How does your car insurance company rate

Sports Car Illustrated Feature Article

By Gary Becker
Sports Car Illustrated

For those of us who own a car or truck auto insurance is a necessary evil. Most states will suspended your driver’s license if you don’t have it and most lawyers will take possession of everything you own if you have an accident without it.

Unfortunately buying auto insurance is like picking a doctor; you don’t know you have a bad one until its too late. Fortunately, J.D. Power and Company have recently completed a consumer satisfaction ratings report on auto insurance companies.

Below are the top five and bottom five according to J.D. Power and Company. If your company is in the top five you are in great shape. If your insurance company is not listed like mine, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. If the name of the company your write a check to is in the bottom five you may want to shop around.

The Best

1. Amica Mutual: Tops in every category including contacting the insurer, policy offerings, billing and payment, and pricing, Amica Mutual earned a perfect score from consumers, placing them at the top of the list. This is the 10th year in a row that Amica Mutual has topped the Power list.

2. State Farm: The good neighbor came in a close second with perfect scores in contacting the insurer and solid returns in the policy offerings and billing areas.

3. Shelter: Shelter wowed consumers with its prices but took a hit in the billing and payment aspect.

4. Auto-Owners: Auto-Owners matched State Farm, Shelter, and Erie for overall satisfaction. However, their policy offerings were at the bottom of the top five.

5. Erie Insurance: Tops in billing and payment plans.

The Worst
Here are the bottom five car insurance companies, from bad to worst:

1. Travelers: All the companies belonging in bottom five only scored a two out of five in overall customer satisfaction. Travelers only edge was its higher marks in the area of contacting the insurer.

2. Commerce: Commerce was a close second to Travelers with similar scores but leaving its customers less satisfied.

3. 21st Century: Even with better prices compared with the others, 21st Century left its customers mostly unhappy.

4. GMAC: GMAC scored a two out of five in every category plus complaints of sub-par service.

5. AIG: Someone has to finish last. AIG earned low marks in every area, with customers voicing their displeasure about every aspect of the company.

For the complete list go to http://www.jdpower.com/Autos/ratings/Auto-Insurance-Provider-Ratings