2022 AMERICA’S BEST INSURANCE COMPANIES
The insurance industry in the United States employs more than 2.8 million people across nearly 6,000 companies with net premiums written totaling $1.28 trillion in 2020 according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Like much of the global economy, the insurance industry in the United States was drastically altered by Covid-19.
From increased digitalization to a heightened awareness of mortality, the industry was forced to adapt as firms and their workforces look to serve consumers across a wide breadth of offerings, including auto, homeowners, renters, pet, dental and term and permanent life. The last year and a half has increased the importance of these companies’ technological offerings while insurers still aim to keep customers satisfied with traditional services like financial advice, customer service and benefits.
In order to determine which companies qualify as America’s Best Insurance Companies Forbes partnered with Statista to survey more than 16,000 customers and get their feedback on insurance company performance across eight metrics including overall satisfaction and whether they would recommend them to family and friends.
We also evaluated five different subdimensions including: financial advice; customer service; price/performance ratio; transparency; and damage/benefit ratio. Out of some 4,200 insurance companies that offer either property and casualty coverage, life and annuity coverage or health insurance, only 90 were awarded.
For most sectors of the economy, the last 12 months have been tumultuous. The lingering Covid-19 pandemic continues to challenge healthcare systems and businesses worldwide, and the effects of climate change have only made matters worse. Despite these challenges, insurers, companies that are employed to protect clients against major risks, have had a good year, especially when it comes to the stock market. Over the last 12 months, iShares U.S. Insurance company ETF has had a total return of 45% versus a robust 32% return for the S&P 500.
“On an absolute basis it’s been a great performance this year,” says Piper Sandler’s senior insurance industry analyst Paul Newsome.
The biggest change brought about by Covid-19, for insurers, has been an increased reliance on digital tools in sales and claims processing, in the absence of face to face interactions as well as a deeper awareness of mortality from consumers who have sat on their couches and watched news coverage of devastating death tolls.
Frank Spencer, vice president of life insurance sales for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company has seen the massive loss of life translate to the biggest year of life insurance premiums for his company in 2020 with 2021 set to surpass that high watermark.
“Sadly, because of the pandemic the United States population is very much aware of mortality,” Spencer says. A run on life insurance hasn’t been the only major shift during the pandemic as the in person interactions that used to be a major part of the insurance industry have been increasingly replaced by app-based claims, online billing and other virtual replacements that have become a necessity in a time of social distancing.
“We probably got five years worth of digital adoption in 2020,” Spencer adds. That change was less a product of technological innovations by the companies and more so consumers opting to use tools developed well before lockdowns and mask mandates, according to Beth Riczko, president of property and casualty personal lines at Nationwide. “In the industry, there was a strong focus on building digital capabilities, pre-Covid, but adoption was somewhat slow,” she adds.
Company
|
Headquarters
|
Year Founded
|
Employees
|
---|---|---|---|
AAA |
Heathrow, Florida
|
1902
|
|
AAA Life |
Livonia, Michigan
|
1969
|
450
|
Aflac |
Columbus, Georgia
|
1955
|
6,239
|
AKC Pet |
Raleigh, North Carolina
|
2003
|
|
Alfa |
Montgomery, Alabama
|
1946
|
2,600
|
AllCare Health |
Grants Pass, Oregon
|
1994
|
250
|
Allianz |
Munich, Germany
|
1890
|
150,269
|
Allstate |
Northbrook, Illinois
|
1931
|
42,160
|
American Family |
Madison, Wisconsin
|
1927
|
13,225
|
American International Group |
New York, New York
|
1919
|
45,000
|
American Modern |
Amelia, Ohio
|
1949
|
1,200
|
American National |
Galveston, Texas
|
1905
|
4,600
|
Amica |
Lincoln, Rhode Island
|
1907
|
3,832
|
Anthem |
Indianapolis, Indiana
|
2004
|
70,600
|
Auto-Owners |
Lansing, Michigan
|
1916
|
6,329
|
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama |
Birmingham, Alabama
|
1936
|
3,300
|
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois |
Chicago, Illinois
|
1936
|
10,845
|
BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina |
Columbia, South Carolina
|
1946
|
16,000
|
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas |
Richardson, Texas
|
1929
|
|
BlueCross and BlueShield of Kansas City |
Kansas City, Missouri
|
1938
|
|
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee |
Chattanooga, Tennessee
|
1945
|
6,000
|
Capital Blue Cross |
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
|
1938
|
1,500
|
CareSource |
Dayton, Ohio
|
1989
|
4,500
|
Chubb |
Zurich, Switzerland
|
1882
|
31,000
|
Cincinnati Insurance Company |
Fairfield, Ohio
|
1950
|
4,925
|
COUNTRY Financial |
Bloomington, Illinois
|
1925
|
3,000
|
Embrace Pet |
Cleveland, Ohio
|
2003
|
220
|
Erie |
Erie, Pennsylvania
|
1925
|
6,000
|
Farm Bureau Financial Services |
West Des Moines, Iowa
|
1939
|
5,600
|
Farm Bureau Insurance of Tennessee |
Columbia, Tennessee
|
1948
|
350
|
Farmers Alliance |
McPherson, Kansas
|
1888
|
800
|
Farmers |
Woodland Hills, California
|
1928
|
21,000
|
Farmers Mutual of Nebraska |
Lincoln, Nebraska
|
1891
|
265
|
Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance |
Des Moines, Iowa
|
1959
|
267
|
Florida Blue |
Jacksonville, Florida
|
1944
|
6,500
|
Geico |
Chevy Chase, Maryland
|
1936
|
40,000
|
Globe Life |
McKinney, Texas
|
1951
|
2,974
|
GoAuto |
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
|
2009
|
143
|
Grange Insurance Association |
Seattle, Washington
|
1894
|
|
Guardian Life Insurance Co of America |
New York, New York
|
1860
|
9,500
|
Hanover Insurance Group |
Worcester, Massachusetts
|
1852
|
4,300
|
Humana |
Louisville, Kentucky
|
1961
|
48,700
|
Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance |
Indianapolis, Indiana
|
1934
|
1,200
|
John Hancock Financial |
Boston, Massachusetts
|
1862
|
6,700
|
Kentucky Farm Bureau |
Louisville, Kentucky
|
1919
|
700
|
Knight of Columbus |
New Haven, Connecticut
|
1882
|
750
|
Legal & General Group |
Frederick, Maryland
|
1981
|
13,876
|
Lemonade |
New York, New York
|
2015
|
567
|
LIBERTY Dental Plan |
Santa Ana, California
|
2001
|
|
Liberty Mutual Insurance |
Boston, Massachusetts
|
1912
|
45,000
|
EDITED BY JASON BISNOFF
forbes
