State ranks auto insurers, LI firm near bottom

Score one for the gecko!

The state Insurance Department, in its annual ranking of auto insurers, says Allstate, the biggest in this state, had a lot more consumer complaints found to be valid last year than its archrival Geico in proportion to the amount of business each does here.

Of all 167 insurers evaluated, the state said Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., based in Columbus, Ohio, ranks first on the report as the largest of 51 companies without a single upheld complaint.

Among the lowest ranked is the Long Island Insurance Co., headquartered in Melville, which placed 165th on the overall list and ranks last among insurers with $1 million or more in annual premiums. There were 265 upheld complaints against the company, said the department. The company was ordered into liquidation Oct. 19 by a State Supreme Court justice at the behest of the insurance department. It did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

The department received and closed 6,808 complaints against auto insurance companies last year, with 966 complaints upheld in favor of consumers, 3,738 withdrawn or not upheld, and 2,104 deemed "question of fact" cases with conflicting information that prevented a ruling. "Consumers can use the information on this report to evaluate the performance of their insurance company," Insurance Superintendent James Wrynn said in announcing the findings.

New Yorkers spend just under $10 billion a year for car insurance and are barraged daily with ads by Allstate and Geico seeking their business, with Allstate using actor Dennis Haysbert as its spokesman and Geico using an English-accented computer-generated gecko lizard.

The insurance department said Allstate Insurance Co., the largest of three Allstate companies that offer auto insurance in this state, wrote an average of $1.26 billion a year in premiums in 2008 and last year and had 180 upheld complaints last year; Geico General Insurance Co., the largest of three Geico companies, wrote an average of $1.22 billion in premiums and had only 15 upheld complaints.

There was no immediate comment from Allstate.

Another major auto insurer, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., scored below Geico and Allstate, with 60 upheld complaints on $963 million in premiums.

Only complaints to the insurance department are used to compile the ranking. The department says most involve monetary disputes, such as the value of a total loss or complaints about insurance companies not renewing policies. Click here for the complete ranking on the department's website at ins.state.ny.us/arkidx.htm.

The new ranking comes as insurance rates are rising again, mostly, the industry says, due to a resurgence of fraud, especially phony or exaggerated medical claims -- a resurgence possibly related to the recession.