Seven of the 38 automobile insurers writing business in New York scored best in a new survey based on the number of complaints resolved in their favor.

The New York State Insurance Department’s 2009 Annual Ranking of Automobile Insurance Complaints analyzes data from 2007 and 2008, with insurers with the fewest upheld complaints per million dollars of premium at the top of the list and those with the highest complaint ratios at the bottom.

Premium data for two years is analyzed to compensate for the fact some complaint resolutions can span more than one year, the department said.

An upheld complaint occurs when regulators agree with a consumer that the auto insurer made an inappropriate claims decision.

The seven insurers with no upheld complaints over the two-year period are: Amica Mutual Group, Main Street America Group, QBE Insurance Group Ltd., American Express Groups, Balboa Life & Casualty Group, Electric Insurance Group and Eveready Insurance Co.

Among the state’s largest insurers in terms of market share, those with total premiums of $1 billion or more, State Farm had the fewest upheld complaints.

On the other end of the spectrum, four insurers had the most upheld complaints in relation to their premiums.  They are: Long Island Insurance Co., Countrywide Insurance Co., White Mountains Group and Tri-State Consumer Insurance Co.

James J. Wrynn

The report indicates that New York regulators received 7,237 complaints in 2008 against auto insurance companies or groups of companies, upholding 948 of those complaints in favor of consumers. An additional 4,316 complaints were withdrawn or not upheld and 1,973 were ruled as “question of fact” cases, where the department cannot legally determine the facts of the case.

“New York is a very competitive marketplace, so consumers have a wide range of choices when buying automobile insurance,” New York Insurance Commissioner James J. Wrynn said in a statement.

The report indicates that New York upheld one consumer complaint for every $9.7 million in premiums paid, based on the total of about $10 billion that state residents spent on auto insurance.