January 23, 2025 – Today, RATESDOTCA announced the results of their second Annual Best Auto Insurance Study, based on the results of Canada’s largest survey of auto insurance policyholders. Designed, conducted, and analysed on behalf of RATESDOTCA by Pollara Strategic Insights, the survey of N=12,600 auto insurance customers who are household insurance decision-makers measures customer satisfaction with auto insurance providers in Ontario and Alberta – the two largest private insurance markets in Canada.
The study focuses on the entirety of customers’ experience with their current auto insurance company to understand and measure levels of satisfaction in trustworthiness, claims experience, policy documents and billing statements. The results of the study, fielded in the Fall of 2024, show that the significant challenges the auto insurance industry and consumers have faced over the past year – including the auto theft crisis, increasing repair costs, higher claims payouts, and consequently higher premiums – have not damaged consumer’s perceptions of their insurance companies, with the majority of survey respondents maintaining high levels of satisfaction and trust in their insurers.
The key findings of the study include:
- Despite challenges, consumers maintain high levels of trust and satisfaction with their insurance companies: Consumers reported high levels of overall satisfaction with their insurance companies, with overall satisfaction reaching 82% (+2 since 2023), and 76% of respondents reporting they feel that their insurance company is trustworthy.
- 1:1 live communications – and preferred communication methods – are important to consumers: Those who communicated with a live person (through telephone or online chat) are slightly more satisfied with their insurance company overall than those who communicated by messages via app/website or email. Regardless of how someone communicated, it’s critical that insurance companies communicate through a customer’s preferred communications channel – overall satisfaction with insurance companies is 85% amongst those who communicated using their channel of choice vs. 70% for those who did not. The study results support the importance of 1:1 live communications and that a multi-channel strategy is the best way to keep consumers satisfied and loyal to their insurance company.
- Older customers are generally more satisfied: Older customers assign higher performance ratings across all aspects of service than younger cohorts. This includes: service provided by representatives, timely claims resolution, and communications around payments. This demarcation also applies to overall satisfaction with premium price and value for cost, with older cohorts generally more satisfied than younger.
- Digital interactions remain low in the insurance industry: Across insurance companies in the RATESDOTCA Annual Best Auto Insurance Study, only 3% of claimants report receiving updates from their insurer through an online app and 2% through a secure website. In overall communications with insurance companies, the study shows higher preference for digital forms of communication in the younger demographic, pointing to a potential future in which digital communications may play a more important role.
- Those with Usage Based Insurance (UBI) policies are more satisfied with their insurance companies: Those that have UBI policies report higher levels of satisfaction with their insurance companies compared to those without UBI policies (89% versus 81%). We also found that although 60% of customers say they are at least somewhat familiar with UBI, very few currently have a UBI policy, and only 28% are likely to consider it for their next policy with a discount of at least 5%.
Without further adieu, the second Annual Best Auto Insurance Study rankings for the overarching Best Overall category are as follows. This category provides a ranking of the insurance companies that perform the best across several sub-categories, with results weighted based on how important each sub-category is to overall customer satisfaction:
If you are interested in learning the insurance company rankings for the following categories of analysis, please visit the RATESDOTCA website:
- Most Trustworthy
- Best Auto Claims Experience
- Best Policy Documents
- Best Billing Statements
The RATESDOTCA Annual Best Auto Insurance Study is based on the largest survey of auto insurance customers in Canada. From September 16 to October 8, 2024, Pollara Strategic Insights surveyed N=12,600 auto insurance customers who take part in decisions regarding insurance for their household. Using an online survey methodology, Pollara surveyed customers from nine insurance brokerages in Ontario and Alberta – the two largest markets for private auto insurance in Canada.
- The survey is dedicated solely to exploring satisfaction with auto insurance, with questions focused on the entirety of consumers’ experience with one insurance company in order to measure, and understand what drives, satisfaction.
- Underwriting carriers were identified by policy, not customer recall, ensuring accuracy in carrier identification. This robust study includes brands which are not typically reported in surveys of the general population of insurance consumers due to their relatively small market share.
For more study information and results, visit the RATESDOTCA website.
