West Bend Mutual Insurance Company of West Bend, Wis., earned the number one spot in a consulting firm survey of carrier performance judged by agents.

The firm came out on top in the sixth annual Deep Customer Connections Inc.'s Ease of Doing Business Index industry-wide ratings survey.

Deep Customer Connections (DCC) based in Acton, Mass. said the aim of its Ease of Doing Business (EDB) survey is to gauge a carrier's performance against what independent agents rate as most important when choosing a carrier to write business with.

The survey consisted of more than 7,400 independent agents and brokers assessing the performance of over 250 property-casualty carriers. The survey was conducted electronically from October last year to September of this year.

In addition to capturing the overall top spot, West Bend was in the top 10 in each of the eleven EDB factors with number one rankings on two factors–policy services and marketing support.

After West Bend, the firms rounding out the top 10 overall by ranking were:

o Central Mutual Insurance

o Safety Insurance

o Frankenmuth Insurance

o Selective Insurance

o ACUITY Insurance

o SECURA Insurance

o State Auto Insurance

o Society Insurance

o Tied for 10th were Texas Mutual Insurance and United Fire Group

“There is a small increase in overall performance from last year's EDB survey,” said Nort Salz, president of DCC in a statement. “Industry-wide, the Ease of Doing Business Index rose from 87.8 in 2007 to 88.5 in 2008.”

In DCC's annual EDB survey, agents and brokers rated the importance of 11 EDB factors and then evaluated individual carriers' performance in each. In addition to the highest overall EDB Index performers, DCC recognized the top performers by factor.

They were:

o Acts on agency needs–Frankenmuth Insurance

o Underwriting responsiveness–Safety Insurance

o Quotes and issues without rework–Selective Insurance

o Underwriting flexibility–Safety Insurance

o Policy services–West Bend Mutual Insurance Company

o Effective technology–Progressive Insurance

o Handles claims promptly–Chubb Insurance

o Handles claims fairly–The Cincinnati Insurance Company

o Marketing support–West Bend Mutual Insurance Company

o Insurance expertise and support–Texas Mutual Insurance

o Makes it easy for the agent to do business with the policyholder–Central Mutual Insurance

Some carriers improved their ratings while others' ratings fell. For example, West Bend recaptured the number one spot, and Central Mutual moved from seventh to second place. There are also several new names on the overall top 10 list: Safety Insurance, Society Insurance, Texas Mutual Insurance, and United Fire Group.

“These changes in ratings represent one important reason carriers should measure their EDB performance,” explained Paul Croke, a DCC co-founder. “Agents' ratings of EDB performance evolve over time; today's improvements–including those in other industries–breed tomorrow's expectations. Even the best performing carriers need to work hard to continue to earn high EDB ratings.”

Details of the results will be available in DCC's annual EDB Benchmark Report scheduled to be released in December, or by contacting DCC. Information is available on its Web site at www.deepcc.com.

Special Reports /

West Bend Mutual Gets Top Rating From Agents

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