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Businesses Satisfied with Commercial Insurance

6 April 2000

Businesses Satisfied with Commercial Insurance

    MALVERN, Pa., April 6 More than half of firms with sales
of between $5 million and $100 million are very satisfied with insurers'
understanding of their needs and the coverage they offered to meet those
needs, according to a recent business survey by the Insurance Research Council
(IRC).  Fifty-six percent of respondents said they are very satisfied with the
coverage insurers offered to meet their needs.  Another 30 percent said they
are satisfied with the coverage offered to them.  Only two percent are very
dissatisfied with the insurance offered to them.
    Satisfaction with agents, brokers, and current insurers is also high with
these same firms.  More than three-quarters (76 percent) of respondents
indicate great satisfaction with their agents or brokers.  Sixty-eight percent
report they are very satisfied with their current insurers.  Only about a
third (36 percent) of the respondents, however, are very satisfied with
commercial insurance companies overall.
    Although 73 percent of the respondents are very satisfied with their
current insurance coverage, only 39 percent are very satisfied with the price.
    Therefore, it is not surprising that companies with sales between
$5 million and $100 million indicate the price of insurance is the most common
issue prompting them to change from one insurer to another.  More than seven
out of ten (73 percent) of those who changed insurers in the last five years
name securing a lower premium as the reason.  Only nine percent give lack of
satisfaction with the service they have received as the reason they have
switched insurers.  In addition, 69 percent of those who will definitely or
probably change insurers in the next two years plan to do so to lower
premiums, while just 12 percent plan to change because they are not satisfied
with the service they have received.
    "For commercial insurers, the good news is that, overall, firms are
satisfied with their current insurers," said Elizabeth A. Sprinkel, senior
vice president who heads the IRC.  "Ultimately, however, lower premiums are
enough for some of these firms to change insurers."
    The results contained in IRC's recently released report, Business Attitude
Monitor 2000, are based on a survey conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide.  The
survey focused on firms with annual sales of between $5 million and $100
million and consisted of 1,206 telephone interviews with individuals most
familiar with their companies' purchase of commercial insurance.  The survey
also addresses companies' views on commercial insurance deregulation.
    For more detailed information on the study's methodology and findings,
contact Elizabeth Sprinkel by phone at 610-644-2212, ext. 7568; by fax at
610 640-5388; or by e-mail at irc@cpcuiia.org.  Or visit IRC's Web site at
http://www.ircweb.org .  Copies of the study are available at $25 each in the U.S.
($35 elsewhere) postpaid from the Insurance Research Council, 718 Providence
Rd., Malvern, PA 19355-0725.  Phone: 610-644-2212, ext. 7569.
Fax: 610-640-5388.