New York released its 2007 Annual Ranking of Automobile Insurance Complaints last month, a study that ranks the top 44 insurers in the state with at least $10 million in average premiums in 2005-06 on their complaint ratio.

The complaint ratio for each company was determined by the state's insurance department, and consists of the number of complaints upheld against companies as a percentage of their total private passenger auto insurance business. Because some complaints originate in the year prior to it being closed, the department factored in two years of premium data. One item that the study did not take into account, however, is complaints reported directly to insurance companies.

The study reported that in 2006, the average complaint ratio for all New York insurers, including those with less than $10 million in premiums, was 0.16 per $1 million in premiums. That means there was approximately one upheld complaint for every $6.2 million in premiums paid to insurance companies. In all, the department received a total of 7,914 private passenger auto insurance complaints. The Department also handles commercial auto complaints, which are not included in determining complaint ratios.