Higher-than-average annual rate increases for personal lines coverages by property-casualty insurers are causing customer satisfaction levels to drop, according to the most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) financial services satisfaction report, released today.

The report shows that overall customer satisfaction with property-casualty insurance and the industry in general fell 6 percent to a score of 78 out of a possible 100--the lowest rating in 5 years.

A big drop for smaller insurance companies, including AAA, Nationwide and Travelers, is responsible for much of the weakening customer satisfaction. The aggregate of smaller insurers plummeted 7 percent to 77, the lowest score in the property-casualty category.

On an individual basis, State Farm ranked highest, down only 1 percent to an ACSI score of 81. With a 3 percent gain, Progressive vaults into a tie with State Farm for the lead.

Three other insurers are tied at 79: GEICO, Farmers Group and Allstate. GEICO slipped 2 percent and Farmers Group remained unchanged. Allstate joins Progressive in bucking the industry downturn, with a slight 1 percent gain.

See next pages for charts illustrating the results.

ACSI 1

The ACSI study also looks at the banking, credit union and life/health insurance sectors of the financial services industry.

Key findings include:

Life insurance regains its all-time high of 81, attributable to premium rate stability.
Overall customer satisfaction with health insurance remains unchanged at a score of 72 on the ACSI's 100-point scale. The lack of change is most likely due to in part to lower-than-normal rate increases.
Top performers in the insurance industry include Blue Cross and Blue Shield (+7% to 73), which leads the health sector, and smaller life insurers (-1% to 81) leading the life insurance sector.

ACSI 2

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to U.S. consumers. Results are based on interviews with roughly 70,000 customers annually, measuring satisfaction with more than 230 companies in 47 industries and 10 economic sectors.

For the complete survey, visit the ACSI website.

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