The Best (and Worst) Insurance Companies in U.S.

Every year insurance companies are ranked by outside sources to provide you with information to make an informed choice in which are the best insurance companies to do business with.

Using research and consumer opinion brings the best insurance companies to you in an easy list.

Which are the best insurance companies to purchase car insurance from?

This is a question that is wondered by all drivers. Everyone wants the lowest priced premium that has the best customer service and claims process. But, you can’t trust the advertising from the insurance companies so how do you know which are the best insurance companies?

Here at Car Insurance Guidebook we have collected the rankings of the best insurance companies (and the worst car insurance companies) for you to view and make a decision for yourself. These are nationwide lists of the best insurance companies so keep in mind you may not have heard of the ones that don’t write insurance in your area.

Fortune 500 – 2011 Best Insurance Companies

Let’s start with the best insurance companies that are making the most money.  The rankings of these top 10 best insurance companies on the Fortune 500 list are more based off information that a business person or an investor would be interested in. They are not based off anything that we as insurance consumers look for in our best insurance companies such as premium, customer service or claims services.

However, as an insurance consumer, going with an insurance company that is a solid company all around does protect us. It protects us from paying a large amount of premium to a company that may not be around to pay our claims if that time ever comes.

The following listing is the rankings of the best insurance companies in the “Insurance: Property and Casualty” category.  The numbers listed after is their ranking on the complete Fortune 500 list with all of the business categories combined.

1. Berkshire Hathaway (7)
2. AIG (17)
3. State Farm (37)
4. Liberty Mutual (82)
5. Allstate (89)
6. Travelers Cos (106)
7. Hartford Financial (117)
8. Nationwide (127)
9. United Services Automobile Association (145)
10. Progressive (164)

Top 3 Insurance Company Mascots

Company identification is very important in the insurance industry.  The better known an insurance company is the more likely people are going to seek them out for an insurance quote.  More insurance quotes lead to more business.

Insurance mascots can help an insurance company achieve this recognition. The mascot helps by making the insurance company that they represent stick in a potential client’s mind. So every time a consumer sees the mascot, they think of the insurance company. To test part of this advertising gimmick, a TV study was done to see the effectiveness of insurance advertising on consumers.

When study participants were provided with insurance TV ads these were the top three most recognized insurance company mascots:

1. The GEICO Gecko (Geico is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway)
2. Flo from Progressive
3. Allstate’s Mayhem

If you will notice the companies of all three of the most recognized insurance company mascots are listed above in the Fortune 500 best insurance companies list.

Best Insurance Companies for Customer Service

Customer service is essential in the insurance industry. If you treat your customers rudely and do not try to be flexible to their needs, there is very little keeping them from leaving for another company.

Each year JDPower.com awards the best insurance companies that exceed customer service expectations for their clients.  The following is a list of the 2011 Customer Service Champions for the best insurance companies in the industry:

• Amica
• Auto-Owners Insurance
• Erie Insurance
• Farm Bureau Insurance
• NJM Insurance Group
• USAA

(A full listing of all the best insurance companies that earned the Customer Service Champions award can be found at www. JDPower.com)

Best Insurance Companies for Claims Service

The whole essence of insurance is the claims department. Insurance is a promise that is made by the best insurance companies to you that they will pay your claims for the coverage that you buy. If an insurance company does not hold up their end of the promise, they are not an insurance company that is worth paying premium to.

Below is the list of the best insurance companies for claims service from JD Power’s 2010 Auto Claims Satisfaction Survey:

1. Auto-Owners Insurance
2. American Family*
3. Amica Mutual*
4. California State Automobile Association (CSAA)*
5. Erie Insurance*
6. The Hartford*

*Numbers 2 – 6 all tied for 2^nd best “Overall Satisfaction” rating for Claims Satisfaction.  These companies all earned a 4 out of 5 ranking on the study.

Worst Insurance Companies Based on Claims Service

An insurance company that is rated poorly on claims service is a lot of times a combination of bad customer service and also a claims department that clients just don’t think is keeping their claims promise to them. In JD Power’s 2010 Auto Claims Satisfaction study there was no one company that stood out as the worst in the rankings.

These insurance companies on the Auto Claims Satisfaction study were rated on: First Notice of Loss, Service Interaction, Appraisal, Repair Process, Rental Experience and Settlement.

In “Overall Satisfaction” these companies tied at the bottom of the list only earning a 2 out of a possible 5.  In alphabetical order, the following three companies graced the bottom of the list:

• 21^st Century
• Commerce
• Mercury

So there you have it, the best insurance companies and the worst in the insurance industry as ranked by businesses and consumers like you.