Growth in auto insurance premiums during March and April pushed auto insurance shopping rates back up to historic norms after a slow start to 2022, according to J.D. Power. Overall customer satisfaction among auto insurance policyholders fell six points to 862 (1,000-point scale) with six of the nine largest insurers and 6 in 11 midsize insurers seeing drops. More than half of policyholders said they shopped around to check prices, while 35% said rate increases made them consider changing car insurers. Among those looking for a new policy because of a rate increase, 64% said their current auto insurance costs increased 11% or more. The dramatic rise in used vehicle pricing from 2021 is continuing to impact the market, according to J.D. Power, as replacement and repair costs were pushed into "uncharted territory." "A perfect storm of record-high replacement costs, increased frequency and severity of collisions and an economic outlook that suggests this situation won't change anytime soon is forcing a major industry disruption," Marty Ellingsworth, executive managing director of P&C insurance intelligence at J.D. Power, said in a release. "In the near term, that disruption is manifesting itself in very low customer satisfaction with price and high rates of new policy shopping. Longer term, this may be the catalyst to significant adoption of usage-based insurance, which may be the only way insurers can navigate the financial realities while still managing to engage with customers and build loyalty by meeting their specific needs." J.D. Power also found that after several years of steadily growing customer satisfaction, the direct insurance channel saw a 17-point drop in customer satisfaction. For the first time in five years, the direct channel has a lower overall satisfaction score than that of the exclusive channel. The independent channel saw a year-on-year increase in policyholder satisfaction, but still lags behind the other two. The above slideshow highlights which large insurance companies have the highest customer satisfaction index ranking, according to J.D. Power.

(Credit: J.D. Power)

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