Not quite as fast as a speeding bullet, but now claims paid faster than before.

Despite all the complaints, car insurance companies seem to be getting claims paid faster.

The results of the J.D. Power’s claim satisfaction survey (which includes how fast companies get claims paid) for the 4th quarter of 2012 are in. And from the results people are apparently still pretty happy with the claims process of the insurance companies they are dealing with.

Back in August we shared the results from the 3rd quarter of 2012 that showed a nice increase in satisfaction with the claims process as compared to the same quarter in 2011. The 2012 fourth quarter survey results turned out even better than both 2011’s fourth quarter and 2012’s 3rd quarter.

Overall Insurance Claims Satisfaction

Claimant satisfaction with the claims process was up to 861 out of 1000 for the fourth quarter of 2012. This is an increase of 6 points from the same quarter in 2011. What was even more impressive was that this satisfaction rating was 57 points higher than the increase in claims satisfaction that was reported in the third quarter of 2012.

How Much Faster Were Claims Paid?

Per survey results, claimants were getting paid in 13.9 days on average. In the fourth quarter of 2011, it was taking an average of 16.4 days for claimants to get paid.

Broken down, the results for claimants being paid for vehicles that were repaired was down to 11.8 days, compared to 13.1 days in 2011. Total loss claims were paid in 18.5 days in the fourth quarter of 2012, in the fourth quarter of 2011 it was taking insurance companies 23.6 days to pay the same type of claim.

Not Every Part of the Insurance Claims Process Has Improved

While insurance companies have stepped it up and are getting claims paid faster than before, the shops doing the repairs haven’t done the same. People that took the survey reported lower satisfaction scores because of having to bring their vehicle back in to the shops again due to the vehicle not being repaired right the first time.

On average the survey also reported that it was taking 16 days to get a vehicle back from a non-direct repair shop as compared to the 13.1 days it took for a direct repair shop. This gap in the number of days makes a difference since not everyone can get their vehicles in to a direct repair shop.

The NItty Gritty Details of the Insurance Claim Survey

“The 2013 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study–Wave 1 is based on responses from more than 3,000 auto insurance customers who settled a claim within the past 6 months. The study excludes claimants whose vehicle incurred only glass/windshield damage or was stolen, or who only filed roadside assistance claims. Survey data for Wave 1 of the study was gathered in December 2012.” (jdpower.com)

If you can afford it, the new 2013 Cadillac XTS is a beautiful car with amazing safety ratings.

The new 2013 Cadillac XTS

The new 2013 Cadillac XTS is not your grandma’s Cadillac. It has a smooth, sleek body, a technologically advanced control panel, and impressive handling. It also has the price tag to go with it, as it starts at $44,075.

With all of the impressive physical qualities in addition to safety ratings that are only seen on few other vehicles, it has me rethinking my quest for a Mercedes Benz.

Safety Ratings for the 2013 Cadillac XTS

Both the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) both like this car.

The NHTSA gave the 2013 XTS 5 out of 5 stars for 11 of its 12 crash tests. The only test that it did not get 5 out of 5 for was the rollover rating and it scored 4 out of 5 on that test.

The IIHS rated the 2013 Cadillac XTS as a “Top Safety Pick” for 2013, meaning that the IIHS feels that it is one of the safest vehicles that are on the road today. The vehicle received a “good” rating for every category that it was tested in. A “good” rating is the highest rating that the IIHS gives for its testing.

The vehicle was not tested in the small frontal crash test or it may have earned the distinction of being a “Top Safety Pick +”, making it rated as the safest of the safe vehicles on the road today. And considering the poor ratings that Cadillac vehicles have earned in the past, these high ratings are even more impressive.

Insurance Thoughts on the 2013 Cadillac XTS

As much as I am impressed by the safety and look of the 2013 XTS, the insurance rates for it are going to be higher than other sedans.

Now, Cadillac vehicles have a 50/50 reputation when it comes to types of drivers that drive them and the likelihood that they are going to get in an accident. One the one hand, you have older drivers and upper middleclass families safely driving these vehicles that would keep the liability premiums down.

But, you also have a whole class of fast, unsafe drivers that buy a Cadillac vehicle because that’s what they see their favorite rapper or actor driving, and they want to be just like them. Fortunately, this type of driver sticks to the SUV models for the most part, which could help the XTS as it is a sedan’s liability ratings.

The high safety ratings will help with keeping the medical payments or pip coverage (depending on your state) down.

And finally, the comprehensive and collision coverages are going to be higher than they would be on other sedans. With the starting price of this vehicle $20,000 higher than the average price of other sedan’s the insurance companies are going to be paying more to fix or total out the 2013 Cadillac XTS; which they pass along to you in the form of higher insurance premiums.

State insurance regulators are listening to complaints and keeping insurance companies in check.

Does your insurance company complaint department feel like this?

When you are unhappy with a company and file a complaint, do you sometimes feel like no one is listening? If you do get someone to listen, do you get the feeling that they don’t care?

Yeah, me too.

But according to press releases being sent out by different states, state insurance regulators are listening to the complaints of the citizens they serve. In 2012 alone, there were millions of consumer dollars recovered from insurance companies for improperly conducting insurance business. So I guess there is hope for us drivers after all.

What Complaints Were Resolved

For the many, many years that I worked for insurance companies and agencies there wasn’t a day that didn’t go by that someone didn’t want to file a complaint about something. There were the silly complaints of having to pay their insurance premium on time to their address not being updated in the computer system (whether our fault or theirs).

But, there were also the more serious complaints that had to do with insurance policies being cancelled wrongly and claims that were clearly covered not being paid. It’s these more serious complaints that state regulators pursue for drivers.

Complaints like:

• Claim settlements that violated state law
• Claims wrongly denied
• Car insurance rates calculated wrong
• Policies cancelled without notice being given by a specific day
• Policies cancelled without a reason given
• Policies non-renewed without notice being given by a specific day
• Policies being denied coverage wrongly

How Much Was Recovered From Complaints?

The amounts that were recovered varied from state to state, of course. A lot of what was recovered depended on specific investigations that were conducted, or areas that were concentrated on more than others. For example, some states recovered millions for claims that were settled incorrectly while other states concentrated on insurance premiums.

Here is a quick breakdown of some of the states with impressive recoveries in 2012:

*Louisiana Department of Insurance, **onlineautoinsurance.com, ***Illinois Department of Insurance, ^Maine Bureau of Insurance, ^^ North Carolina Department of Insurance

Do People Really File Complaints?

It may seem like departments in the government just randomly check in on insurance companies to make sure they are complying with state laws and regulations, and they do (state audits). However, most of the investigations are started by drivers like you and me filing a complaint against an insurance company.

In 2012, Maine had 4,760 people make inquiries through their Bureau of Insurance about something not right about an insurance company they were working with. They also received 319 complaints in writing. In North Carolina, the Insurance’s Consumer Services Division received 65,000 calls and 7,500 complaints in writing total for all of the insurance products that were written in their state.

So never think that if you complain to the department in your state that regulates insurance that you won’t be heard.

Reports from the NHTSA show that 2011 was a good year for deaths from drunk driving.

We all know that deaths from drunk driving are a reality, but even if drunk driving doesn’t lead to death it can cause serious damage to other people and their property. Between personal experiences of losing loved ones, public safety announcements, and law enforcement crackdowns the message about the dangers of drunk driving is reaching everyone. You would have to be living in a cave not to have heard any of these.

The good news is that it seems more and more people are taking this fact to heart from the new report that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Report on Deaths from Drunk Driving

In December, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a report in regards to their deaths from drunk driving research. This report was from the information collected for the driving year of 2011, not for 2012.

Their findings included a 2.5% decrease in deaths from drunk driving in 2011, compared to the statistics from 2010. While 2.5% may not seem to be a lot, that’s 247 people that are still alive because of the decrease.

State by State Deaths from Drink Driving

The 2.5% decrease that the NHTSA found was an average across the nation. If broken down state by state, some states did much better than others. The largest decrease was in the state of Maine where there was a 43% decrease in deaths from drunk driving. On the other end, Oregon saw a 39% increase in deaths from drunk driving.

Here is the breakdown by state:

Deaths from drunk driving by state

How did your state fair in its deaths from drunk driving statistics?

Is now justification for those safe drivers out there that believe that the insurance rating on their policies doesn’t match their driving record?

Are insurance companies really using unfair insurance rating factors?

Going through the insurance rating process for insurance quotes is a necessary evil; just like the actual product that we are getting the quote for. Many people don’t understand why they are charged so much for insurance when they have clean driving records.

But like we say over and over again here at Car Insurance Guidebook, insurance rating takes into account many different factors which is why no two policies are the same.

However, a recent study by the Consumer Federation of America has given backing to those that feel they are being unfairly rated for other factors that have nothing to do with how safe they drive.

The Insurance Rating Study

The study from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA)started by creating the profiles of two 30-year-old women who lived in the same zip code and had the same number of years driving. Aside from the actual driving record, age and location should be the two other biggest factors that determine premium during the insurance rating process (or so the insurance companies have been telling us for years).

While creating these profiles, the CFA also made one woman married, a high wage earner with a graduate degree, and a home owner. She also had car accident on her driving record that happened within the last 3 years that caused $800 worth of damage.

The other woman was single, had been without insurance for the last 45 days, was a renter not a homeowner, and had a clean driving record.

The Results of the Insurance Rating Study

After women representing each of the profiles had called around to the different insurance companies to get quotes on the same minimum amount of coverage, here is what the results were:

“In two-thirds of the 60 cases studied, large auto insurers quoted higher premiums to safe drivers than to those responsible for an accident. And in more than three-fifths of the cases with these higher premiums, the premium quoted the safe driver exceeded the premium quoted the unsafe driver by at least 25 percent.”

What This Tells Us about Insurance Rating

Basically, this study is telling us that insurance rating is using other factors that have nothing to do with your driving record, much more than they probably should. After reading the study and from my own experience in the insurance industry, getting insurance quotes is becoming similar to applying for a credit card with what factors the insurance companies use to determine how much to charge you.

However, I cannot agree with the study calling insurance companies unfair from the results of their study. Why? Because the supposedly safe driver had a 45-day lapse in her insurance; which means she was driving around without insurance coverage for 45 days. To an insurance company (and the legal system) this is just as unsafe as an accident and the insurance rating is going to reflect that.