ValChoice Report Identifies Car Insurers That Delay and Deny Insurance Claims

Business Wire

BEDFORD, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ValChoice, the only analytics company to asses insurers for their willingness to pay claims, today released a new market report highlighting how publicly traded insurance companies are more likely to delay and deny valid insurance claims compared to mutual companies. This report builds on a 2016 ValChoice report covered by the New York Times quantifying the rapid increase in the value gap between publicly traded and mutual insurers. The new data shows that in the last year, the total of the value gap over the five-year period the report covered, grew more than 20% to a staggering $123 billion. Click here for the full report.

Key findings include:

Publicly traded car insurance companies averaged 15% more complaints, per dollar of insurance sold, related to claims handling than mutual companies.
Publicly traded insurers routinely favor shareholders over policyholders. GEICO is used as a case study on why this is true. A mere $80 increase in GEICO pricing would bring loss ratio parity with other publicly traded car insurers and increase the market cap of parent company Berkshire Hathaway by $45 billion.
Despite offering less value and a worse claims experience, publicly traded insurance companies are gaining market share.

“For the first time, consumers can know which companies are good about paying claims, and which are not,” said Dan Karr, founder and CEO of ValChoice. “With so many consumers dealing with insurers following the recent tragedies of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, we’re pleased we can provide free information that helps consumers know which companies have a history of being difficult in the claims handling process. Leveling the playing field between consumers and powerful insurers is a much needed service.”

About ValChoice

ValChoice® is the only company to provide consumers, agents and advisors with information on which home and auto insurance companies offer the best value: price, protection and service. The company’s analytics platform collects and analyzes millions of financial and complaint data points and delivers the results in an easy-to-use service that Forbes Magazine describe as "Carfax for insurance." Using ValChoice, consumers are finally able to shop for insurance based on value rather than making decisions blindly based on price or advertising campaigns.