How does your car insurance or homeowners insurance company rank?
By Stacy Varney
For many consumers, purchasing insurance — be it auto, homeowners, life, etc., is not an enjoyable experience. It often involves anticipating unpleasant events, interpreting policy language that can seem foreign, and selecting an insurance company you hope you never need to contact. It’s no wonder research has shown that consumers would rather visit the dentist than shop for insurance. Clearsurance is helping to eliminate some of the unknowns of making insurance decisions with a crowdsourced rating and review platform.
As of early last month more than 50,000 individuals have entrusted Clearsurance by providing feedback on their auto, homeowners and/or renters insurance company. Based on community members’ feedback, consumer ratings suggest a majority are satisfied with the service they’ve received. In fact, 86% of policyholders provided a favorable rating for their car insurance company. This statistic is a total for all of the companies covered on the platform.
With nearly 350 companies reviewed at the time of our analysis, it’s not surprising to see results for individual companies varied, and the range of scores was fairly wide. The percentage of consumers giving their auto insurance company a favorable rating ranged from 32% to 100%. This means that the lowest rated auto insurance company received a favorable score from 32% of their customers, while the highest rated company received a favorable rating from 100% of their customers. Homeowners insurance and renters insurance results were also broad, with a range of about 50% to 100%. This range highlights the importance for consumers to research how specific insurance companies perform before purchasing an insurance policy.
To gain deeper insight into insurance buying preferences, Clearsurance conducted proprietary research with over 1,600 U.S. insurance consumers. Clearsurance asked these individuals to rate the importance of several factors in selecting an insurance company. It wasn’t a surprise to learn that, for many consumers, price is the most important factor. However, the next highest rated attribute was the need for trust. Trustworthiness, just inching out service, was described as a feeling of confidence that the insurance company will be there when the consumer needs them — at the time of a claim.
Reading reviews for consumers who have already experienced the claim process with their insurance company can help other consumers gain insight into how a potential claim with that same insurance company could be handled. As of October 2017, 41% of policyholders who left a review for their car insurance company on Clearsurance.com reported filing a claim. The percentage is slightly higher at 43% for homeowners insurance. These reviews provide valuable insight into these carriers’ claims processes. Such feedback is instrumental in helping potential buyers obtain a reasonable level of trust for an insurance company.
Today customer loyalty needs to be earned, and reliable feedback is crucial to improving the customer experience. Consumers read and leave reviews for just about everything they purchase — insurance is no different. Since we started collecting reviews and ratings, Clearsurance’s goal has been to provide consumers a place to voice their pleasure or displeasure with their insurer. It’s encouraging to see the number of consumers who are pleased with their insurance experiences. Through our educational content and by learning from the experiences of others, we’re driven to help people make smarter insurance decisions.
About Clearsurance:
Clearsurance is the first-of-its-kind crowdsourced review, rating and educational platform specifically for insurance. It’s designed to bring transparency and insights to help consumers make smarter insurance decisions, and to engage insurance carriers to showcase their brand to acquire and retain customers by publishing crowdsourced reviews and ratings. For more information, visit www.clearsurance.com.
The content on this site is offered only as a public service to the web community and does not constitute solicitation or provision of legal advice. This site should not be used as a substitute for obtaining legal advice from an insurance company or an attorney licensed or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. You should always consult a suitably qualified attorney regarding any specific legal problem or matter. The comments and opinions expressed on this site are of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of the insurance company or any individual attorney.
