‘Insurer Report Card’ now open for repairers to rate claims practices
CRASH Network’s annual “Insurer Report Card” survey is now up for collision repairers to participate in, aimed at helping consumers make better-informed decisions about the auto insurance they purchase.
“Consumers often don’t have much more to go on when deciding which auto insurer to choose beyond price and brand recognition,” said John Yoswick, CRASH Network’s editor, in a press release. “The ‘Insurer Report Card’ helps shops share their unique perspective to help drivers see they have more choices than they probably realize, and understand that there can be stark differences among those insurance companies when they have a claim.”
The survey asks collision repairers to grade each company from A+ to F based on how well its claims practices ensure quality repairs and customer service.
“Other surveys like this generally just focus on the 10 largest national insurers, but the ‘Insurer Report Card’ allows repairers to grade 20 or 30 insurers doing business in their state,” Yoswick said in the release. “Because of that, we’re able to show consumers grades received by about 80 or even 90 different carriers.”
More than 1,000 collision repair professionals grade the performance of the auto insurers in their state through the survey each year.
CRASH Network says the report card is also included in top-graded insurer marketing, as well as in repair shop marketing. Independent organizations that provide information to consumers about financial decisions, such as the Wall Street Journal, Money, and USA Today, also include the grades in their rankings, according to the release.
Click here to request a link to the survey. It takes less than three minutes to complete; however, CRASH Network encourages shops to spend time explaining why they gave each insurer the grade they did. All individual shop grades and identification information will remain confidential.
Shops that complete the “Insurer Report Card” and provide an email address will receive the results to share with their customers, at no charge, once they are compiled.
A record-high of 22 companies, including six of the largest U.S. auto insurers, received a grade of C- or lower on last year’s report card.
None of the top 10 largest and best-known auto insurers received an overall grade higher than a C+, while more than 60 other insurers ranked higher.
Six companies received an A- or higher. Thirty insurers received a B or higher to earn a spot on this year’s “Honor Roll.”
Yoswick will present more on the “Insurer Report Card” and other helpful industry topics at the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) IDEAS Collide Showcase during the SEMA Show on Nov. 5.
“By grading the insurers that they work with, that in turn will help consumers make better, more informed choices about the insurance they choose for their own vehicles,” Yoswick previously told RDN. “It will help the insurance companies that shops give the highest grades to help them compete for more business against maybe some of the insurers who get lower grades. That would help shops have more customers carrying insurance with the companies that shops would prefer to work with.”
The IDEAS Collide Showcase is part of the SCRS Repairer Driven Education (RDE) series at the SEMA Show — a lineup of sessions dedicated to advancing collision repair professionals through education, collaboration, and innovation. Registration and a complete outline of each session are available online at scrs.com/rde.
SCRS has encouraged that early online registration will be added directly to attendee badges for access, and attendees who already have a badge can add education through the Registration Resource Center.
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