World's Best Insurance Companies

The price you pay for your auto insurance can vary by hundreds of dollars, depending what type of car you have and the insurance company you buy your policy from. Here are some ways to save money. 1. Shop Around Prices vary from company to company, so it pays to shop around. Get at least three price quotes. You can call companies directly or access information on the Internet. Your state insurance department may also provide comparisons of prices charged by major insurers. (State insurance department phone numbers and Web sites can be found on the back cover.) You buy insurance to protect you financially and provide peace of mind. It’s important to pick a company that is financially stable. Check the financial health of insurance companies with rating companies such as A.M. Best (www.ambest.com) and Standard & Poor’s (www.standardandpoors.com/ratings) and consult consumer magazines. Get quotes from different types of insurance companies. Some sell through their own agents.

You can buy insurance through your local insurance agent and through insurance companies that sell through their own employees, over the phone, by mail and over the Internet. Consult your state insurance department, the yellow pages of your phone book, and friends or relatives for the names of insurance companies doing business in your state. In most states, there are dozens, sometimes hundreds of companies to choose from, depending on the type of insurance you're looking for. You can go to our Find an Insurance Company tool for help.

There are many insurance companies, so choosing between them can be a challenge. Here are the main points to keep in mind when selecting an insurance company: 1. Licensing Not every company is licensed to operate in each state. As a general rule, you should buy from a company licensed in your state, because then can you rely on your state insurance department to help if there’s a problem. To find out which companies are licensed in your state, contact the state insurance department. 2. Price Many companies sell insurance policies and prices vary greatly from one to another, so it really pays to shop around. Get at least three price quotes from companies, agents and from the Internet. Your state insurance department may publish a guide that shows what insurers charge for different policies in various parts of your state. 3. Financial Solidity You buy insurance to protect you financially and provide peace of mind. Select a company that is likely to be financially sound for

($ millions) Rank Company Premiums 1 Liberty Life of Boston $400.9 2 Great West L & A 270.4 3 OneAmerica 119.4 4 Western & Southern Group 61.8 5 American General 35.4 6 Protective 26.5 7 CUNA 22.7 8 Vantis Life 4.0 9 Symetra 0.9 10 Ohio National 0.3 Source: Bank Insurance and Securities Research Associates (BISRA).

($000) Rank Group/company Direct premiums written (1) Market share 1 MetLife Inc.  $5,399,652 18.4% 2 Prudential Financial Inc.  3,549,561 12.1 3 Securian Financial Group  1,880,118 6.4 4 New York Life Insurance Group  1,661,198 5.6 5 Cigna Corp.  1,594,059 5.4 6 Unum Group  1,257,255 4.3 7 Hartford Financial Services  1,253,243 4.3 8 Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. 1,108,042 3.8 9 Aetna Inc.  992,859 3.4 10 StanCorp Financial Group Inc.  780,390 2.7 (1) Before reinsurance transactions. Based on U.S. total, includes territories. Excludes annuities, accident and health, deposit-type contract funds and other considerations. Source: SNL Financial LC.

($000) Rank Group/company Direct premiums written (1) Market share 1 Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. $9,469,028 8.1% 2 MetLife Inc. 6,743,722 5.7 3 New York Life Insurance Group 6,234,927 5.3 4 Aflac Inc. 5,750,188 4.9 5 Lincoln National Corp. 5,436,152 4.6 6 Manulife Financial Corp. 4,859,644 4.1 7 Prudential Financial Inc. 4,822,805 4.1 8 Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. 3,988,732 3.4 9 State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance 3,976,209 3.4 10 AEGON 3,766,265 3.2 (1) Before reinsurance transactions. Based on U.S. total, includes territories. Excludes annuities, accident and health, deposit-type contract funds and other considerations. Source: SNL Financial LC.

WORKSITE LIFE INSURANCE SALES BY LINE OF BUSINESS, 2013 worksite_life_insurance_sales_by_line_of_business_2013.gif (1) Short-term and long-term disability. Source: Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc. View Archived Graphs Worksite marketing is the selling of voluntary (employee-paid) insurance and financial products at the worksite. The products may be on either an individual or group platform and are usually paid through periodic payroll deductions. Worksite sales of life and health insurance totaled $6.64 billion in 2013, up about 4.3 percent from 2012.

(Based on first year collected premium) 27.gif (1) Includes brokers, stockbrokers and personal producing general agents. (2) Includes career, multiline exclusive and home service agents. (3) No producers are involved. Excludes direct marketing efforts involving agents. (4) Includes financial institutions, worksite and other channels. (5) Estimate. Source: LIMRA’s  U.S. Individual Life Insurance Sales Survey  and LIMRA estimates.

Life insurance was once sold primarily by career life agents, captive agents that represent a single insurance company, and by independent agents, who represent several insurers. Now, life insurance is also sold directly to the public by mail, telephone and through the Internet. In addition, in the 1980s insurers began to market annuities and term life insurance through banks and financial advisors, professional groups and the workplace. A large portion of variable annuities, and a small portion of fixed annuities, are sold by stockbrokers. In 2011 independent agents held 49 percent of the new individual life insurance sales market, followed by affiliated (i.e., captive) agents with 40 percent, direct marketers with 4 percent and others accounting for the remaining 7 percent, according to LIMRA