NU Online News Service, Feb. 4, 2:49 p.m. EST

A survey of consumers has found insurers and agents score better than banks when it comes to the issue of who is a better advocate for them, and independent agents scored high on the list.

Forrester Research Inc. released its seventh annual customer advocacy rankings survey where it asked 4,500 consumers to rank 46 banks, investment firms and insurance companies in the United States on the issue. The survey was conducted by mail during the months of August and September of last year.

Forrester said that a year after the worst of the financial crisis, "Americans are more likely to say their financial institutions are doing what's best for them."

While trust in financial firms has moved off historic lows from last year, the positive sentiment is not evenly distributed as the largest U.S. banks dominate the bottom of the rankings, Forrester said.

"Forrester's research continues to point to the significance of customer advocacy--the perception by customers that a firm does what's best for them, not just what's best for it own bottom line," said Bill Doyle, the research company's vice president and principal analyst.

He noted, "Each year our data shows that customers who rate their firms high on customer advocacy are more likely to consider their firms for additional products. Customers who rate their firms low on customer advocacy are most likely to say they intend to switch firms in the next year."

Forrester said as a group, insurers bounced back higher than banks and investment firms compared to last year's report.

Of the top-10 rated firms in the "Customer Advocacy 2010: How Customers Rate U.S. Banks, Investment Firms and Insurers," USAA insurance took the number one spot, as it has every year, Forrester said. The San Antonio-based insurer limits its coverage to present and past members of the military and their families.

Insurance agents took third place.

Other property and casualty insurance companies on the top-10 list included AAA at number six, State Farm in seventh place, and GEICO at number 10.

The report noted that large banks took up the bottom seven spots in the rankings, and wealth management firms as a group had the worst customer advocacy ratings overall.