Insurers must be quick and fair throughout the claims process, communicating more with customers, to improve people’s satisfaction when making an auto insurance claim, a new study says.

Delaware Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart fined Allstate Insurance Co. and Encompass Insurance Co. a total of $50,000 for violating state insurance laws, which the insurers blamed on computer problems.

The tornadoes that hit the U.S. Midwest and Southeast during the last week of April resulted in as much as $6 billion in insured losses, according to a global risk modeling agency.

Allstate and Encompass have agreed to settle a class-action suit that alleged that they used a faulty computerized medical bill review system to handle auto and homeowners’ medical claims.

Noting its adequate risk-adjusted capitalization, A.M. Best has affirmed the ratings of Bridgewater, N.J.-based Allstate New Jersey Insurance Group and its members.

The ratings agency affirmed the insurer’s financial strength rating …  Read →