The annual Winter 2012 IIABYNY Industry Index saw little change in agents’ opinions in 2011
While Agency Checklists focuses on the agents of Massachusetts, we saw this survey of insurance agents in New York and thought it might be of interest to agents here in the Bay State as well. The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York released the results of its statewide survey of agents in New York state and says that the ratings for personal insurance companies remained flat compared with 2011, while those for commercial carriers increased only slightly.
Each year, The Winter 2012 IIABANY Industry Index measures independent agents and brokers’ views of the insurance companies that they represent. It looks at areas such as: Underwriter empowerment; ease of use of technology; honest and fair treatment of agencies and customers; responsiveness of company personnel; and fairness of compensation arrangements. Here’s a look at what the survey found:
- Agents satisfaction level with personal insurance companies fell by 0.6 over last year’s 2011 index results;
- Agents satisfaction level with commercial insurance companies saw a 1.0 increase over 2011;
- Regional companies (those primarily writing in New York) scored best in the personal insurance category;
- Super regional companies (providing insurance in multiple states but not nationwide) scored highest in the commercial insurance category;
- National commercial insurance companies improved the most in agents & brokers’ opinion showing a 2.1 point gain
“What this means,” says Kathy Weinheimer, IIABNY’s senior vice president of industry relations and education, “is that agent-company relations are constantly evolving as the marketplace changes.”
Other interesting index highlights show that personal and commercial insurance companies scored highest on the statement,” Keeps its promises, treats me and my customers with honesty and fairness.” Companies scored lowest on the statement,”Profit sharing and commission arrangements are fair.”
Agents and brokers also stressed that insurance companies could help agents the most through advertising and marketing support as well as underwriting flexibility. Agents said other ways in which insurance companies could aid agents’ is to avoid increasing agents’ workloads even further, avoid selling insurance directly to consumers and to provide more companies training on how to use the internet and social media for marketing.
In addition to overall rankings, the index also rates individual insurance companies. Those that rate the highest received the organization’s Outstanding Company Partner Awards during the IIABNY’s Capital Event held this year on January 30th. Companies honored this year were:
Commercial Insurance
National: The Harford
Super Regional: NGM Insurance Company
Regional: Sterling Insurance Company
Personal Insurance
National: Kemper Preferred
Super Regional: Preferred Mutual Insurance Company
Regional: Sterling Insurance Company
