N.Y. Insurers’ Sandy Response ‘Report Card’ Shows 0.48% Claims Complaint Rate

The New York regulators’ latest “report cards” on the performance of insurers in the wake of Superstorm Sandy shows that 1,830 consumer complaints have been filed from 381,827 Sandy-related claims — at the rate of 0.48 percent.

The information in the report cards is as of Jan. 10, 2013. It covers 24 insurers who make up the majority of the insurance market in areas affected by Sandy in New York State. The data includes consumer policies such as homeowners’ and auto insurance, as well as business policies such as business interruption insurance.

The report cards can be found online at the New York State Hurricane Sandy Disaster Insurance Assistance website. Information provided in the report cards include: the number of claims each company has received from its policyholders; the number of claims that have been closed with a payment and those closed without a payment; and the average time in days from the date of claims reported to payment.

Overall, the report cards show that among the 381,827 claims received by the 24 insurers, some 227,344 claims (59.54 percent) have been closed with payment and 63,767 claims (16.70 percent) have closed without payment.

The following are data from some of the major insurers with highest numbers of Sandy-related claims received in New York State, as of Jan. 10:

• Allstate Insurance received 80,103 Sandy-related claims as of Jan .10. Among them, 52,980 closed with payment and 10,854 closed without payment. Allstate had made payments on 69,073 claims, only 52,980 of which were closed. The average time in days from the date of claims reported to payment was 18 days. (8.9 days from claims report to inspection, 5.9 days from the date of inspection to the date of estimate, and 3.2 days from the date of estimate to payment.) It received 414 complaints, at the rate of 0.52 percent of its Sandy-related claims.

• State Farm received 54,138 Sandy-related claims. Among them, 34,436 closed with payment and 9,333 closed without payment. State Farm had made payments on 42,284 claims, only 34,436 of which were closed. The average time in days from the date of claims reported to payment was 26.89 days. (19.6 days from claims report to inspection, 3.23 days from the date of inspection to the date of estimate, and four days from the date of estimate to payment.) It received 143 complains, representing 0.26 percent of its Sandy-related claims.

• Travelers received 40,772 claims. Among them, 26,818 closed with payment and 7,494 closed without payment. The average time in days from the date of claims reported to payment was 22 days. (10.6 days from claims report to inspection, 2.4 days from the date of inspection to the date of estimate, and nine days from the date of estimate to payment.) it received 251 complaints, representing 0.62 percent of its Sandy-related claims.

• Berkshire Hathaway (GEICO) received 33,777 claims. Among them, 14,688 closed with payment and 1,816 closed without payment. GEICO had made payments on 32,948 claims, only 14,688 of which were closed. The average time in days from the date of claims reported to payment was 16.2 days. (9.2 days from claims report to inspection, one day from the date of inspection to the date of estimate, and six days from the date of estimate to payment.) It received 60 complaints, representing 0.18 percent of its Sandy-related claims.

• Liberty Mutual received 32,385 claims. Among them, 16,314 closed with payment and 9,662 closed without payment. The average time in days from the date of claims reported to payment was 20.5 days. (12.3 days from claims report to inspection, 3.9 days from the date of inspection to the date of estimate, and 4.3 days from the date of estimate to payment.) It received 123 complaints, representing 0.38 percent of its Sandy-related claims.

Information on all 24 insurers listed in the report cards can be found online at the “NYS Insurers Disaster Response Report Card” page (a PDF file).

Topics Carriers New York Claims