You know that you are required to obtain and maintain auto insurance in order to legally drive in the state of California. Thankfully, you have plenty of choices regarding which company you want to purchase your coverage through. But have you ever stopped to think whether or not you’re truly happy with your auto insurer?
A comprehensive survey did exactly that — not only for Californians, but with drivers all across the country. The research was conducted by J.D. Power, which is arguably the leading quality assessment firm in the U.S. The study polled thousands of drivers and asked them their views on how satisfied they were with their auto insurance carriers. With the data received from California respondents, J.D. Power ranked the best and worst auto insurers in the state … which we’ll get to in a minute.
National Auto Insurance Satisfaction Results
J.D. Power’s survey had customers rate their auto insurance companies on five factors: price, billing and payment, claims, policy offerings, and interaction. The results were tabulated using a 1,000-point scale for each category, and these scores were averaged to come up with an overall satisfaction rating.
The national overall satisfaction rating for the auto insurers that were measured was 794, which is down 10 points from the same figure in 2012’s survey. That said, it still marked the second-highest overall satisfaction score since J.D. Power began conducting the annual survey in 2000.
The year-over-year drop in overall satisfaction centered mainly around the two categories of price and policy offerings, both of which saw 13-point declines. In fact, the national average for price was just 716 — which is over 100 points lower than the corresponding scores for claims and interaction. One probable factor in the drop in price satisfaction was an increase in the number of policy premium increases that were reported by respondents.
Whole Lotta Switching Going On
Not surprisingly, J.D. Power also found a correlation between how large the increase in premium was and the rate at which customers switch auto insurance providers. For instance, an annual premium increase of between $50 and $100 resulted in customers switching companies 18% of the time. That’s twice the rate of switching that occurred when premium increases were less than $50. In addition, when premium increases of at least $200 were reported, a whopping 32% of customers decided to obtain auto insurance from a different carrier.
But here’s an interesting twist: customers who were notified by their insurance companies prior to a premium increase and were given options of how to mitigate the rate change responded more favorably. Specifically, the average price satisfaction score was 67 points higher than for those companies who didn’t provide notification of the rate hikes.
California Auto Insurance Satisfaction Results
So how did these national numbers compare to California auto insurers?
A total of 18 auto insurance companies were measured in the J.D. Power survey of respondents who live in California. The average overall satisfaction score was 777 (or 17 points below the national average).
If you are ever dissatisfied with your auto insurer, and you want to see what your other options are, contact Auto Insurance Specialists. They compare the policies and rates of several different carriers so you can select the one that best suits your needs and your budget.
This content is offered for educational purposes only and does not represent contractual agreements. The definitions, terms and coverage’s in a given policy may be different than those suggested here and such policy will be governed by the language contained therein. No warranty or appropriateness for a specific purpose is expressed or implied.
