeowners insurance policies in Florida over recent years. Continue reading

Buckeye State Mutual Insurance Company Reviews: AM Best Financial Strength Rating & Customer Complaint Record.

Buckeye State Mutual Insurance Company, an insurance company insuring houses, farms, mobile homes & cars in Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, & South Dakota, had its Financial Strength Rating (FSR) affirmed as “B+” (good) on 5/30/2014 by AM Best, with a negative outlook, meaning there could be a rating downgrade in the future. As of 6/2/2015, AM Best has downgraded the Financial Strength Rating for Buckeye State Mutual Insurance Company to “B (Fair)” with a stable outlook, meaning no ratings downgrade or upgrade is expected in the near future. The Financial Strength Rating of “B” is a rating in AM Best’s “vulnerable” category.

Most insurance agents will tell you not to insure with any insurance company, with less than an AM Best grade of “A-,” for the financial strength of the company. A grade of “B” may still be above average when you are a student in school, but it’s not a good grade for an insurance company. This blog post will explain the reasons for the poor rating from AM Best, give you information about the company, including its four year home & auto insurance complaint records, to help you decide if Buckeye State Mutual Insurance Company is right for you. Continue reading

Home Insurance Companies Selling the Most Policies in Florida: Complaint Record Review

This review analyzes & ranks the home insurance companies selling the most new home insurance policies in Florida by their number of annual complaints each year from 2009 to 2014, based on data last updated by Florida state for the quarter ending 12/31/2014. As any Florida homeowner should know, many of the large national insurance companies no longer sell new home insurance policies in the state.

Knowing which companies are currently selling the most policies, can not only help you find the companies selling Florida home insurance, but might indicate the companies with competitive rates for you. Be sure to read my summary at the end of this review to find out how to get the best home, condo, or mobile home insurance you can & save money! Continue reading

Alfa Insurance Review: JD Power Ratings, AM Best Financial Strength Ratings, & Customer Complaints

This review will analyze the change in the JD Power home & auto insurance scores & ratings for Alfa Insurance over the last few years. The annual JD Power insurance company studies are, in my opinion, the most objective & relevant indicators of customer & claims satisfaction, by surveying the opinions of thousands of consumers about their auto & home insurance. However, the power circle ratings used by JD Power can be deceptive, with some companies receiving the top rated four and five power circle ratings, not scoring much above the score of the average company. This review will look at the JD Power ratings & numerical scores for Alfa, in all the JD Power insurance studies where it was included in the last three years, to see if its JD Power ratings truly reflect the quality of the claims & customer service for the company.

This review will also show you if Alfa has a better than average, average, or below average complaint record for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014. Additionally, I’ll review the AM Best Financial Strength Rating (FSR) for the Alfa insurance companies. Continue reading

Wawanesa Auto & Home Insurance Review

Wawanesa Insurance was the award recipient, for scoring the highest for auto insurance customer satisfaction in the state of California, for the 2012, 2013, & 2014 JD Power auto insurance studies, measuring customer satisfaction among the leading auto insurance companies in the state. Wawanesa sells insurance in the states of California & Oregon only, but many auto insurance customers in these two states may be unfamiliar with Wawanesa. This review will analyze the JD Power & AM Best ratings for Wawanesa Insurance, look at its three-year home & auto insurance customer complaint record in comparison with major competitors like Allstate, State Farm, GEICO, & Progressive, show you the best way to get a price quote for the coverage you need, and help you decide if Wawanesa Insurance might be a good choice for you. Continue reading

American Integrity Insurance Reviews: Financial Stability Ratings & Home Insurance Complaint Record

This review analyzes the recent home insurance complaint record (2010, 2011, 2012, & 2013) for American Integrity Insurance Company of Florida, the sixth largest seller of new home insurance policies in Florida, and discusses its financial strength & stability ratings. People often make the mistake of not checking the complaint record of their insurance company. For auto & home insurance, people should avoid companies having a higher than average number of complaints filed with a state’s regulatory authority in recent years, if possible. Home insurance complaints are usually about the denial, delay, or insufficient payment of a claim. This review rates the home insurance complaint history of American Integrity Insurance for the last four years (data for 2014 is not available yet), to let you know if American Integrity is performing worse-than-average, average, or better-than-average, for homeowners insurance complaints, compared to the industry average. Another concern for home owners, particularly for owners residing in hurricane or disaster-prone states, is the financial strength of their home insurance companies, to be able to promptly & fully pay the claims of all its customers. This review will explore how American Integrity Insurance Company of Florida is rated for financial strength, stability, and claims-paying ability. Finally, this review will discuss how American Integrity Insurance Company’s complaint record compares to other major Florida home insurance companies. Continue reading

Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company Review: Ratings & FL Home Insurance Complaint Record

How good is Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company? Who do you contact for a price quote? Today I’ll provide you with information about Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company to help you decide if they are the best property insurance company for you. Continue reading

Piedmont Mutual Insurance Review: Homeowners Insurance Complaints, AM Best, BBB, & JD Power Ratings

How good is Piedmont Mutual Insurance? Does it have a lot of customer complaints? How does it stack up compared to competing home insurance companies? This blog post will review Piedmont Mutual, its AM Best or Demotech financial strength ratings, JD Power customer satisfaction ratings, Better Business Bureau ratings, and its home insurance complaint record over the last 5 years. Unfortunately, the news is not good for Piedmont Mutual customers, but I’ll show you some other company options, which may be a better choice for you, and increase the odds you’ll be happy if you have a claim. You may also be able to save a lot of money, too. Continue reading

New York Central Mutual Review: Auto & Home Insurance Customer Complaints, JD Power Customer Satisfaction & AM Best Financial Strength Ratings

New York Central Mutual Insurance Company, a property & casualty insurance company established in 1899 and still owned by the same family of the company founder, sells auto, home, mobile home, condo, rental property, umbrella liability, & tenants insurance only available in New York. The company is a major insurer of autos & homes in the Empire state. NY Central Mutual is one of the insurance companies recently included in the annual JD Power US Auto Insurance Customer Satisfaction Study, and it has been rated for the last three years. The JD Power study now consists of 11 separate regional studies, and includes more regional auto insurance companies, like New York Central Mutual.

When trying to evaluate an insurance company, you can find customer experiences regarding insurance companies on review & complaint Websites. But as many as 200 positive or negative reviews are not likely to be truly representative of a company with tens of thousands of customers (NY Central Mutual reports 476,000 policies in force on its Website). All insurance companies have unhappy customers writing complaints about them. In my experience, most customers satisfied with their home or auto insurance company are silent about it. Although no positive review can guarantee you will not have a negative experience, trusting negative reviews based on personal experiences will have you thinking all insurance companies are terrible. The truth is, when you look at complaint statistics & customer satisfaction surveys including the opinions of thousands of customers, some companies are definitely better or much worse than others.

I think my review of NY Central Mutual Insurance Company’s JD Power ratings & complaint statistics is more objective than your typical reviews, and more likely to reflect the actual experience of the majority of customers. As regular readers of my insurance company review blog should know, I’m a big fan of using the company scores from the JD Power insurance studies to measure customer satisfaction, but I think the power circle ratings (2-5 power circles) assigned to each company are often misleading, with both highly rated and lowest rated companies sometimes scoring very close to average. This review will analyze the scores behind the JD Power ratings for NY Central Mutual, look at the company’s complaint statistics for the past three years, to let you know if NY Central Mutual has a worse than average, average, or better than average complaint record, and give you other information, to help you decide if New York Central Mutual Insurance Company is a good or bad company to insure you. Continue reading

Kentucky National Insurance Company Review: Complaints, AM Best, JD Power, & Better Business Bureau (BBB) Ratings

How good is Kentucky National Insurance Company? Does it have a lot of customer complaints? How does it stack up compared to competing home & auto insurance companies? This blog post will review Kentucky National, including its customer complaint record over the last four years. There can be a big difference in the cost & coverage offered by different insurance companies, and being a well-known company does not mean being the best. The wise consumer shops the market for the right combination of coverage, acceptable claims & customer service, and a good price. This blog post will help you decide if Kentucky National Insurance Company might be a good choice for you. I’ll also show you other leading auto & home insurance companies in Kentucky, so you can comparison shop & find the best company for you. Continue reading

Better Business Bureau (BBB) Ratings for the Ten Largest Auto & Home Insurance Companies.

When deciding whether or not to buy a product or service from a business, cautious consumers check the Better Business Bureau rating for the business. Although I think there are other sources, such as the annual JD Power insurance studies, proving more useful rating information to the auto or home insurance customer, the complaint data provided by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) about major auto & home insurance companies can be another source of information to help people avoid insurance companies with too many complaints. This review will analyze the complaint data gathered by the Better Business Bureau for the last three years against the ten biggest auto & home insurance companies in the USA, and use it to show you which companies have a good, average, or bad complaint record. I’ll explain why people should not consider the BBB rating for an insurance company, and how I’ll use the number of complaints against each of the top ten companies, Allstate, State Farm, Liberty Mutual, Travelers, Nationwide, USAA, Farmers, American Family, Progressive & GEICO, to compare them and determine the companies with the best & worst complaint records. Continue reading

Is Allstate Insurance Expensive?

Is Allstate Insurance expensive? Does Allstate home & auto insurance cost a lot more than other companies, like State Farm, Progressive, or GEICO? Are insurance companies with lower rates than Allstate selling “cut-rate” insurance, inferior to Allstate? As a former sales person for an Allstate agency, I’ll tell you what you need to know about Allstate’s pricing, and how you really can save a lot of money on your auto or home insurance. Continue reading

Florida Home Insurance Review: Best & Worst Complaint Records for the Largest Companies in the State.

This review analyzes & ranks the 25 largest home insurance companies in Florida, from best to worst by their home insurance complaint history, as determined by complaints filed against them by FL home insurance customers & claimants with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013.

Common reasons for filing complaints are because of denials, delays, or inadequate payments of claims. Looking at your home insurance company’s complaint record, compared to competitors, over the most recent several years, can help you decide if your homeowners, condominium, or renters insurance company is more likely to provide fair claims handling and customer service when you need it, or if other property insurance companies may be a better choice for you.

This is an old review. so I recommend using my new Florida home insurance reviews for the companies selling the most home insurance policies in Florida here, and the largest insurers of Florida homes here, which include 2014 complaint data.

My website reviews the major auto & home insurance companies in the USA, but many of these large national companies do not sell home insurance in Florida. JD Power & AM Best do not rate many of the largest Florida home insurers, so reviewing a company’s complaint statistics is a major way to determine if an insurance company is likely to provide acceptable or poor service. Read this review, see which companies have the best & worst complaint records in Florida, and shop to find the company with the best choice of coverage, service, & price for you. Continue reading

Progressive Home Insurance Review 2013: Bundle and Save?

Did you know, when you buy homeowners, condo, or renters insurance from Progressive Insurance, through their Progressive Home Advantage program, it is not Progressive insuring your home? Progressive primarily insures automobiles & trucks, but acts as an agent, representing other insurance companies, when Progressive sells you property (homeowners, condo, renters) insurance, for you to receive the “bundling” discount you hear about in the Progressive advertisements. How good is the bundling discount? It can vary by state, home insurance company insuring you, and the type of coverage needed. When I called Progressive, the customer service representative told me only the home insurance policy would be discounted. Discounts for insuring your home and auto together are common with many insurance companies these days, and some companies discount both policies by as much as 20%. If you insure your car with Progressive, is bundling your property insurance with Progressive your best and least expensive option? If you bundle with State Farm or Allstate, unlike Progressive, both of those companies will be insuring your home & auto, possibly with much larger bundling discounts. This review will analyze the pros & cons of bundling your auto & property insurance together with Progressive, to help you decide if this is the best option for you. Continue reading

Do you need an insurance agent?

Yesterday, I posted about finding auto & home insurance companies with good customer service. Something that can help you get better insurance company customer service, is having a great agent working for you. However, it’s almost 2014, and it’s easier than ever to buy auto & home insurance online, direct from the company. Do you need an insurance agent these days? Buying direct does not always save you money. You should shop with all the major insurance companies in your state, regardless if they have agents or not, to find the companies with the best rates for you. With some insurance companies, you pay the same, whether you buy direct, or from an agent responsible to serve you. This blog post will explain what value insurance agents provide their customers, and how it can cost you money, and be more than just a hassle, if you don’t have one. Continue reading