New York Agents rated personal lines carriers higher than commercial lines carriers on six key factors in a recent survey, reversing the trend from a similar survey conducted last summer.
The survey, Industry Index: The IIABNY Report on Carrier Performance Executive Summary, Winter 2008, was conducted by Vincent McCabe, Inc. on behalf of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York.
Thirty-one insurers were evaluated based on the responses of 210 agency principals or leaders responsible for carrier relations to the following six factors:
o Underwriters are empowered, responsive and consistent.
o Technology and documentation are easy to use.
o Keeps its promises, treats me, my agency and my customers with honesty and fairness.
o Treats our relationship as a real partnership.
o Field and office personnel have a relationship with me and my customers, and they are very responsive.
o Profit sharing and commission arrangements are fair.
Agents were also allowed to add and score carriers not on the defined listing, IIABNY said.
The association noted that personal lines carriers were rated higher overall on these factors than commercial lines carriers, a reversal from IIABNY's previous Industry Index conducted last summer.
While the survey did not provide an explanation on the reversal, IIABNY noted that the economic climate may have been a factor.
Kathy Weinheimer, IIABNY senior vice president, Industry Relations and Education, said in a statement, "The commercial market seems to be hardening slightly, but last summer, during IIABNY's previous survey, the market was very soft. Such a change often shows up in carrier-agency relations."
The survey also found that regional carriers were rated higher than super-regional and national carriers, although national carriers did show an overall improvement from IIABNY's previous index.
Ms. Weinheimer said in the statement that this may be because "the negative impact of the economy on some carriers may be creating opportunities for others."
In an interview, Ms. Weinheimer said national personal lines carriers particularly showed improvement in scoring on the categories "underwriters are empowered, responsive and consistent," "keeps its promises, treats me, my agency and my customers with honesty and fairness," and "profit sharing and commission arrangements are fair."
Still, she noted, regional carriers tended to score higher in all areas, sometimes by a margin as high as nine points.
Regional carriers also made gains in the area of technology, Ms. Weinheimer said. For commercial lines they scored the same as national carriers, and for personal lines they scored higher than national carriers.
Last summer, Ms. Weinheimer noted, both personal and commercial regional carriers scored lower than their national counterparts in technology.
The survey was conducted in October and November 2008.
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