USAA and State Farm Top Annual Customer Service Ranking: Temkin

USAA and State Farm deliver the best customer experience in the insurance industry, according to the 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual ranking of companies based on a study of 10,000 U.S. consumers.

USAA has maintained its position as the top-rated insurer for the fourth year in a row, earning a 78 percent rating and rank of 29^th out of 268 companies across 19 industries. This is also State Farm’s third straight year in second place, this year earning a 74 percent rating and 59^th placing overall. At the bottom of the list, for the forth year in a row, 21^st Century received the lowest rating for any of the 15 insurers, landing in 232^nd place. American Family has also been steadily descending in the Ratings, declining from the second highest-rated insurer in 2011 to the second lowest-rated insurer in 2014 with a rating of 56 percent and a ranking of 226^th.

The fourth annual Temkin Experience Ratings examines the quality of the customer experience delivered by 268 organizations across 19 industries: airlines, appliance makers, auto dealers, banks, car rental agencies, computer makers, credit card issuers, fast food chains, grocery chains, health plans, hotel chains, insurance carriers, Internet service providers, investment firms, parcel delivery services, retailers, software firms, TV service providers, and wireless carriers.

To generate the ratings, Temkin Group asked consumers to evaluate their experiences with a company across three dimensions: functional (can you do what you want to do?), accessible (how easy is it to work with the company?), and emotional (how do you feel about the interactions?). Temkin Group then averaged these three scores to produce a company’s Temkin Experience Rating.

A score of 70 percent or above is considered “good,” and a score of 80 percent or above is considered “excellent.”

The ratings of all insurance carriers in the 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings are as follows:

• USAA – 78 percent
• State Farm – 74 percent
• GEICO – 70 percent
• Allstate – 69 percent
• The Hartford – 69 percent
• AAA – 67 percent
• Progressive – 66 percent
• Travelers -65 percent
• Nationwide – 63 percent
• MetLife – 63 percent
• Liberty Mutual – 63 percent
• Farmers – 61 percent
• American Family – 56 percent
• 21^st Century – 55 percent

The Hartford (+7 points), Liberty Mutual (+7 points), 21^st Century (+6 points), and AAA (+5 points)improved the most between 2013 and 2014.

Nationwide (-5 points), American Family (-2 points), and Farmers (-1 point)were the only insurers whose ratings declined between 2013 and 2014.

Overall, the insurance industry averaged a 68 percent rating in the 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings and tied for sixth place out of 19 industries. Insurance is also one of the 15 industries to improve its rating over the past year, increasing its average by 2.9 percentage points.

Source: Temkin Group