J.D. Power and Associates throws a wrench into conventional thinking by declaring that customer satisfaction with auto insurance companies is at an all-time high.

Would have rated your insurance company the same way?

J.D. Power and Associates have come out with another survey, and they say that you actually like your insurance company more than you did last year. No, I am not making this up. You can see the results of the survey yourself if you go to jdpower.com.

You may want to visit there anyway. Then you can see that I really haven’t lost my marbles.

What Exactly Did J.D. Power and Associates Rate?

J.D. Power and Associates had people rate their insurance company on five different things:

1. Price

2. Interaction

3. Policy offerings

4. Claims

5. Billing and payment

Each of these 5 things were initially rated separately. Once J.D. Power and Associates had those results, they then came up with an overall satisfaction rating.

Results of the J.D. Power and Associates Survey

The J.D. Power and Associates survey was rated on a scale of 1000 points. With 1000 being the highest rating you could give to an insurance company.

The overall satisfaction results came back at 804. As compared to 2011, the rating was up 14 points.

Price showed no improvement in satisfaction from last year. Not a big surprise there.

However, interaction with clients saw a 19-point jump up in satisfaction as compared to 2011. Even bigger was the 30-point jump in satisfaction for policy offerings. In short, people are most satisfied with how their insurance company talks to them about their insurance policies and what their insurance company has to offer them.

J.D. Power and Associates Results by Region

J.D. Power and Associates broke their survey down into seven different regions. The results are actually very interesting, as you can see which part of the country is most satisfied with their insurance.

Mid-Atlantic Overall Customer Satisfaction Rating: 807

Northeast Overall Customer Satisfaction Rating: 784

North Central Overall Customer Satisfaction Rating: 804

Southeast Overall Customer Satisfaction Rating: 814

Central Overall Customer Satisfaction Rating: 811

West (not California) Overall Customer Satisfaction Rating: 810

California Overall Customer Satisfaction Rating: 785

I am really not surprised to see such a low rating for the Northeast. That section includes New York and Massachusetts. Both of which have some of the goofiest insurance laws that I have ever seen. In fact, they were so bad that one of the insurance companies I used to work for refused to write insurance in Massachusetts.

Now that you have seen the survey results, let’s hear from you.

Do you agree with J.D. Power and Associates; are you happier with your insurance company?

Adding temporary drivers are as much of a hassle to your insurance company as it is to you.

No, Fido does not qualify as a temporary driver.

A lot of people wonder if they have to add temporary drivers to their insurance policy. Should my child visiting from college be added? Should Aunt Betsy be added while she is staying with us for our niece’s wedding?

The answer heavily depends on who the temporary drivers are and how temporary the driving situation really is.

 Who are Temporary Drivers?

Temporary drivers are anyone that drives your vehicle just now and then. These drivers don’t drive your vehicle enough to be considered a significant risk of getting into an auto accident.

For example, your friend from across the nation is staying with you for a week. You let them borrow your vehicle while they are here, so they can get around while you are at work. Your friend is considered a temporary driver and does not have to be included on your insurance policy.

However, you also have a teenager who lives in your home. They just got their license, but they only drive one or twice a week. They are not considered a temporary driver.

Why? Because the teenager lives in your home, causes a significant risk of a car accident, and technically drives your vehicle on a consistent basis (just not very often).

How Do I Know For Sure Who is a Temporary Driver?

When in doubt, ask your insurance company or insurance agent. They can listen to the situation and tell you exactly if the person has to be listed as a temporary driver or not.

Also, don’t worry about the insurance company saying, yes, just to collect on extra premium. This worry is unfounded for two reasons.

One, adding a new driver for just a short period of time is a pain. There is information to collect, reports to be run, and information to be entered. All of which required employee hours that insurance companies and agencies would rather not waste just to add a driver that may drive your vehicle for the two days they are visiting you.

Two, there is no guarantee that the insurance premium will go up. Adding an additional good driver can sometimes actually decrease your premium.

Again, if you are not sure of the situation, ask your insurance company about how they process temporary drivers.

Allstate’s Mayhem is back with a new claims satisfaction guarantee program against your cheap insurance company.

Summary

The commercial opens with Mayhem sitting in a cubicle of a claims department and air conducting the on-hold music.

Mayhem: (giggles)

Screen goes to someone on the side of the road that has just run into a traffic barrel and is on his cell phone.

Mayhem: Please continue to hold, the next available claims representative will be with you in 97 minutes (he laughs and reaches over to play a little ditty on a keyboard).

Screen changes to the guy by the side of the road that is the unlucky caller on the line with Mayhem and he has a dumbfounded look on his face. Screen back to Mayhem.

Mayhem: If you have cut-rate insurance, there’s nothing you can do about this.

Screen goes back to the side of the road and the guy that was on the cellphone with Mayhem does an excellent representation of a centerfield to home base throw with his cellphone.

Mayhem: So get Allstate. The only insurance company that guarantees your claim experience won’t be mayhem……

Screen has switch back and forth a couple times now, until we are back to Mayhem who is now twirling around in his chair.

Mayhem: …..like me.

Mayhem pops out of his chair and kicks over the keyboard as he walks out of the office.

Announcer: Introducing the claims satisfaction guarantee only from Allstate. Mayhem is everywhere, are you in good hands?

Point of Commercial

Allstate’s Mayhem has the pleasure of introducing the new claims satisfaction guarantee program from Allstate Insurance.

To prove their point, Allstate has Mayhem take over the claims department of another insurance company. Usually they just point out specific claims that may not be covered. This is why it caught my attention as being something different from their norm.

What They Want You to Do

They want you to be curious about this claims satisfaction guarantee program and call to ask questions.

They reveal nothing about the program, which is brilliant. This leaves people wondering what the heck this program is and how are they going to pull this one off. With nothing revealed, you are left with little choice, but to contact them for more information.

Once they have you one the phone, they can talk you into getting a quote.

My Opinion

I am a little curious about this new program that Allstate’s Mayhem introduces us to. After working in the claims department of an insurance company, I can tell you that there are just some people you CANNOT satisfy. So, how are they going to satisfy everyone?

Other than that, Mayhem always can be counted on for a good commercial. Now, I have to debate whether to call Allstate to find out about their claims satisfaction guarantee program.

Giving this Allstate’s Mayhem claims satisfaction guarantee program commercial two thumbs up.

The 2012 Honda Civic is a good pick for safety and lower insurance rates.

Honda is proud of their 2012 Honda Civic

One of the safest cars on the road is the 2012 Honda Civic. It was not tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but received very high marks by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The 2012 Honda Civic actually comes in 7 different versions:

• Sedan
• Coupe
• SI Sedan
• SI Coupe
• HF Hybrid
• Natural Gas

For our purposes, the specific 2012 Honda Accord we will be concentrating on it the sedan.

Insurance Rates of the 2012 Honda Civic

The 2012 Honda Civic is did not make the list as one of the cheapest cars to insure (insure.com). However, it also did not make the list of the top 20 most expensive cars to insure either.

With its high safety ratings, the chance that someone in the Honda Civic will be injured is small. If they are injured, their injuries will be minimal (excluding the worst case scenario). With a decreased chance of injury and severity of injury, the insurance for medical expenses is going to be closer to the cheaper side of the insurance premiums than anything else.

Also the Honda Civic is not an expensive car. This means that if it were to get into a car accident, that the insurance company is not going to be paying all that much for the parts to fix it.

Finally, the Honda Civic is a smaller sedan. The smaller the vehicle, the less damage it is going to be able to cause another vehicle. This makes the insurance premium for the liability coverage on the 2012 Honda Civic also on the low side.

IIHS Safety Ratings for the 2012 Honda Civic

The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) tested the 2012 Honda Civic sedan models for this year’s safety testing. The Civic received a “good” rating (the highest safety rating) in every category. This includes the: front crash test, side crash test, roof strength test and rear crash test.

With their consistent high ratings in every test the IIHS performed on it, the 2012 Honda Civic earned the IIHS “Top Safety Pick” designation for the year 2012.

2012 Honda Civic Recalls

Honda does have a recall out for some of its 2012 Civics. The recall is due to the driveshaft, and the possibility that it may separate. There have been no deaths or injuries reported yet due to this defect, they are just being cautious.

If you have any questions about you 2012 Honda Civic and if it is being recalled, contact your local Honda dealership.

Having excluded drivers on your insurance policy is a good way to keep your premium lower.

Excluded drivers are not allowed to ever drive your vehicle.

Being able to have excluded drivers on your insurance policy can be a mixed blessing. First, being able to exclude a driver that has a bad driving record will bring your insurance premium down. However, if an excluded driver ends up driving your vehicle, you could be facing serious trouble for something you did not cause.

So, be cautious when adding an excluded driver to your insurance policy. Don’t let the joy of the lower premiums overshadow your rationale thinking about the future.

What Are Excluded Drivers?

Excluded drivers are any drivers in your household (or not) that you specifically list on your insurance policy as not driving your vehicles. It could be a young driver that has their own insurance, but you have to either exclude or add them to your policy. It could also be a boyfriend or girlfriend that has a terrible driving record that you don’t want on your insurance policy.

The Benefits of Excluded Drivers

Being able to exclude a specific driver from your insurance policy means that you don’t have to pay the additional insurance premium from adding them to your policy. This can help keep your insurance premiums at decent rates, especially if the excluded driver has a bad driving record.

Bad drivers aren’t the only ones you can see benefits from excluding. You can also exclude young adult children that move back in the home, but have their own insurance. Being able to do this is nice, because these young drivers have higher insurance premiums than the rest of us.

Can Anyone Be an Excluded Driver?

In general, yes, anyone can be excluded from an insurance policy. However, when it comes to the registered owner of a vehicle, the driver exclusions can be tricky. First, some states have laws that prevent the registered owner of the vehicle from being an excluded driver.

Second, insurance companies generally frown on excluding registered owners. There are companies that will do it, but there has to be a pretty darn good reason to do so.

The Downfall of Excluded Drivers

While excluded drivers are a great way to protect your insurance premium from a bad driver; it has its downfalls also. Once a driver is excluded from an insurance policy, they can NEVER drive your vehicle.

If they cause a car accident with your car, you could be held liable for part of the damage. Anything you are held liable for, your insurance company will not pay for because the excluded driver was driving at the time of the accident. So, it is very important that any excluded drivers on your insurance policy have absolutely no access to your vehicle.