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Read for yourself I do not have time to read it. The whole thing
should be here.
CONSUMER REPORTS: AUTO INSURANCE, PART 1
Part 1 of this report includes the following sections:
Consumer Reports Ratings
Consumer Reports Recommendations
Coverage Basics
Price
CONSUMER REPORTS RATINGS
Consumer Reports rated 36 insurers based on almost 34,000
responses to CR's 1994 Annual Questionnaire. The Ratings list
each COMPANY in order of overall SCORE, based on readers' overall
judgments of how well their company handled their most recent
auto-insurance claim since January 1, 1991. A * before a company
name indicates a direct writer or a company that mainly deals
with exclusive agents or brokers. Unless otherwise indicated
after the company name, anyone with a valid driver's license is
eligible to apply.
The overall score is based on a 6-point scale: 100 is excellent,
80 is very good, 60 is good, 40 is fair, 20 is poor, 0 is very
poor. The median company rating was 84. Each insurer received at
least 179 responses. Differences of less than about 5 points
aren't meaningful. Note: The results reflect the experiences of
Consumer Reports readers, not necessarily those of all auto-
insurance policyholders.
CLAIMS is Consumer Reports' judgment of claims problems. It
reflects the percentage of policyholders from each company who
said they'd had: Difficulty reaching the company; delays in
handling a claim or getting payment; disagreement over the dollar
amount of damages, who was at fault or what the policy covered;
rudeness; complicated procedures. NON is the judgment of
nonclaims problems. It reflects the percentage of policyholders
who said they'd had: Unfairly large rate increases; not enough
information about changes in coverage; poor service when changing
coverage; difficulty reaching the company; unclear explanation;
late or incorrect billing. Numbers in the CLAIMS and NON columns
are on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being better and 1 being worse.
DELAYS is the percentage of policyholders with settled claims who
said they didn't get their total payment within 30 days of
filing. For the average insurer, 10 % of policyholders were in
this category. SOLD is where a company sells its coverage. An N
(national) means the company sells in most states. Few sell in
all. MW is the Midwest, SE is the Southeast, SW is the Southwest,
E is the East, W is the West. States are identified by postal
abbreviation.
Ratings: Auto Insurance
36 rated
Better 5<---->1 Worse
SCORE COMPANY CLAIMS NON DELAYS SOLD
95 *Amica Mutual 4 5 6 % N
94 *United Services Automobile
Association (USAA)
(current or retired
military officers) 4 5 7 N
92 *USAA Casualty (dependents
of USAA customers) 3 5 7 N
91 Cincinnati 5 4 7 MW,SE
90 Erie Insurance
Exchange 4 4 6 MW,E
90 *National General