JD POWER Auto Insurance Provider Satisfaction Index-India

The study measured the satisfaction levels of existing policy holders across six factors which include interaction, claims, product/policy offerings, renewal, purchase of policy, billing and payment process, and premium/ price of coverage offered.

A total of 4,445 auto insurance policy holders who either renewed or purchased an auto insurance policy between January 2008 and April 2009 and had at least 2.5 to 3.5 years of vehicle ownership were considered for the 2009 India Auto Insurance Customer Satisfaction Study (IAICSS). The study also featured a total of eleven insurance companies and the survey was conducted across 20 Indian cities.

A thorough process of plotting the results against a 1,000 point scale have revealed that ICICI Lombard has ranked the highest with a score of 775 thanks to exceptional performance on three parameters, namely, performance on product/policy purchase experience, product/policy offerings and premium/price for coverage offered. The Oriental Insurance Company managed a very close score of 772. Incidentally the overall satisfaction rate across the industry averages out to 761.

The study also revealed that more than 80 per cent of the auto insurance policy holders, on average, did not file a single auto insurance claim experience with their provider. Amongst these people who didn't file any claims the satisfaction levels were mainly driven by the add-on features that a policy offers such as contact channels, ease of feedback, online help and special schemes. The study also revealed that a policy holder is more likely going to opt for the same company provided they had a very high level of satisfaction the first time around.