In 2017, NU forged an alliance with the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) and Flaspöhler | NMG to conduct the inaugural Independent Agent Study — a research project designed to annually take the pulse of independent Property & Casualty insurance agents throughout the U.S. and provide revealing insight into the demographics, books of business and challenges they face, and reveal their most highly rated carrier partners.

Today, independent agents name their "best" carrier partners in key factors that are important to them, such as compensation programs, financial strength, responsive service, claims management and others. The insurers are judged on a scale of 1 (poor) to 9 (excellent).

Check out the video below to see which carriers scored highest in these key factors. Auto-Owners Insurance scored especially well in many of the areas deemed most important to America's independent agents.

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Danielle Ling

Danielle Ling is an experienced video journalist and business reporter. As associate editor, Danielle manages all multimedia and reports on industry news and risk-related coverage, managing all weather-related content. A University of Maryland and Philip Merrill College of Journalism alum, Danielle previously served as a video journalist for Verizon FiOS 1 News NJ, Push Pause. Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn or email her at [email protected].