N.J. Says An Underwriter Is Consumer Enemy No. 1
By Mark E. Ruquet
NU Online News Service, Feb. 6, 4:15 p.m. EST?The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance has given Rutgers Casualty Group the unsavory honor of being first on its list of carriers with the highest consumer complaint ratio. [@@]
The insurer was ranked the worst in the state for the number of valid complaints from consumers that piled up against it with the department during 2002. The rankings included 43 carriers that insure 1,000 or more vehicles in New Jersey, the department said.
A call to Rutgers Casualty for comment was not returned.
The list, which has been maintained since 1995, gives a ratio of the total number of complaints to the number of vehicles insured by the company.
For the second year in a row, Rutgers came in first with a ratio of 1.39 based on 47 valid complaints to 33,901 vehicles.
Electric Insurance Company, TIG Insurance Company, and Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Company were the best with a ratio of zero.
The state's largest insurer of autos, New Jersey Manufacturers, insuring 739,813 vehicles, had a ratio of .03 or 19 valid complaints. Among some of the larger underwriters of vehicles in the state, State Farm had a ratio of .07 and Allstate a ratio of .14.
Mary Cozzolino, assistant commissioner of public affairs, said the report was complied by the department from its own internal figures. The rankings, which are available to consumers to review, are to become a part of an Auto Insurance company Consumer Report Card to be issued in the summer. What format the report will take has not been decided, she said.
Independent agents said they support the department's goals and the ranking is just another step in giving consumers the kind of information they need to make informed decisions in their insurance purchases.
"I think this is tremendous for the consumer," said John D'Agostino, president of the Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey and vice president of D'Agostino Agency Insurance in Hammonton, N.J.
"This is one picture of a bigger picture to let customers understand who they are doing business with and the opportunity to look around at other carriers," said Jeanne Heisler, president of the Ronan Agency in Bricktown, N.J., and government affairs representative for the Independent Insurance Agents of New Jersey.
Ms. Heisler said that the overall numbers show a low number of complaints among the carriers. She was surprised the number was not higher, especially after the problems that developed for drivers when some carriers were allowed to drop customers and threatened to withdraw from the market.
Mr. D'Agostino said that the ranking was unfair in one way. It did not put all the carriers on an even footing. Some are direct writers, while others could exclude customers for specific reasons. The companies, he said, should all be ranked on an even plane based on their marketing to consumers.
One example, Tokio Marine & Fire's policyholders are limited to Japanese nationals working in New Jersey.
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