RANKING AUTO INSURANCE COMPANIES
We rate automobile insurers on how they treat claimants. Some are more helpful than others. Some even provide "assistance" as required by 3 AAC 26.040(a)(1). Some are downright mean and/or dishonest. Remember the distinction between insurance agents and adjusters. Agents sell insurance. Adjusters fight you on claims.
All insurance agents are nice when we go to buy insurance, when they want our money. The acid test is how insurance adjusters treat us once we're forced to file a claim, asking for their money. Oddly, our nice insurance agent never seems to be available when we have a claim. After we've been run-over, injured and are not thinking straight, the insurance company forces us to deal with an adjuster, many of whom seem willing to eat-their-young.
The below are our very subjective opinions about auto insurance company attitudes toward claimants like you and me. There is nothing scientific about it. Instead, it represents how we have been treated over the decades in Alaska:
Top Tier (Best): |
State Farm |
Second Tier: |
Country / Allstate / Farmers |
Third Tier: |
USAA / Horace Mann / Hartford |
Bottom Tier: |
Geico / Progressive |
There are exceptions to every rule. For instance, Geico recently hired some genuinely decent humans as adjusters. They still fight claims, but at least they are nicer about it. At the same time, State Farm has of late seemed to fight for no good reason. Like everything else, there are cycles for every insurer. We encourage you to speak to your friends and make your own decision. Auto insurance is imporatat for the well-being of you adn your family.
Part of the problem is that almost every auto insurer listed above uses a computer program to value your claim: Collossus™. This program greatly limits an adjuster's ability to value a case fairly for specifics that don’t fit into Collossus™' ranking criteria. It also appears that Collosus™ may be self-limiting, giving adjusters a claim valuation number of "X", and then instructing the adjuster to "Settle for X or less" [SFXOL]. Isn't it good to know that "your" insurance company is trying to save every dime it can … at your expense?