How Was The Survey Done?

Since 1993, North America's best reinsurers have relied upon the biennial, trademarked “Flasp?hler Cedant Survey” to help ensure that they are effectively and efficiently meeting the important (and evolving) needs of ceding companies.

Although many reinsurers talk about focusing on clients, only the best reinsurers consistently measure their progress in meeting cedants' most critical needs in areas including underwriting, claims, timeliness, financial value and customer support.

Not surprisingly, the reinsurers who regularly measure their progress in meeting cedant needs dominate the “best of” ratings in the 2009 survey findings.

The results of this study represent the current opinions, beliefs and perceptions of 696 key ceding company executives regarding the P&C reinsurance market.

All interviews were conducted with individuals after they first received an e-mail from Flasp?hler Research Group requesting their participation. Interviews were conducted over the Web and by telephone.

Each Web respondent was given a unique access code, which allowed them to gain access to the survey questionnaire. All contacts were offered a summary of the findings as an inducement to participate.

In preparing the survey instrument, Flasp?hler Research Group worked with reinsurers and select reinsurance brokers to ensure that key areas were addressed. All interviews were completed in May and June 2009. The average interview length was 28.2 minutes.

The overall results of this study are accurate to within a maximum of plus-or-minus 2.9 percent at a 95 percent level of confidence. This means that 95 times out of 100, the overall survey results should be reproducible to within plus-or-minus 2.9 percent, assuming the same survey questionnaire and methodology.

Among the survey methodology highlights:

o Random Order Questioning. The Web survey used sophisticated technology to ensure that the multipart questions were presented in a truly random order, so as to filter out any artificial bias that might exist if those questions were presented in exactly the same sequence every time.

o Knowledgeable Responses. The surveys were conducted using a technique called “adaptive interviewing.” Respondents were only asked to rate reinsurers with which they were familiar, and only in regard to how those reinsurers performed on factors the respondent considered important.

By eliminating the “noise” created by asking respondents to rate unfamiliar companies on unimportant factors, this technique provides the most accurate and reliable information possible.

Flasp?hler Research Group was founded in 1983 and has completed surveys in 95 countries and a dozen languages. The company specializes in B2B research and in research with sophisticated buyers and/or research about difficult/sensitive topics.