Insurify Quality Score Methodology

Shopping for car insurance is easier when drivers can compare objective ratings among insurers. To help consumers review the best car insurance companies, Insurify created the Insurify Quality Score (IQ Score). The IQ Score objectively analyzes and calculates a score for insurers based on their customer satisfaction ratings, average monthly premiums, financial strength, and more. Here’s how it works.

How Insurify rates car insurance companies

Insurify analyzes more than 15 criteria to rate and review the best auto insurance companies. The Insurify team groups the criteria into five categories: financial strength ratings, customer satisfaction, cost, customer support and customization, transparency, and availability. The IQ Score uses a 1 to 5 scale to assign a score to insurance companies for each criteria the team analyzed.

Then, Insurify calculates the average score of each criteria category, assigns a weighting, and adds the weighted scores to create an Insurify Quality Score for an insurance company. If an insurer doesn’t have data for a particular criteria, it’s excluded from the IQ Score calculations.

Third-party financial ratings 

Insurify uses third-party financial strength rating data to score auto insurers. Third-party rating companies independently analyze an insurance company’s financial strength and assign a letter grade to it, with “A” grades as the best ratings possible. Insurify uses this data to compare insurance companies’ credit and ability to pay out future claims, which translates to a score of 1 to 5 for that specific criteria. The rating companies Insurify uses for its Insurify Quality Score include A.M. Best, Moody’s, S&P Global, Fitch, and Weiss.

The table below shows how Insurify breaks down each rating and scores it.

Customer satisfaction

To score auto insurers on customer satisfaction, Insurify uses ratings from trusted industry experts, customer review sites, and insurer mobile apps. Specifically, Insurify compiles and uses customer satisfaction ratings from J.D. Power, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Trustpilot, the Better Business Bureau, the Google Play Store, and the Apple App Store. In each category, insurers earn a score between 1 and 5 that corresponds to the Insurify scoring system below. If a company does not have a particular rating from one or more of the six customer satisfaction criteria, it will simply be scored and weighted using the remaining criteria.

Affordability

Data scientists at Insurify analyzed more than 40 million real-time auto insurance rates from our partner providers across the United States to compile the car insurance quotes, statistics, and data visualizations displayed on our pages. The car insurance data collected includes coverage analysis and details on drivers’ vehicles, driving records, and demographic information. Quotes are estimates based on Quadrant Information Services’ database of auto insurance rates. With these insights, Insurify is able to offer drivers insight into how companies price their car insurance premiums. The data included on this page represents averages across all driver ages, gender, credit scores, and driver profiles for drivers.

The lower an insurance company’s average premiums for liability-only and full-coverage car insurance, the higher its Insurify Quality Score for this category. Additionally, Insurify includes the number of discounts insurers advertise in calculating its score. More advertised discounts translates to a higher score, as drivers can find more ways to save on their car insurance.

The table below shows how Insurify uses this information to rate insurers based on affordability.

Customer support and transparency

Insurify believes it’s important for drivers to have as many coverage options as possible when buying car insurance. The Insurify Quality Score measures how many additional coverages in addition to liability insurance companies offer to drivers, including windshield coverage, GAP coverage, roadside assistance, and more. Furthermore, transparency is key when shopping for car insurance, which is why Insurify considers what information is available to drivers on insurers’ websites. Here are four main points Insurify looks for when rating transparency:

• Coverage options = 1 point

• Contact information = 1 point

• State availability = 1 point

• Potential discounts = 1 point

The more information an insurer makes available to consumers, the higher Insurify rates its transparency.

Furthermore, when it’s time to file a claim, Insurify considers how many avenues drivers have to start the process. If an insurer has mobile, desktop, and phone claims filing, it will score a 5 in this criteria, because it’s more convenient for drivers to file a claim. 

Here’s how Insurify scores insurers for each criteria.

Availability and reach

Insurify identified the number of states in which insurers offer coverage and company size by market share to score availability and reach. The more states an insurer offers coverage in, the higher it will score in the availability criteria. In some cases, smaller, regional companies that serve a specific geographic area do not earn a score for availability. Scoring companies by their market share allows Insurify to account for how much of the auto insurance market each company controls. A higher market share percentage correlates to a higher score for this criteria. For each criteria, companies earn a score between 1 and 5.

Why Insurify created the IQ Score

The Insurify Quality Score replaces the former Insurify Composite Score with a more detailed and quantified methodology for generating insurer ratings. The new IQ Score improves Insurify’s car insurance reviews and helps readers choose the best car insurance company for their situation.

As you compare insurance companies, Insurify hopes you use the Insurify Quality Score as a factor in your final decision, whether you’re buying insurance for the first time or switching to a new insurer.