State Farm Leads In Customer Satisfaction, ACSI Says

State Farm replaced GEICO as the leader in consumer satisfaction among property-casualty insurers for 2007, according to the latest University of Michigan American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

The p-c industry as a whole recorded its highest consumer satisfaction score in more than a decade.

The index measures consumer satisfaction in three areas: retail, finance and insurance, and e-commerce. While the index overall dropped 0.4 percent from 2006 to 74.9 on a 100-point scale, the p-c industry improved by 2.6 percent to 80, outpacing all other sectors in the finance and insurance category. The rating of 80 is the industry's highest since the index began reporting results in 1994.

State Farm led the way among p-c insurers, with a rating of 81, matching its score from 2006. "All Others" also scored a rating of 81, rising three points from the previous year. The Progressive Corporation showed the largest increase, jumping six points from 2006 to 79, while GEICO (80) and Farmers Group (76) dropped three points and two points, respectively. Allstate maintained its 2006 score of 78. All p-c insurers listed except for GEICO and Farmers enjoyed their highest ratings since 1994.

A statement accompanying the index attributed the favorable p-c results to "various Web site improvements and rate cuts."

Additional commentary by Claes Fornell, director, National Quality Research Center, Stephen M. Ross Business School at the University of Michigan, specifically mentioned Progressive's six-point improvement in customer satisfaction.

"This is a large increase. Progressive made improvements to its award-winning Web site and offered significant rate cuts on insurance for RVs, motorcycles and boats," Mr. Fornell said.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index describes itself as "a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States." It is produced by the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business in partnership with the American Society for Quality and CFI Group, and is supported in part by ForeSee Results. Information is available at www.theacsi.org.