New York Agents rated personal lines carriers higher thancommercial lines carriers on six key factors in a recent survey,reversing the trend from a similar survey conducted lastsummer.

The survey, Industry Index: The IIABNY Report on CarrierPerformance Executive Summary, Winter 2008, was conducted byVincent McCabe, Inc. on behalf of the Independent Insurance Agentsand Brokers of New York.

Thirty-one insurers were evaluated based on the responses of 210agency principals or leaders responsible for carrier relations tothe following six factors:

o Underwriters are empowered, responsive and consistent.

o Technology and documentation are easy to use.

o Keeps its promises, treats me, my agency and my customers withhonesty and fairness.

o Treats our relationship as a real partnership.

o Field and office personnel have a relationship with me and mycustomers, and they are very responsive.

o Profit sharing and commission arrangements are fair.

Agents were also allowed to add and score carriers not on thedefined listing, IIABNY said.

The association noted that personal lines carriers were ratedhigher overall on these factors than commercial lines carriers, areversal from IIABNY's previous Industry Index conducted lastsummer.

While the survey did not provide an explanation on the reversal,IIABNY noted that the economic climate may have been a factor.

Kathy Weinheimer, IIABNY senior vice president, IndustryRelations and Education, said in a statement, "The commercialmarket seems to be hardening slightly, but last summer, duringIIABNY's previous survey, the market was very soft. Such a changeoften shows up in carrier-agency relations."

The survey also found that regional carriers were rated higherthan super-regional and national carriers, although nationalcarriers did show an overall improvement from IIABNY's previousindex.

Ms. Weinheimer said in the statement that this may be because"the negative impact of the economy on some carriers may becreating opportunities for others."

In an interview, Ms. Weinheimer said national personal linescarriers particularly showed improvement in scoring on thecategories "underwriters are empowered, responsive and consistent,""keeps its promises, treats me, my agency and my customers withhonesty and fairness," and "profit sharing and commissionarrangements are fair."

Still, she noted, regional carriers tended to score higher inall areas, sometimes by a margin as high as nine points.

Regional carriers also made gains in the area of technology, Ms.Weinheimer said. For commercial lines they scored the same asnational carriers, and for personal lines they scored higher thannational carriers.

Last summer, Ms. Weinheimer noted, both personal and commercialregional carriers scored lower than their national counterparts intechnology.

The survey was conducted in October and November 2008.