New York Home Insurance Reviews 2014: 20 Major Companies & Their Three-Year Complaint Ratings

The home you own is most people’s biggest investment, so you want to make sure you protect it properly, by choosing the right coverage with a good homeowners insurance company, having a reputation for acceptable customer service, and a consistent history of maintaining a better than average complaint record each year. To accomplish this goal, you need to know the major companies offering home insurance in your state and their complaint information. This review will show you twenty major insurance companies insuring residential property in New York, and each company’s complaint ratings, based on home (homeowners/condo/renters/mobile home) insurance complaints filed with the New York insurance department for the last 3 years of 2010, 2011, 2012, & 2013. Continue reading

Louisiana Home Insurance Reviews 2013: The Major Companies, their Customer Complaint Records, & JD Power Ratings

If you want choose the best home insurance for you, you need to know the major companies offering coverage in your state. Your home is probably your biggest investment, so you want to make sure you choose a good home insurance company, with a reputation for good customer service, and a better than average complaint record. This review will show you the 20 leading home insurance companies in Louisiana, their complaint ratings based on home (homeowners/condo/renters/mobile home) insurance complaints filed with a state’s department of insurance for the last 3 years (2010, 2011, & 2012), and their claims & customer satisfaction ratings, if surveyed by JD Power. Continue reading

New Jersey Home Insurance Reviews 2013: Complaint Ratings for all the Leading Companies

This NJ Home insurance company review gives you the 2012, 2011 & 2010 complaint ratings for the major companies insuring homes in the Garden State. It’s tough to find reliable insurance company reviews on the Web. Reading reviews of several people’s experience, or even two hundred people’s experience, are not enough to evaluate an insurance company with hundreds of thousands of customers, and tell you what your experience is likely to be with the company, if you insure with them. One person will love a company. Another person will hate the same company the other person loves. Unfortunately, no amount of research about a company’s customer service can guarantee you won’t have a problem. Even the most highly rated companies for customer satisfaction will have customers thinking they were treated unfairly, or the company did not properly settle a claim for them.

However, a smart insurance buyer reduces the chances of having a bad experience, by checking an insurance company’s JD Power ratings and complaint statistics for the company, before insuring with them. Although some states publish insurance company complaint statistics on their websites, few consumers check for their availability. New Jersey does not publish their home insurance complaint statistics, but national complaint data about the insurance companies insuring homes in NJ is available. This review will tell you if these NJ home insurance companies have an above-average, average, or below-average customer complaint record over the last three years, and their JD Power ratings, if they were included in a JD Power home insurance claims or customer satisfaction survey in the last three years (2013, 2012, & 2011).

Reading this review, and using it to select an home insurance company, can’t guarantee you will get great service or be happy with how your next claim is settled, but it gives you the information you need in one place, to help you make a smarter decision when choosing an home insurance company. How is your home insurance company performing? Check your company’s ratings in this review below. 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

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

2013 JD Power US Property Claims Satisfaction Study Numerical Scores for Home Insurance Customers

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. Continue reading

USAA Insurance Reviews: Complaint Ratings for Auto & Homeowners Insurance

How is the customer service and claims handling at USAA (United Services Automobile Association) Insurance Company? How good is USAA‘s auto insurance & homeowners insurance? This blog entry helps you answer these important questions and decide if USAA Insurance Company is best for you! Continue reading

Home Insurance Claims: Company Ratings for Property Claim Satisfaction in 2012

As readers of my blog know, I really like the annual JD Power insurance studies, and I think people should use the studies as a measure of customer service, instead of online customer reviews. Of the annual JD Power insurance studies, none are more important than their annual claims satisfaction studies. Today’s blog post reviews the raw scores and ratings for the 19 major home insurance companies included in the JD Power 2012 Property Claims Satisfaction Study. 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

Nationwide Insurance Phone Number for Recent Security Breach: How safe is your personal information with your auto or home insurance company?

Earlier this month, Nationwide Insurance had a database compromised, which resulted in the theft of confidential information for one million policyholders and non-policyholders. You may not be insured with Nationwide, but if you gave information to Nationwide for an insurance quote in the past, you may have been affected. If you think Nationwide might have your personal data, you can call this phone number, 1-800-760-1125, to see if your personal information was stolen. The information taken includes names, social security numbers, and other information, but no credit card information was supposedly accessed. Nationwide is notifying the people affected by this data breach, and offering free credit report checks and identity theft coverage. You can find out more about the Nationwide Insurance security breach, and links to articles regarding how several state insurance commissioners have reacted to it, by clicking the link to my Facebook page in this paragraph.

Computer hacking and theft of customer information from large companies is often in the news these days. This may be an even greater concern for customers of insurance companies, because unlike a retailer like Barnes & Noble, insurance companies are usually in possession of their customer’s social security numbers. This blog post will give you some tips on how to minimize your risk while shopping for insurance, and warning signs showing your insurance company or agent is putting you at greater risk of having your personal information stolen. 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

Choosing an insurance agent: Your agent’s office location

How important is it for your agent’s office to be close to your home or work? For a lot of people, this is an important factor for choosing an agent. But for most people, choosing an agent based on the agent’s office location can be a mistake. Depending on your needs, the location of your agent’s office may not be important at all. This blog post will tell you when having an agent close to you is important, and when choosing the agent closest to you is a mistake. Continue reading

Choosing an insurance agent: Referrals

One thing recommended to insurance shoppers, often by objective sources like your state’s department of insurance informational brochures, is to ask your friends, family, & neighbors for their opinions about insurance companies. In my opinion, personal referrals are not useful in making sure you will get good customer service from your agent or insurance company. This blog post will explain why referrals are not reliable, and where to find more objective measures of customer service, so you can avoid having problems when you most need the help of your agent or company. Continue reading

Choosing an insurance agent: Check for license & complaints

Whether you buy your insurance from an agent, or directly from the company, you need to make sure your agent or company is properly licensed in your state to sell the type of insurance you are buying, and see if there has been any complaints or disciplinary actions against your agent or company. Continue reading

Choosing an insurance agent: How much experience is needed?

Here is my second tip for choosing an insurance agent, which can save you from making costly mistakes:

Know how much experience is important, & avoid inexperienced agents

Some agents try to convince you to insure with them based on their many years of experience, or the experience of their employees. I know one agent added up the total number of years of experience of their agency employees to conclude their combined experience equals over 100 hundred years! This sounds impressive, but does it really benefit the customer? I don’t think so. Continue reading

District of Columbia (DC) Home Insurance Reviews: Complaint Ratings for Top Companies

Does your Washington DC home-owners insurance company have a large amount of customer complaints? Will you have problems placing a claim, or have a valid claim delayed or denied? Is your company any good? Most consumers fail to check the complaint records of their insurance companies. This blog post ranks thirteen of the largest DC home insurance companies based on their 2011 JD Power customer satisfaction ratings, and links to a review with each insurance company’s complaint record. Find out the best & worst companies. Continue reading

Wyoming Auto & Home Insurance Reviews: Complaint Ratings for Major Companies

Does your insurance company have a lot of complaints? Will you have difficulty placing a claim, or have a valid claim delayed or denied? How do you know if your company is good or bad? Most consumers fail to check the complaint records of their automobile & property (homeowners, renters, mobile home, rental dwelling, condo, etc.) insurance companies. Here I provide complaint information for insurance companies selling auto & residential property insurance in Wyoming and rank them, from best to worst, based on their 2009, 2010, & 2011 Wyoming complaint record. Continue reading

Wisconsin Home Insurance Reviews: Complaint Ratings for the Major Companies

Does your homeowners, condo, mobile home, or renters insurance company have a lot of complaints? Will you have difficulty placing a claim, or have a valid claim delayed or denied? How do you know if your company is any good? Most consumers fail to check the complaint records of their insurance companies. Here I provide complaint information for twenty of the largest (by market share in Wisconsin) insurance companies and rank them, from best to worst, based on their 2010 national home insurance complaints. (Accurate 2011 data not available yet). I also list fifteen insurance companies you may want to avoid, with a higher than average number of home & renters insurance complaints filed against them in Wisconsin. Continue reading

West Virginia Home Insurance Reviews: Complaint Ratings For 20 Top Companies

Does your home insurance company have a large amount of customer complaints? Will you have problems placing a claim, or have a valid claim delayed or denied? When do you want to find out if your insurance company is any good? Most consumers fail to check the complaint records of their auto & property (homeowners, renters, condo, mobile home, dwelling) insurance companies. This blog post provides complaint information for the 20 largest insurance companies insuring homes in West Virginia, & ranks them based on their 2010 national complaint ratings (Accurate 2011 complaint records are not available yet). Know the best and worst companies! Continue reading

Virginia Home Insurance Reviews: Complaint Ratings for 50 Top Companies

Does your home insurance company have many customer complaints? Will you have problems placing a claim, or have a valid claim delayed or denied? Is your property (renters, home, condo, dwelling, or mobile home) insurance company good or bad? Most consumers fail to check the complaint records of their insurance companies. This blog post provides complaint information for the fifty largest insurance companies insuring residential property in Virginia and ranks them from best to worst, based on their 2010 national homeowners insurance complaint records (Accurate 2011 complaint records are not available yet). Continue reading

Vermont Home Insurance Reviews: Complaint Ratings for Leading Companies

Does your property (homeowners/condo/mobile home/renters) insurance company have a huge amount of customer complaints? Will you have any problems placing a claim, or have a valid claim delayed or denied? Is your insurance company good or bad? Most consumers fail to check the complaint records of their insurance companies. This blog post provides complaint information for the major insurance companies selling property insurance in Vermont, and ranks them from best to worst, based on their 2011 JD Power homeowners insurance customer satisfaction rating. National homeowners insurance complaint ratings for their subsidiary companies are available by links to insurance company reviews on my website. I also list complaint ratings for several large regional home insurance companies selling property insurance in Vermont, not rated by JD Power. Continue reading

Utah Home Insurance Reviews: Complaint Ratings for 21 Top Companies

Does your home insurance company have many complaints? Will you have difficulty placing a claim, or have a valid claim delayed or denied? How do you know if your home insurance company is good or bad? Most consumers fail to check the complaint records of their insurance companies. Here I provide complaint information for the twenty-one largest (by market share in Utah, based on premium) property (home/renters/condo/mobile home) insurance companies & rank them, from best to worst, based on the average of each company’s Utah homeowners insurance complaint record for the last three years — 2008, 2009, & 2010. Utah complaint data for 2011 is not available yet. Continue reading

How much is home insurance? Rates increased 19% Nationwide in 2011

Today’s Insurance Journal has an article about a report from an online home insurance provider, homeinsurance.com, indicating national homeowners insurance premiums went up an average of 19% in 2011. According to the report, the typical premium for a new home insurance policy in December 2011 was $810 nationwide, up from $682 in January 2011. The quarterly RateReport data from homeinsurance.com represents approximately 15,000 policies sold across the United States with various carriers including Travelers, Safeco, Foremost, Liberty Mutual, The Hartford, and ASI/Ark Royal. This blog post will tell you what you can do to reduce your price after a large home insurance rate increase. Continue reading