»Article posted on: March 2, 2010 by: Kathryn Vercillo
State Farm snags top spot in customer satisfaction survey
When it comes to property and casualty (P&C) insurance, State Farm appears to be leading the way in keeping its customers happy. The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), developed by the University of Michigan, periodically measures consumer satisfaction with products and services – and State Farm recently snagged the top spot for P&C insurance.
The economy has had a grave effect on the quality of service that many customers are receiving in a number of different industries. Cutbacks in spending and job layoffs have led to low morale in many companies. It’s a terrible cycle, because customers who aren’t satisfied will take their business elsewhere or stop purchasing the service altogether.
Customer Satisfaction for P&C Insurance
State Farm earned a customer satisfaction score of 82 on a 100-point scale. It was followed closely by GEICO (81 points) and Progressive (80 points). The ACSI’s latest release indicates that larger P&C insurers have fared better in consumer perception than smaller insurers.
The finance and insurance sector saw a slight improvement in customer satisfaction from the third to fourth quarter of 2009. The property and casualty insurance sector is ahead of the game, averaging a customer satisfaction score of 80 in comparison to the average 77.1 in the finance sector as a whole.
filed under CAR INSURANCE · HOME INSURANCE | tags: CAR INSURANCE, HOME INSURANCE
Mary said:
Mar 01, 10 at 12:38 amThey definitely deserve it with all the work they’ve been doing on the Ford recalls. I’m happy with my State Farm for sure.
Ang said:
Mar 01, 10 at 12:06 pmIt’s interesting that the top 3 are all ones we see with the most commercials on TV. I wonder if they got the highest customer satisfactions just because they’re the most used due to the commercials. I’ve heard a lot of people switch to smaller, more independent companies because there’s a lot more personal investment in it.
al said:
Mar 05, 10 at 11:36 amI’m not surprised by the findings. State Farm lives by their slogan “like a good neighbor, State Farm is there” by investing in the communities that they do business in. Their agencies are small businesses that employ locally. As a Latino, I personally like the community outreach program called State Farm Es Para Mi, through which they promote education, voter registration, and citizenship.
Robert said:
Mar 18, 10 at 5:57 pmI’ve had State Farm for over 25 years and I’ve always been satisfied. Their rates are very competitive and their service is excellent. I would highly recommend them.
Dreaming said:
Mar 19, 10 at 5:37 pmMost people who have State Farm Insurance are dreamers. They don’t live in the real world. State Farm is not a good neighbor, I know from experience. If you’ve ever been in a motor vehicle accident and someone was injured or you were one of the unlucky Katrina victims who State Farm refused to make good on their customers home owners policy, then the dreamers would enter into the real world. State Farm is primarily owned by one family who has the majority of shares in the company….you fools have made them very, very rich. I’ve been told by lawyers that State Farm rarely offers or pays on their policies for MVA injuries. Open your eyes dreamers - Goggle “bad Faith State Farm” and you’ll be kicked into reality. I’ve experienced the evil neighbor and found it was State Farm….they’d rather pay their lawyers hundreds of dollars an hour than settle a claim….I live in MD and been waiting six years to receive compensation. I will have my day in court and pray justice prevails. I tell someone daily the truth about State Farm. You are better off going with a small company to realize huge cost savings and customer service.
Phil said:
Apr 02, 10 at 9:33 amThis comment is in response to “Dreaming.” As a client of State Farm for over 20 years, I believe State Farm is by far the best insurance company around. I have tried switching to other companies in the past but have always come back to State Farm for their professional service. I believe State Farm takes good care of their clients and this starts with their agents all the way to management. “Like A GOOD Neighbor, State Farm will ALWAYS be there.”
Former State Farmer said:
Sep 02, 10 at 10:04 pmI was a State Farm customer since I started driving- over 30 years. When I really needed them, they were not there. A couple years ago I remarried, and in the process of insuring my wife and her daughter with State Farm, the billing got all screwed up. A few months later, my wife had an accident that totaled her car. Fortunately she was ok, but when we called our agent’s office, there was “nothing they could do” because the policy had lapsed a couple months before due to non-payment on that particular car. I tried to explain the billing had gotten screwed up, but they took the “high road” and claimed I hadn’t paid the policy. I asked why they hadn’t called me or something, and their only response was that a notice had been sent. I never got that notice, or I would have paid it. So, after 30 years of never missing a premium, and due to their office screw-up we ended up paying for my wife’s car and are being sued for damages to someone else’s car as well. Thanks a lot, Good Neighbor.
Dreaming 2 said:
Sep 14, 10 at 3:48 pmResponding to Dreaming. State Farm is a Mutual Company, meaning it’s owned by the policy holders. If State Farm is profitable, the loyal policy holders will get dividents back.
David Kagey said:
Oct 03, 10 at 12:50 pmI used to feel very good about State Farm. I am now 62 and since I started driving, every car I owned was insured by SF. My wife and I are on our 7th or 8th home and every one was insured with SF over our almost 40 years of marriage. Can’t think of the last auto claim and only a water leak from a hot water heater claim about 15 years ago. We live near Houston and then came Hurricane Ike. Good news, no claim. No water, wind, etc damage.
Then SF decided that the risks were too high in our area and stopped insuring everyone. To our, and our agent for years, surprise, SF non-renewed us. After 40 years of homeowner insurance, they just said, we are not going to renew your policy.
Now, I completely understand the issues in play….their huge market share, their risk in the area, etc. But, there are ways to handle this. One, the one most companies seem to do is to stop taking new customers. Makes sense. If your risk is too high, lower it….but, not on the backs of customers that have been loyal to you all of their lives. What was the old slogan….State Farm is there or something like that? Afraid not.
Now, I also understand the issue of risk in the Gulf Coast area. It is there. First, much of the US is coastline. If you stopped insuring those near water, you lose a good percent of the population. Second, most areas have some risk. Do you not insure in the midwest due to tornados, or in CA due to the possibility earthquakes, or the rocky mountain areas due to wild fires….I can go on and on with risk.
My only point is that while they are a good company, made up of good people, you should not count on them to be there when you need them. For years and years we had opportunities to lower our premiums by switching to other companies….we didn’t, we were loyal to SF. When they decided our area was too high risk for them, they bailed as soon as they could.
One more funny thing….our agent made a pitch for us to keep our auto with SF……yea, right. You dump a long time customer and want to keep a piece of their business.
We now are insured with Liberty Mutual….we ended up with lower premiums on both the home and autos. It is interesting that last year, they also stopped insuring in parts of Houston. After one year as a customer, they did the right thing….stopped writing new business and renewed all their existing customers.
I love the new age of the internet. When I was starting our in business, the saying used to be that ever dissatisfied customer would tell 10 folks they knew, and this caused businesses to watch the individual. Now, with the internet, every customer has the opportunity to share their story with thousands of customers.
Again, just remember, State Farm is not always there.
David Jensen said:
Dec 27, 10 at 4:28 pmI used to like State Farm however after being a loyal customer for over 20 years we have just been officially dumped. For 20 years we have only had three accidents. Just reciently though my 18 and 20 year old children have had a couple of accidents and State Farm has it in their system that the ticket recieved from the accident and the accident are two different accidents. Since we fought it in court. In addition they have charged my wife for being in an accident where someone backed into her and State Farm did not have to pay a cent. We will now take all of our buisness somewhere else good luck staying in business treating people who have been with you for 20 years like this.
Go Fish!
theresa said:
Jan 13, 11 at 12:04 pmI have been with state farm for over 20 years. No accidents in all that time. excellent driving record. two years ago I get slidgoing slow on ice and the back end of my vehicle hit a concrete guard.
They refuse to pay the medical bills.. they said they paid 80% which incorrect. they haven’t even paid 1/2. Lousy customer service. I have dealty with them over this for 11 months.
STATE FARM CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS….
Jason Lipscomb said:
Feb 19, 11 at 10:13 amState Farm Insurance is Awful. I was in an accident, i have All State and after all was processed i settled with them. I thought that we had an understanding that they would pay all that’s what we agreed upon. Well 3 months later i get a bill saying that i owe 67 dollars that the felt they did not want to pay after we settled. So now they want me to pay a rental bill for a vehicle. I will never have State Farm insurance they are scam artists and are awful customer service who are rude and unkind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They told me i basically have to live with it they were not paying it and hung up on me so unprofessional and rude. So if you have State Farm Insurance good luck I will stick with All State where i know I am takein care of!!!!!!!!!!!!!
robert gill said:
Apr 12, 11 at 1:36 pmState Farm is an iirresponsible and reckless company. I had over 400k in med billls as a result of an auto accident and state farm coundn’t settle the property damage, pip or undersinsured motorist claims.The other party was clearly at fault. A police officer witnessed the accident scene. less than 3 minutes after the accident..
State farm is almost never a member of a local BBB for a good reason.We cancelled 4 policies after being SF policy holders for 30 years. Only consider state farm if you are a terirble driver, use a cell phone while driving or an assigned risk teenage driver.If you are a good driver and especially if you live in alaska, run don’t walk away from state farm.