By Vanessa Santos, Boston MA.
The New York State Insurance Department has just released its 2010 Annual Ranking of Automobile Insurance Complaints. This ranking is an informative table for use by insurance consumers to determine which insurance companies have the most complaints filed with the Insurance Department for private passenger automobile insurance policies. Other types of auto insurance policies like commercial policies are not contemplated for this report. The companies are ranked by the number of complaints upheld against them as a percentage of their average 2008-2009 premiums. For this ranking, upheld complaints are those where the Insurance Department agrees with a customer that the auto insurance company made an incorrect decision regarding their handling of the issue that was the subject of the complaint.
The ranking only lists complaints against the Insurance Department and does not reflect complaints made directly to the insurance companies.
The ranking can be used by consumers to determine which automobile insurance companies are more likely to have complaints filed against them so they can make educated decisions regarding which companies to use for their auto insurance needs. The report ranks 181 insurance companies that provide auto insurance coverage in New York State.
Of 6,808 complaints against insurers, only 966 complaints were upheld. This means that the insurance department dismissed nearly 6 out of 7 complaints against insurers either because there were questions of fact that could not be determined by the department, or that the complaints lacked merit, or that the complaint was withdrawn by the consumer.
The company that had the highest number of complaints upheld against it was Long Island Insurance Company with 265 out of 365 complaints upheld. Many insurers had zero complaints upheld, but Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company made best ranked company of the list because it had zero complaints with the highest average of 2008 and 2009 auto premiums written was the highest at $140.474 million.
This ranking system is based on the number of complaints upheld against each insurance company against the total premium dollars for private passenger auto insurance written within the state of New York. The report uses data from 2008 and 2009, which allows for complaints from a previous year to be closed.
The New York State Insurance Department states that most of the complaints upheld related to the payment of no-fault claims. In New York, no-fault insurance refers to the Personal Injury Protection portion of an auto policy. This section pays for medical bills incurred by an injured occupant of a vehicle regardless of who is at fault for the accident. This coverage is required of all motorists in New York, and it is designed to eliminate delays in payments for important medical bills that might arise due to disputes over liability for the accident. In New York, insurance companies have a time requirement for making payments for no-fault claims.
Other complaints stemmed from an insurance companies failure to renew a policy. This can happen for various reasons including non-payment of premium, and accident or claims history.
The complaint ratio is quite small as compared to the number of premium dollars collected for auto insurance coverage in New York State. There was 0.10 complaints for every $1 million in premiums which, according the New York State Insurance Department, amounts to 1 complaint for every $9.7 million in premiums.
While this ranking is an important table to consider when reviewing automobile insurance quotes, the New York State Insurance department cautions that other factors should also be used when making an important decision about which company to use including a survey of friends and family members about their experiences with a particular insurance company.
