(Dewitt, NY, June 1, 2015) - Regional insurance companies are more popular with New York insurance agencies, according to a new report. The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York (IIABNY) today released its 2015 IIABNY Industry Index. It showed large gains for regional insurers and mixed results for larger insurers.
"The IIABNY Industry Index shows that agents' satisfaction with their company partners is growing," said Kathy Weinheimer, IIABNY senior vice-president of industry relations. "Scores are up across the board. Agents appreciate insurers' willingness to work closely with them. The scores for regional companies reflect that."
Regional companies do business only in New York State; super-regional companies do business in multiple states but not countrywide. Regional companies' score increased 5.2 points for personal insurance (coverage sold to individuals and households.) It jumped 11.1 points for commercial insurance (coverage sold to businesses and other organizations.) These were the highest scores for both types of insurance.
Super regional companies saw a slight decline of 0.3 points, to 78.1, in personal insurance. A 2.0 point increase in commercial insurance, to 79.1, offset this. The large national insurers lost 1.3 points, to 70.8, in personal. Their commercial score rose 0.3 points to 70.6.
Overall, agents gave insurers higher marks in both personal and commercial. The Personal Lines Index rose 1.0 point to 75.4. The Commercial Lines Index was up 3.8 points to 76.2.
The IIABNY Industry Index, which IIABNY publishes in the winter or spring each year, measures performance in six areas:
- Underwriter empowerment
- Ease of use of technology
- Honest and fair treatment of agencies and customers
- Acting like a partner with agencies
- Responsiveness of company personnel
- Fairness of compensation arrangements
Agents rated insurers the highest for both types of insurance in the "honest and fair treatment" category. They gave the lowest grades for both types in the area of compensation fairness. Scores rose in almost all of the categories.
In addition to overall rankings, the index rated individual companies. The companies with the best scores received Outstanding Company Partner Awards at a ceremony during IIABNY's annual business meeting on May 14. They are:
Commercial Insurance
National: Utica National Insurance Group
Super Regional: Merchants Insurance Group
Regional: Erie & Niagara Insurance Association
Personal Insurance
National: The Travelers Companies
Super Regional: Merchants Insurance Group and National Grange Mutual Insurance Company (tie)
Regional: Dryden Mutual Insurance Company
This is the 11th edition of the IIABNY Industry Index. IIABNY and research firm Vincent McCabe, Inc., calculated the index based on the results of a survey taken over a period of several weeks. More than 271 respondents participated in the survey. Agency owners, principals and senior management responsible for agency relations totaled 202 respondents, with 161 from IIABNY members. The margin of error is plus or minus 5.5 percent.
The complete report is available for download at http://www.iiabny.org/Companies/SiteAssets/Pages/IndustryIndex/default/IIABNYIndustryIndex_Winter2015.pdf.
The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York, Inc. has represented the common business interests of independent insurance professionals since 1882. More than 1,750 agencies and their 13,000 plus employees currently rely on the DeWitt, New York-based not-for-profit trade association for legislative advocacy, continuing education and other means of industry support. In addition, most IIABNY members proudly identify themselves as Trusted Choice® agents and brokers, a national consumer brand uniting more than 21,000 independent agencies across the United States. For more information, go to www.trustedchoice.com or www.iiabny.org.
Based in Skaneateles, New York, Vincent McCabe, Inc. is a full-service marketing and product research company specializing in the use of advanced methods to assist clients in rapid and efficient strategic decision-making and goal attainment. For more information, visit www.vincentmccabe.com.