There are independent rating companies that evaluate the financial position of insurance companies and give them a rating based on their size and financial health. There are small insurance companies that have high ratings and even large insurance companies with less than stelar ratings. How do you find the rating of an insurance company? One way is to go to www.ambest.com or www.demotech.com. Both of these companies rate insurance companies.
At Triest Agency we only want to work with insurance carriers that have an A rating and you should too. The only exception is an insurance company that provides flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program. In this case, they have no direct exposure since the claims are paid out of this government program. But if you buy a homeowners insurance policy, ask the agent for the rating of that company. There are so many fine companies that don't have a household name and it's not hard to find out if they're capable of insuring your house, business, car....
I would be suspicious of these web sites that you can google for the "highest rated homeowners insurance company" in an area. When I did a Google search for the "best rated insurance companies" the search results included "Top 10 Insurance Companies", "Best and Worst Insurance companies", and "Best and Worst Home Insurance companies". There is nothing quantitative or truly valid to evaluate the insurance companies. Most are just marketing gimmicks to attack shoppers. The only way to get a true evaluation of the financial health of an insurance company is to use an independent rating agency like AM Best or Demotech. These companies have analyst that dig into the financial health of the insurance company. The best insurance company to me is one that has the capital to pay claims.
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