Collision Industry Ranks Insurers; State Farm Tops List for Fairness and Efficiency

CollisionWeek magazine recently surveyed readers with regard to their take on the insurance industry. Poll-takers were asked to rank the insurers according to fairness of reimbursement policies and claims-handling efficiency; results showed that State Farm ranked highest with a score of 88.7 percent, followed by USAA with 66.3 percent. Progressive received the lowest ranking, with 34.2 percent of votes.

The annual survey showed that the collision repair industry's overall faith in insurers has gone down an average of 4.9 points than in 2004. Readers were asked to grade the insurers on a scale of one to five, five being the best ranking of "very good" and one standing for "very poor."

Scores of 80 or higher rank as "very good," with 60-80 standing for "good." Scores of 40-60 pulled in a vote of "average," while a score 20-40 is considered "poor" and 0-20 is "very poor."

In 2005, Progressive insurance was the only insurance company to score in the "poor" category, a few other insurance companies came close, with Farmers eking by into the "average" category with a score of 40.7 and Nationwide scoring 41.9.

Ten insurance companies were named in the survey, and the results were as follows:
1. State Farm, 88.7
2. USAA, 66.3
3. Travelers, 55.5
4. Liberty Mutual, 52.7
5. GEICO, 50.4
6. Allstate, 48.3
7. American Family, 48.3
8. Nationwide, 41.9
9. Farmers, 40.7
10. Progessive, 34.2

Information here adapted from the report in Hammer and Dolly magazine, January 2006, Volume 41, No. 1.