Contracting a Responsive Insurer

"Companies are taking longer to pay claims and paying fewer claims," says Rutgers's Feinman. Getting information on how quickly a company will pay claims is hard, because state insurance commissioners collect but don't disclose such data, says Daniel Schwarcz, a University of Minnesota law professor.

States do post data on complaints. Also valuable, says Feinman, can be customer satisfaction surveys by J.D. Power and Consumer Reports. J.D. Power gave its highest customer award in car insurance to Auto-Owners Insurance Group and the top homeowners' insurance honor to Amica Mutual.

A 2010 Consumer Reports car insurance survey gave high marks to Amica, Auto-Owners, USAA, and NJM Insurance Group.
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