State Farm, the largest property and casualty insurer in the US, forfeit its position at the top of the customer satisfaction index in 2015, losing out to Farm Bureau. But none of the big players can compete with the smaller, boutique insurers, which typically provide a better service.
Data from the America Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), revealed that new entrant Farm Bureau scored 80 out of 100 in terms of customer satisfaction. State Farm dropped from 81 in 2014 to 78 in 2015, while Geico took third place as a non-mover at 77.
New entrants AAA and
Nationwide were tied in fourth at 75, just ahead of Progressive which dropped from 76 to 74 and fifth place.
Allstate also dropped, from 77 in 2014, to 73 in 2015, taking sixth place, and followed by new entrants American Family,
Liberty Mutual, and
Travelers, all with 73. While
Farmers came in at tenth with 71, having suffered the biggest annual drop in points from 77 last year.
But it was the aggregate of smaller insurers, which held the lead with 83, up from 79, cresting the industry average, also of 79.
ACSI noted that while property and casualty insurers on the whole excel at customer service, some aspects have slipped.
Agents and staff are still seen as more courteous and helpful with policy purchase, renewal, or inquiries (87) as well as claims handling (86), but are not as efficient with the latter compared to a year ago, seeing a drop of two points.
Insurers have also slipped slightly for timeliness of claims processing (85 from 86 last year), but billings (85), variety of coverage options (85), and websites (84) have improved by one or more points.
There is some visibility of loyalty encouragement efforts, as the availability of policy discounts and rewards—the industry’s weakest area in 2014—shows the most improvement in 2015, up 5% to 81.
