N.Y. Unveils '08 Auto Insurer Complaint Ranking

The New York State Insurance Department upheld 993 consumer complaints against private passenger automobile insurance companies last year, according to the Department’s 2008 Annual Ranking of Automobile Insurance Complaints released today.

The auto ranking is designed to give consumers a yardstick that measures the number of complaints against an individual company as a percentage of that company’s total auto insurance business.

The ranking shows that 6,301 complaints were filed in 2007 against auto insurance companies or groups of companies. Besides the 993 complaints upheld in favor of consumers, 3,563 complaints were withdrawn or not upheld, and 1,745 were ruled as “question of fact” cases. Question of fact disputes are not counted against insurers because the Department cannot legally determine the facts of these cases.

The numbers indicate that the State upheld one consumer complaint for every $9.8 million in premiums paid, based on the total of approximately $10 billion that New Yorkers spent for car insurance.

Other highlights of the report:

• Four insurers had no upheld complaints. They are Mercury General Group, American Express Group, Eveready Insurance Company and Electric Insurance Group.
• Among the state’s largest insurers in terms of market share, the State Farm had the fewest upheld complaints.
• Long Island Insurance Company, Infinity Property & Casualty Insurance Group and Interboro Mutual Indemnity Insurance Company were the three insurers with the most upheld complaints in relation to their premiums.

The 2008 ranking is compiled using premium data from 2006 and 2007. Premium data from two years are analyzed to compensate for the fact that some complaints closed in any given year are begun in the previous year.

Typical consumer complaints involve monetary disputes, such as the value of a total loss, or complaints about insurance companies that do not renew policies.

The ranking is posted at the following location on the Department’s Web site, http://www.ins.state.ny.us/auto/2008/auto2008.pdf.