J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Customer Retention is Critical for Insurance Carriers, Particularly among Those Customers Potentially Impacted by Challenging Economic Conditions

Incremental Improvements in Customer Retention Can Lead to Substantial Financial Growth for Insurance Carriers

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: 22 April 2009 – As millions of U.S. households face financial hardship in the current U.S. recession, retaining existing customers has never been more important for insurance carriers in terms of long-term profitability, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Personal Insurance Retention Special Report released today.

The report finds that in the past 12 months, 30 percent of households with annual incomes below $50,000 shopped for a new insurance carrier and 45 percent of those customers eventually switched carriers. In contrast, only 26 percent of more affluent households (those with incomes of $100,000 or more) shopped for a new carrier, with only 31 percent of shoppers eventually switching.

“While 90 percent of customers overall stayed with their insurance carrier during the past 12 months, those households that are potentially more impacted by the recession present a real challenge for insurance carriers,” said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “Although several carriers in the industry-including Auto-Owners, GEICO, Liberty Mutual, Progressive and Travelers-have managed to grow their customer base in this challenging economic climate, their growth comes at the expense of other insurers in the mature U.S. personal auto insurance market. As such, keeping customers on board is absolutely critical for the long-term profitability of an insurance carrier.”

Retention rates are particularly high among those customers who bundle multiple insurance products, according to the report. Retention rates average 95 percent among customers who bundle home and auto policies with the same insurance carrier and 92 percent among those who bundle auto and rental policies. Conversely, retention averages only 83 percent among mono-line auto customers and only 85 percent among policyholders who do not bundle their auto and homeowners insurance.

“For any of the 50 largest U.S. personal auto insurers, improving retention by one percent for the next five years can equate to tens of millions of dollars over that time period, so even seemingly small differences in retention rates can have a substantial impact on an insurance company�s bottom line,” said Bowler. “Making strides to improve satisfaction and retain customers clearly has a significant financial incentive for carriers.”

The report also finds that there are considerable variances in customer retention between different consumer demographic or attitudinal groups. For example, while retention rates average 91 percent among married customers, the retention rate among divorced policyholders is 2 percentage points lower, on average.

“In light of differences between demographic groups, which can be indicative of different lifestyle and insurance needs, auto insurers need to tailor their products, services and retention tactics to specific attitudinal or demographic segments to increase the likelihood of retaining customers, rather than treating everyone with a ‘one size fits all’ mentality,” said Bowler.

The 2009 Personal Insurance Retention Special Report is based on surveys from more than 275,000 auto insurance customers evaluating more than 30 insurance carriers across the industry, including AIG /21st Century, Allstate, American Family, Farmers, GEICO, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Progressive, State Farm, The Hartford, Travelers and USAA. The study was fielded from January to March 2009.

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, Web intelligence and customer satisfaction. The company�s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor�s, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2008 were $6.4 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.