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

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

A big drop for smaller insurance companies, including AAA,Nationwide and Travelers, is responsible for much of the weakeningcustomer satisfaction. The aggregate of smaller insurers plummeted7 percent to 77, the lowest score in the property-casualtycategory.

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

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

See next pages for charts illustrating theresults.

The ACSI study also looks at the banking, credit union andlife/health insurance sectors of the financial servicesindustry.

Key findings include:

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

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

For the complete survey, visitthe ACSI website.