Of course we have all heard the saying “All real estate is local”, right? It means that market conditions are specific to wherever you are. We know that the real estate market in Naples and Southwest Florida is very unique, and specific to our area, and the same could be said of auto insurance.
While there are a handful of national insurers — mainly the big companies you see advertising on TV — a lot of the action in the auto insurance market is regional. There are a number of smaller players around the country who do a great job insuring motorists in their local area. Since many property owners in Florida are from another area of the country or world, You just may not be all that familiar with the best auto insurers in Florida because they don’t have the ad budgets of the “big guys”.
That’s why when you think about auto insurance rankings, you really want to know who’s doing well and satisfying customers in Naples, Southwest Florida, and throughout the state of Florida. And J.D. Power’s latest ranking of the auto industry does just that.
Here are the Best Auto Insurers in Florida and Wherever Else You May Live:
J.D. Power surveyed 44,622 auto insurance customers between February and April of 2018 and asked them to grade their insurer on five metrics:
Customer interaction
Policy offerings
Price
Billing process and policy information
Claims.
The results that emerged show overall satisfaction with auto insurers is at a record high, with the industry as a whole scoring 826 on a 1,000-point scale.
Here’s who is doing a great job in Florida, according to the survey:
USAA
MetLife
Allstate
GEICO
Esurance
Analysis of the results
One thing is immediately clear: USAA scored the highest in every single region of the country! However, USAA is only available to those in the military; those who were honorably discharged from the military; and those affiliated with the military through direct family ties. So it may not be available to you.
Another of Clark’s favorite insurers, Amica Mutual, only showed up as a Top 5 pick in one region — New England.
Meanwhile, there was a surprisingly strong showing from some big-name insurers. GEICO was named a Top 5 choice in five regions of the country — the Central Region, the Mid-Atlantic states, Florida, New England and in the Southeast.
Other widely known insurers who also fared well were The Hartford and Allstate, which were both named top picks in different four regions.
However, there is one caveat we want to point about GEICO: If you’re interested in bundling your auto and home insurance through GEICO to get a multi-policy discount, you should know that GEICO offers home insurance through any of a number of affiliated and non-affiliated insurance companies.
What does that mean in plain English? Simply that while GEICO definitely writes its own auto insurance, the home insurance you buy through GEICO will be underwritten through someone else — not GEICO.
We recently discovered this during a home insurance shopping exercise we conducted here at Clark.com. Just something to keep in mind as you’re out there shopping the marketplace!
California
USAA
Ameriprise
Wawanesa
Auto Club of Southern California Insurance Group
The Hartford
Central Region
USAA
Shelter
Auto-Owners Insurance
GEICO
Auto Club of Southern California Insurance Group
Florida
USAA
MetLife
Allstate
GEICO
Esurance
Mid-Atlantic Region
USAA
NJM Insurance Co.
Erie Insurance
GEICO
The Hartford
New England
USAA
Amica Mutual
State Farm
Allstate
GEICO
New York
USAA
New York Central Mutual
MetLife
Allstate
Travelers
North Central Region
USAA
Auto-Owners Insurance
COUNTRY Financial
Cincinnati Insurance
Erie Insurance
Northwest Region
USAA
PEMCO Insurance
The Hartford
American Family
State Farm
Southeast Region
USAA
Farm Bureau Insurance—Tennessee
Auto-Owners Insurance
GEICO
NC Farm Bureau
Southwest Region
USAA
CSAA Insurance Group
The Hartford
State Farm
American Family
Texas
USAA
Texas Farm Bureau
Allstate
MetLife
Farmers
Improvements in Digital Interactions, Billings/Payment, Policy Offerings Drive Increase
Despite steadily increasing premiums, auto insurance customers are more satisfied with their carriers than ever. The reason? According to the J.D. Power 2018 U.S. Auto Insurance Study,SM insurers are beginning to get the customer interaction formula right, offering a mix of digital and live interactions that keep customers engaged with their brands across all channels.
“Cost is not the sole indicator of customer satisfaction in the auto insurance industry,” said Robert Lajdziak, Insurance Practice Business Consultant at J.D. Power. “Low prices may attract new customers, but it’s service that keeps them. The auto insurers that increase customer satisfaction across all facets of the customer experience make price just one part of the overall relationship.”
More frequent use of digital interaction channels—particularly for monthly billing—also has played a major role in driving higher levels of satisfaction. “Customer satisfaction is at its highest when customers take care of transactions themselves and save the high-value interactions for live channels,” Lajdziak said. “However, the increasing demand and use of digital self-service options is putting pressure on agents to evolve their value proposition to offer more products and services to help customers with complex needs and risks.”
Following are some of the key findings of the 2018 study:
Record-high customer satisfaction breeds loyalty: Overall customer satisfaction with U.S. auto insurers improves in 2018 and is now at a record-high level of 826 (on a 1,000-point scale). This increase in customer satisfaction is inversely correlated with a decline in auto insurance shopping rates, which have reached a record low.[1]
Insurers delivering strong omnichannel experience: Customer satisfaction improves across all factors measured in the study, with the biggest gains in billing process and policy information (+11 points); policy offerings (+10); price (+6); and interaction (+3). The gain in the billing process and policy information factor is partly driven by increased satisfaction with electronic statements and monthly billing.
Preference for digital interaction channels grows: Overall satisfaction tends to be highest when customers interact via a mix of online and offline methods of communication. The preference for digital forms of communication is greatest for low touch-point interactions, such as verifying payment receipt (73% digital preference); making payment (70% digital preference); and ordering proof of insurance cards (66% digital preference).
Transparency is key when premium increases are introduced: When there is an insurer-initiated premium increase, it is important to communicate that an increase is coming. When customers are pre-notified of a premium increase, overall satisfaction is 797. When they are not notified—which happens 49% of the time—overall satisfaction drops 49 points to 748.
Usage-based insurance programs grow significantly: Usage-based insurance programs, which leverage telematics technology to set insurance premiums based on how far and how safely a customer drives, are gaining converts. This year, 10% of insurance customers indicate participating in usage-based insurance programs, up from 8% in 2016 and 2017. While the most common reason for participating in a usage-based program is to obtain a discount, speeding alerts, vehicle tracking and driver coaching are gaining importance among customers currently using such programs.
Study Rankings
Following are the highest-ranked auto insurance brands by region:
California: Ameriprise
Central: Shelter
Florida: MetLife
Mid-Atlantic: Erie Insurance
New England: Amica Mutual
New York: New York Central Mutual
North Central: Auto-Owners Insurance
Northwest: PEMCO Insurance
Southeast: Farm Bureau Insurance—Tennessee
Southwest: CSAA Insurance Group
Texas: Texas Farm Bureau
The 2018 U.S. Auto Insurance Study examines customer satisfaction in five factors (in order of importance): interaction; policy offerings; price; billing process and policy information; and claims. The study is based on responses from 44,622 auto insurance customers and was fielded from February-April 2018.
For more information about the U.S. Auto Insurance Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/resource/jd-power-us-auto-insurance-satisfaction-study.
J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. These capabilities enable J.D. Power to help its clients drive customer satisfaction, growth and profitability. Established in 1968, J.D. Power is headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., and has offices serving North/South America, Asia Pacific and Europe. J.D. Power is a portfolio company of XIO Group, a global alternative investments and private equity firm headquartered in London, and is led by its four founders: Athene Li, Joseph Pacini, Murphy Qiao and Carsten Geyer.
