How can I find out which car insurance company is best?

Besides comparing car insurance quotes, consider a company's customer service reputation. Insure.com provides a best insurance companies tool that shows customer satisfaction measurements for large insurance companies. The findings are based on surveys of more than 4,500 customers between February and August 2011.

In the survey, USAA is the top favorite for home and auto insurance. Auto-Owners Insurance and The Hartford come in second and third place respectively, for car insurance. Ameriprise holds the top spot for life insurance customers, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois has the most satisfied health insurance customers.

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To see ratings of individual companies, select the insurance type and click, "Go." Ratings are given for overall customer satisfaction, claims processing, customer service, value for price, the percentage of customers who plan to renew policies and the portion of customers who would recommend their insurance company. To learn more about an insurer, click on the name of the company. You'll see more detailed survey results, as well as individual customer reviews.

Although the top companies by market share were included in the survey, some companies are not represented in the rankings because of a lack of data.

In addition, check with your state insurance department. Many such departments produce annual reports about the number of consumer complaints against insurance companies that do business there. The California Department for Insurance, for instance, includes information on its website such as a chart listing the 50 largest auto insurance companies in the state and the number of justified compliants against the company in the last three years.

It's also a good idea to talk with friends and family members about their experience with car insurance companies. Did their insurance companies resolve claims promptly and fairly?

For more, see Insure.com's customer satisfaction study reveals best insurance companies.