NAIC Complaint Index: What It Means
The NAIC complaint index is a number that compares an insurance company's share of closed, confirmed consumer complaints to its share of premium within a specific line of business and year. A value of 1.0 is the market average; below 1.0 means the company drew fewer complaints than its size would predict, and above 1.0 means more.
State insurance departments record the complaints they confirm against each insurer. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) pools that data and turns it into an index: a carrier's share of complaints divided by its share of the market. Because it is a ratio, it lets you compare a large national insurer and a small one on the same footing.
How to read it for car insurance
The index is published by line of business, so for auto you look at the automobile line specifically, not a company's blended all-lines number. A score of 1.0 is exactly average; 0.50 means about half the complaints you would expect for a company that size, and 2.0 means about double. You can look up any carrier's auto complaint index, by year, in the NAIC's Consumer Information Source. Two cautions: the index only counts complaints that reached a regulator (not every unhappy customer), and very small carriers can show swingy numbers because a few complaints move the ratio a lot. Used alongside price and coverage, it is a useful read on a carrier's claims and service experience.
A real example of the complaint index
Two auto insurers quote you nearly the same price. One carries an auto complaint index of 0.45, the other 1.80 — the first drew less than half the complaints its market share would predict, the second nearly double. Neither number says anything about price; both say a great deal about how each company handles claims and service. On a near-tie for cost, that spread is often the tiebreaker that points you to the smoother experience when something goes wrong.
Weighing the complaint index against price
A low index is worth real money only when the price is competitive: a spotless service record on an overpriced policy is a poor trade, while a slightly higher index on a much cheaper policy can still be the better buy. The index earns its keep as a decider between close options — when two carriers land within a few dollars of each other, it is the clearest signal of which one will be easier to deal with at claim time. Let it break ties, not justify overpaying.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good NAIC complaint index?
Lower is better. 1.0 is the market average; below 1.0 means a company received fewer complaints than its size would predict, and above 1.0 means more. For auto, compare the automobile-line index, not a company's all-lines number.
Where can I look up a carrier's complaint index?
In the NAIC's Consumer Information Source: search the company, then view the complaint index by line (select Automobile) for the most recent full year.
