Smart Auto Insurance Blog

California auto insurance has had its ups and downs with auto insurance rates, and for 2011, California ranks 29th in auto insurance affordability according to the article from Mark Glover of The Sacramento Bee.  This was based on a new report released by InsWeb Corp.  This is actually an improvement from their ranking last year which was 34 in the Car Insurance Affordability Index survey.

In order to rank the states in their affordability, InsWeb looked closely at all 50 states and Washington DC.  InsWeb compared household incomes with the average auto insuance costs throughout the state to determine affordability.  For the 2nd year in a row, Massachusetts came in first place with a factor of 2.09%.  Louisiana came in last place with a factor of 6.76%.  California had a factor of 3.34% which was pretty close to average.

Being in one of the more expensive states for auto insurance makes it even more important to compare auto insurance online, or through an agent.  Rates can vary significantly from insurance company to insurance company.  They will look at many factors including location, driving record, and car make.  If you think you are paying too much for auto insurance shop around to make some comparisons.

Understanding your auto insurance company’s financial strength is important to protect your lifestyle and future financial well being.  Insurance agents, brokers, financial advisors, and other insurance professionals have long used AM Best’s Financial Strength Ratings to help support their insurance selection and investment choices.  It’s now recommended consumers also utilize Best’s ratings to understand their insurance company’s strengths.

Companies such as Founders Auto Insurance are found on the AM Best ratings list.  Founders Insurance received an A- as of July 2010 which is considered excellent.  This excellent rating is very important to the well being of the company.  Best’s Financial Strength ratings offer an independent evaluation from a third party to assist in determining the ability of an insurance company to fulfill its obligations with regard to a variety of insurance products, including auto insurance coverage.

The AM Best rating process gives all insurance companies the same rigorous review which provides an extremely valuable benchmark for comparing insurance companies against each other.  Companies can receive ratings from an A++ all the way down to an F which usually means the company is in liquidation.  A B or below is considered a vulnerable rating whereas a B+ or above indicates secure financial strength.

According to the article “Auto Claims Customer Satisfaction Still High, But Dips From ‘09″ by NU Online News Service on Property-Casualty.com, overall auto insurance claims satisfaction dropped in 2010 because of a decrease in settlement satisfaction based on a study from JD Power & Associates.

JD Power & Associates released its 2010 US Auto Claims Satisfaction Study recently and it shows the number of consumers who filed claims considered their fair dropped in 2010 when compared with the 2009 results.  Satisfaction with claims service is still higher than it was in 2008 which is a good sign.  For the study, auto insurance companies were ranked based on consumer responses, on first notice of loss, service interaction, repair process, appraisal, settlement, rental experience and overall satisfaction.

The senior director of insurance practice at JD Power & Associates, Jeremy Bowler, says the industry experienced huge improvements in 2009 partly because of a 2 day reduction in overall repair time year over year which is a major feat.  In 2010 repair times increased slightly but overall satisfaction is still good.

JD Power’s 2009 National Auto Insurance Study offers auto insurance provider ratings for a wide variety of insurers such as Encompass Car Insurance.  Encompass rated average which is good considering it’s a smaller company.

In the category of overall satisfaction, Encompass ranked average.  The category of contacting the insurer also ranked average.  Policy offerings received two stars which is the second to worst rating to receive.  Billing payment was considered average and pricing received two stars.  Overall the company achieved an average ranking.

It’s convenient that JD Power is ranking smaller companies, but other smaller insurers such as Dairyland Insurance are not included in the ranking report.  You can still receive reviews on these smaller companies through review websites or the Better Business Bureau.  As you shop around for car insurance you want to consider how other people view their experience with the company.  Price is obviously very important but you need to understand what you are getting for the price quoted.

According to the article “New York Releases Auto Insurance Rankings” from insurance journal.com, The New York State Department released their annual report which looks at complaint ratios of all New York auto insurance companies or groups with 10 million minimum in average premiums in 2007 and 2008.  If a company has less than 10 million premiums but had 10 or more complaints against them, then they are also included in the report.

In total, there were 38 companies included in this list.  Amica had the least amount of complaints.  There were 6 other auto insurance companies with no complaints upheld in 2008.  These included The Main Street America Group, QBE Insurance Group, LTD, American Express Group, Balboa Life and Casualty, Electric Insurance Group, and Everready Insurance Co.  Amica writes the most premiums, at about 86.7 million, so this is why they top the list.

One of the most common types of complaints was the delays in payment for no fault claims.  The average complaint ratio for insurance companies was .10 per $1 million in premiums.  Twenty seven auto insurance companies had complaint ratios that were average or better.  This is some information to think about as you are shopping for New York auto insurance quotes.