Property-casualty insurers Progressive and Travelers scored among the top 10 carriers as rated by independent agents in a four-state company performance survey.
The polls were done by the Professional Insurance Agents of Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York.
In Connecticut, Progressive's Drive (the independent agent distribution arm) and Travelers' personal lines took the top two spots overall.
A total of 1,128 agents, led by a record 611 participants in New York State, took part in the survey. The survey was conducted earlier this year via the associations' Web sites and via fax-back survey forms.
This was the first year for the survey by PIANH members; the third year for the PIANJ survey; the fifth for PIANY; and the sixth for PIACT.
Contributing to the overall success of Progressive and Travelers were their scores for enabling real-time transactions for their agents. In all four states, both scored among the top five companies for their real-time functionality.
Each survey used the same methodology but included different national and regional carriers depending on their market presence and agency representation in each state. Members were asked to rate carriers on 16 performance items in areas including product and pricing; treatment of agents; marketing support; technology; claims handling; service; and underwriting.
Agents provided separate ratings for personal and commercial lines in some cases where a company operates them as distinct business units.
Among other companies in the survey who scored well, The Hartford ranked among the top 10 performers in all but New York, where it ranked eleventh.
Peerless, a subsidiary of Boston-based Liberty Mutual, placed among the top 10 in three surveys; it placed twelfth in New Jersey.
In its second year on the New York survey, another regional, Ohio-based Central Insurance Co., ranked first with an overall score of 71.2–a perfect score is 80.
Additional companies that scored well across state lines include: Chubb (top 10 in New York and Connecticut); MetLife Auto & Home (top 10 in Connecticut and New Hampshire); Selective (top 10 in both surveys where it appeared–New Jersey and New York); and The Hanover Insurance Group (top 10 in Connecticut and New Hampshire).
Full results of each survey are available online at: www.pia.org/GIA/survey/2007/results.
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