Up until recently, AMICA was a small carrier and super selected their risks. I am assuming they are not being as selective since they have began their recent mass TV advertisements. They gave excellent service because they had a small customer base and well trained employees with lots of experience. I doubt that AMICA will be able to retain the same degree of top customer service if they grow very fast – you don’t train top personnel quickly.
I have an AMICA customer who lives near my office. For about 20 years, he comes in my office every year for a review and comparison with Farmers. He states that AMICA doesn’t provide a good coverage review over the phone and certainly doesn’t want to discuss any other carrier’s policy. AMICA has always given him single limits of liability which eliminates an apples to apples comparison and their rates were only slightly less than the quotes I’ve given him through Farmers. He will probably continue to stay with AMICA to save his $20 a year as long as I give him a free review.
Does anyone know why Amica always get such high ratings? It’s hard to imagine how they could handle claims any better than Chubb. Further, as a “1-800” company, presumably, the insured is never dealing with the same person like State Farm or an IA. Perhaps, like with the Japanese automakers from a few years ago, they are coaching their insureds how to complete the surveys from J.D. Power or Consumer Reports.
Its all about price and the rebate customers get at the end of the year if they are claims free. Customers like the feeling that if they get rewarded for being a good risk. We have good friends that are with Amica-they have never filed a claim though…it would be interesting to see what the rating is for the claims experience.
Is it the rebate that makes your friends love Amica? Do you think they would switch if you were able to get them a lower rate in advance than they what they would pay in total taking the rebate into account? Do you know whether Amica calls them for annual reviews, etc?
I believe if you continue to chase the price shopper client you are destined to always be in the chase. The wise fox benefits when he catches the rabbit, and each time he catches the rabbit he gets smarter on what it took to catch the rabbit. The price cutting agent stays in the chase, seemingly always content to trip over the sowest price. Just as often he has cut protections and coverages that may come back to bite him later.
I believe it has a lot to do with their clientele- military personnel. The affinity and loyalty among this group is probably the strongest bond of any group there is. When it comes to reporting, they back their company.
Low ratings come from people who “are disappointed with policy offerings and service interaction” That means most people want something for nothing. Example: “I lost my wedding ring and want to file a claim” Sorry your wedding ring was not scheduled and the peril of mysterious disappearance is not a covered peril. “What a rip off, you people take my money but don’t cover claims”
Right….if they would have taken the time to know what’s covered and what’s not, there would be a better “service interaction”
Another misconception: The client “expects the premium to go down with property values in this economy” Lack of understanding that the policy is designed to pay reconstruction costs…not market value.
Bottom line….most people use and want insurance for a lot of wrong reasons. Talk to your agent when he wants you to come in for a review and there won’t be any surprises.
It is true that an Amica customer talks with a different person each time (at least for Customer Service) but that’s not necessarily a negative if Amica’s Customer Service staff is well trained and provides consistent answers. Additionally, Amica has consistent pricing which some companies can’t seem to offer.
If I remembe corrctly, AMICA is very selective about their policyholders and requires a recommendation from a current policyholder. Any company that does this can cherry pick their insureds, which leads to better loss ratios and lower premiums. USA is similar in that it markets only to military personnel although they will now insure relatives of military personnel.
I also agree that chasing price shoppers is a never ending task that lasts forever and a day. Why else woiuld GEICO, State Farm, Progressive and Allstate, among others, spend so much on advertising. Notice they each tell you they can save you dollars over the other companies that have already told you they can save you many dollars. I have a theory that if you take them all up successively on their claims, you could conceivably get your insurance for nothing, but I haven’t known anyone who actually tried that.
As for the revelation about people who package their insurance leading to better retention, we have gfound that to be true in our agency where we have emphasized packages over stand-alone policies for about 30 years. The trouble comes when the package inurer hikes the rates on one or more parts of a package unreasonably. Then we find ourselves re-marketing the entire account, sometimes to separate policies. In fact we often do that without being asked to when it appears that a rate hike is just out of line. (Better rate consistency would be nice.)
I am an insurance professional who has 35 years in this industry and started out as a captive agent. For the past 25 years, I have been in commercial lines, working for companies.
After having had the same insurance carrier for 25 years with NO CLAIMS on either the auto or the homeowners line, I could just not stand the untenable rate increases (almost 40% on HO in 5 years and 25% in auto in 5 years) from the carrier that I had been with ALL THOSE YEARS. I got told some gobbledegook about credit scoring, and losses, etc., which I readily understand. what I do not understand is why my agent (of over 10 years) did not go to bat for me and insist to the comapny my policies be placed in the very preferred tier. frankly, I think I earned it. It pained me to shop after all those years; yes, some customers do know that loyalty to a carrier/agent is important…but that loyalty to both the agent and the company netted me nothing, despite paying HO premiums annually and auto every six months in full for years.
So I “switched” and am not super happy with the HO pricing at the new carrier either although I saved a ton on the auto.
Now that I have gotten over my loyalty issues, I will shop again, every six months. I think that after 35 years in this industry, I am familiar enough with policy forms and DOIs to handle any kind of claims service thrown at me. Since I know how to navigate the insurance claims and coverage shoals, price will now be my major concern. PERIOD.
The shame is, that because I made no claims, because I paid on time, because I was respectful in asking my agent to improve my pricing…I got garbage service, and platitudes. If I am a $2800 a year commodity to my agent, well so be it. I will shop my commodity for cheapest pricing from now on.
You guys really need to pay better attention to the “quiet ones”
To Dave: I agree with you. The propect I was referring to died several years ago so no more annual visits. He lived next door to one of my other customers and he was a fairly good source of referrals. He would refer co-workers to me and not AMICA because he didn’t think they were low enough risks for AMICA and didn’t want to endanger his rates. Yes, he was a little arrogant.
Being in the insurance industry, you must realize that independent agents have NO control over premiums. Personal lines agents have less and less “pull” with the companies they work with. If I had my way, I would lower everyones premium starting with my own. If you do not like the way insurance premiums are calculated based on credit scoring, contact your legislator, but dont blame the agent.
I agree with all the postings sent since my earlier one. One thing that came to mind when price shopping was mentioned is that companies like GEICO promise that you can save 15% in 15 minutes of your time, but that doesn’t say how they might do that. From firsthand experience with some customers who did get quotes and showed them to us, I’ve seen instances where they quoted less coverage – either liability, no-fault, or something like that. So, while they lived up to their advertising, they didn’t do those prospective customers any favors other than to save money. Remember too, that tdirect insurers’ sales staffs are incentivized to sell policies and not necessarily counsel the prospect on what they might really need, which is what I believe differentiates direct insurers from independent agents.
I suggest that after 20 years of FREE review of the competitors policies you are wasting your time with a price shopper. Let him go down the street and waste your competitors time!
Up until recently, AMICA was a small carrier and super selected their risks. I am assuming they are not being as selective since they have began their recent mass TV advertisements. They gave excellent service because they had a small customer base and well trained employees with lots of experience. I doubt that AMICA will be able to retain the same degree of top customer service if they grow very fast – you don’t train top personnel quickly.
I have an AMICA customer who lives near my office. For about 20 years, he comes in my office every year for a review and comparison with Farmers. He states that AMICA doesn’t provide a good coverage review over the phone and certainly doesn’t want to discuss any other carrier’s policy. AMICA has always given him single limits of liability which eliminates an apples to apples comparison and their rates were only slightly less than the quotes I’ve given him through Farmers. He will probably continue to stay with AMICA to save his $20 a year as long as I give him a free review.
Does anyone know why Amica always get such high ratings? It’s hard to imagine how they could handle claims any better than Chubb. Further, as a “1-800” company, presumably, the insured is never dealing with the same person like State Farm or an IA. Perhaps, like with the Japanese automakers from a few years ago, they are coaching their insureds how to complete the surveys from J.D. Power or Consumer Reports.
Anyone have any thoughts?
Its all about price and the rebate customers get at the end of the year if they are claims free. Customers like the feeling that if they get rewarded for being a good risk. We have good friends that are with Amica-they have never filed a claim though…it would be interesting to see what the rating is for the claims experience.
MP:
Is it the rebate that makes your friends love Amica? Do you think they would switch if you were able to get them a lower rate in advance than they what they would pay in total taking the rebate into account? Do you know whether Amica calls them for annual reviews, etc?
I believe if you continue to chase the price shopper client you are destined to always be in the chase. The wise fox benefits when he catches the rabbit, and each time he catches the rabbit he gets smarter on what it took to catch the rabbit. The price cutting agent stays in the chase, seemingly always content to trip over the sowest price. Just as often he has cut protections and coverages that may come back to bite him later.
I believe it has a lot to do with their clientele- military personnel. The affinity and loyalty among this group is probably the strongest bond of any group there is. When it comes to reporting, they back their company.
Low ratings come from people who “are disappointed with policy offerings and service interaction” That means most people want something for nothing. Example: “I lost my wedding ring and want to file a claim” Sorry your wedding ring was not scheduled and the peril of mysterious disappearance is not a covered peril. “What a rip off, you people take my money but don’t cover claims”
Right….if they would have taken the time to know what’s covered and what’s not, there would be a better “service interaction”
Another misconception: The client “expects the premium to go down with property values in this economy” Lack of understanding that the policy is designed to pay reconstruction costs…not market value.
Bottom line….most people use and want insurance for a lot of wrong reasons. Talk to your agent when he wants you to come in for a review and there won’t be any surprises.
It is true that an Amica customer talks with a different person each time (at least for Customer Service) but that’s not necessarily a negative if Amica’s Customer Service staff is well trained and provides consistent answers. Additionally, Amica has consistent pricing which some companies can’t seem to offer.
If I remembe corrctly, AMICA is very selective about their policyholders and requires a recommendation from a current policyholder. Any company that does this can cherry pick their insureds, which leads to better loss ratios and lower premiums. USA is similar in that it markets only to military personnel although they will now insure relatives of military personnel.
I also agree that chasing price shoppers is a never ending task that lasts forever and a day. Why else woiuld GEICO, State Farm, Progressive and Allstate, among others, spend so much on advertising. Notice they each tell you they can save you dollars over the other companies that have already told you they can save you many dollars. I have a theory that if you take them all up successively on their claims, you could conceivably get your insurance for nothing, but I haven’t known anyone who actually tried that.
As for the revelation about people who package their insurance leading to better retention, we have gfound that to be true in our agency where we have emphasized packages over stand-alone policies for about 30 years. The trouble comes when the package inurer hikes the rates on one or more parts of a package unreasonably. Then we find ourselves re-marketing the entire account, sometimes to separate policies. In fact we often do that without being asked to when it appears that a rate hike is just out of line. (Better rate consistency would be nice.)
Agents
I am an insurance professional who has 35 years in this industry and started out as a captive agent. For the past 25 years, I have been in commercial lines, working for companies.
After having had the same insurance carrier for 25 years with NO CLAIMS on either the auto or the homeowners line, I could just not stand the untenable rate increases (almost 40% on HO in 5 years and 25% in auto in 5 years) from the carrier that I had been with ALL THOSE YEARS. I got told some gobbledegook about credit scoring, and losses, etc., which I readily understand. what I do not understand is why my agent (of over 10 years) did not go to bat for me and insist to the comapny my policies be placed in the very preferred tier. frankly, I think I earned it. It pained me to shop after all those years; yes, some customers do know that loyalty to a carrier/agent is important…but that loyalty to both the agent and the company netted me nothing, despite paying HO premiums annually and auto every six months in full for years.
So I “switched” and am not super happy with the HO pricing at the new carrier either although I saved a ton on the auto.
Now that I have gotten over my loyalty issues, I will shop again, every six months. I think that after 35 years in this industry, I am familiar enough with policy forms and DOIs to handle any kind of claims service thrown at me. Since I know how to navigate the insurance claims and coverage shoals, price will now be my major concern. PERIOD.
The shame is, that because I made no claims, because I paid on time, because I was respectful in asking my agent to improve my pricing…I got garbage service, and platitudes. If I am a $2800 a year commodity to my agent, well so be it. I will shop my commodity for cheapest pricing from now on.
You guys really need to pay better attention to the “quiet ones”
To Dave: I agree with you. The propect I was referring to died several years ago so no more annual visits. He lived next door to one of my other customers and he was a fairly good source of referrals. He would refer co-workers to me and not AMICA because he didn’t think they were low enough risks for AMICA and didn’t want to endanger his rates. Yes, he was a little arrogant.
Being in the insurance industry, you must realize that independent agents have NO control over premiums. Personal lines agents have less and less “pull” with the companies they work with. If I had my way, I would lower everyones premium starting with my own. If you do not like the way insurance premiums are calculated based on credit scoring, contact your legislator, but dont blame the agent.
Agree with Jim, I’m facinated how Chubb could rate so low?
I agree with all the postings sent since my earlier one. One thing that came to mind when price shopping was mentioned is that companies like GEICO promise that you can save 15% in 15 minutes of your time, but that doesn’t say how they might do that. From firsthand experience with some customers who did get quotes and showed them to us, I’ve seen instances where they quoted less coverage – either liability, no-fault, or something like that. So, while they lived up to their advertising, they didn’t do those prospective customers any favors other than to save money. Remember too, that tdirect insurers’ sales staffs are incentivized to sell policies and not necessarily counsel the prospect on what they might really need, which is what I believe differentiates direct insurers from independent agents.
Kent:
I suggest that after 20 years of FREE review of the competitors policies you are wasting your time with a price shopper. Let him go down the street and waste your competitors time!