Question

How do I check an insurer’s financial strength, claims service record and customer satisfaction rankings?

Answer 1

You can check the insurer’s financial stability—its ability to cover the very large number of claims that would likely result from a major disaster—at one of the independent rating agencies. A.M. Best (www.ambest.com) and Standard & Poor’s (www.standardandpoors.com) are two such agencies.

You can check complaint statistics (often related to claims servicing) through your state’s insurance department (www.naic.org/state_web_map.htm). There are a few places you can find customer satisfaction rankings. J.D. Power and Associates (http://ratings.jdpower.com/insurance/index.htm) and Consumer Reports (www.consumerreports.org/cro/car-insurance.htm) are two sources. You might have to pay a fee to access these.