NY ranks car insurance companies

By NICK REISMAN
Star-Gazette
nreisman@hotmail.com
January 3, 2006


ALBANY — American Modern Insurance Co. ranked No. 1 for fewest customer complaints among automobile insurance companies doing business in New York last year, while Empire Insurance received the most, according to a state Insurance Department report.

Among the state’s largest auto insurance companies, Progressive had the fewest grievances filed against it, while GEICO and White Mountains Insurance had the most.

The rankings are just one of the tools drivers can use, in addition to comparing prices, when shopping around for car insurance, said Wayne Cotter, an Insurance Department spokesman. The rankings are a good indicator of customer service.

They have changed little since 2004, and generally remain the same over time, he said.

“One thing we try to stress is that there’s consistency,” he said. “A lot of the times you’ll see the same (rankings for companies).”

The report, which is released annually, found that New Yorkers filed 13,023 complaints with the agency’s Consumer Services Bureau in 2005. A little over half, or 7,233, of them were tossed out.

Rankings are calculated by how many complaints were filed with the state and if they had any merit. The “complaint ratio” measures the number of complaints per $1 million of the company’s insurance premiums in the state.

The two most frequent complaints filed against companies in 2005 were about access to claims and the cancellation of service, according to the report.

Cotter said that the department has opened inquiries on some companies that continue to garner many complaints every year.
The agency hasn’t opened up any investigations based on this year’s report yet.

America Modern, which specializes in boat and recreational vehicle insurance, had a zero complaint ratio and ranked first overall. Last year, the company ranked seventh.

Amex Insurance surged to the top of the list. Last year, the company wasn’t even in the top 20. Now it’s fourth for least number of complaints. Overall, 13 companies have stayed in the top 25 of the least complaints filed category in the last three years.

Companies that have had the most complaints filed against them usually haven’t improved in the past few years, according to the report.

Empire Insurance Co. has repeatedly been at the bottom of the pack since 2002. So have Infinity (47th in 2004 and 2003, 46th in 2002) and American Financial.

Calls to Empire Insurance, Infinity and American Financial were not immediately returned.

New Yorkers saw their auto insurance rates drop by 3 percent to 10 percent during 2005, according to the Insurance Department. Car owners also spent more than $10 billion on their insurance in 2004, down from $10.2 billion in 2003.

But New York is still second in the nation for the high price of auto insurance. Most drivers paid an average annual premium of $3,286, according to www.insurance.com, in 2004.

“I think the public’s primary consideration when they shop for insurance is price,” said John Corlett, a spokesman for the American Automobile Association. “Different carriers can vary (premiums) by 40 or 50 percent.”