10 best auto insurance companies: 2014 customer satisfaction rankings

10 best auto insurance companies: 2014 customer satisfaction rankings

USAA, State Farm and Farmers earned the highest scores from both auto and home insurance customers in Insure.com’s annual customer satisfaction study. It is USAA’s third year as the highest-rated auto and home insurer in the survey.
Insure.com’s 2014 survey spanned 3,835 current customers of 15 large insurers in auto, home and health insurance, and 14 in life insurance. Ratings are based on five measurements:
• Customer service
• Claims satisfaction
• Value for price paid
• Percent who plan to renew
• Percent who would recommend the company

In the auto insurance category, USAA scored well across the board but did particularly well in measurements for renewal (95 percent of customers surveyed said they planned to renew) and recommendations (84 percent have or would recommend USAA). The insurer sells only to members of the military and their families.
State Farm and Farmers also garnered strong scores in all auto insurance measurements but were outpaced by USAA in renewal and recommendation ratings.

Making decisions
We also asked customers their reasons for deciding to buy from their insurers. Flo is paying off: Progressive has the highest number of customers who made their decision based on seeing a TV commercial (18 percent), followed closely by Allstate (17 percent) and Geico (16 percent). USAA had the lowest percentage of customers (4 percent) who chose the company based on a commercial.

Methodology
Insure.com conducted surveys of 3,835 insurance customers nationwide in February and March 2014 to collect 9,586 company reviews. Only current customers of the insurers on our lists were surveyed. The survey was not open to the general public on the Insure.com website. We collected reviews for auto, home, health and life insurance carriers. Consumers answered questions about their levels of satisfaction with their insurers, and each answer was assigned a point value. Points were then averaged and totaled for each company.
A.M. Best ratings do not affect the scores but are provided as a supplementary resource. The “discounts” and “coverage options” information for auto insurance carriers also does not affect the scores.
We collected data for 15 large companies in each category, so not all companies are represented in the study. The companies for which we collected data were then ranked. The top three companies in each category earned Insure.com's "People's Choice Award." In the life insurance category, a tie for third place resulted in four insurers receiving the award.

1. USAA
Overall score: 93.9
Claims processing: 4.5 stars
Customers who recommend: 83%

2. State Farm
Overall score: 92.7
Claims processing: 4.5 stars
Customers who recommend: 81%

3. Farmers
Overall score: 91.5
Claims processing: 4.5 stars
Customers who recommend: 74%

4. GEICO
Overall score: 91.1
Claims processing: 4.5 stars
Customers who recommend: 75%

5. Auto Club of Southern California
Overall score: 90.5
Claims processing: 4.5 stars
Customers who recommend: 81%

6. Nationwide
Overall score: 90.5
Claims processing: 4.5 stars
Customers who recommend: 76%

7. Liberty Mutual
Overall score: 90.2
Claims processing: 4 stars
Customers who recommend: 74%

8. Allstate
Overall score: 90
Claims processing: 4 stars
Customers who recommend: 78%

9. American Family
Overall score: 89.5
Claims processing: 4 stars
Customers who recommend: 76%

10. The Hartford
Overall score: 89
Claims processing: 4 stars
Customers who recommend: 76%

Top tips for a healthy pregnancy – Part 1

Top tips for a healthy pregnancy – Part 1

Pregnancy is a very important phase in a woman’s life, not only for her, but also for the unborn child. It is in the woman’s interest to make this journey safe and healthy to achieve the end result of a healthy baby.

Top tips for healthy pregnancy

Here are some pointers to make sure you achieve his goal.

1. If you think you are pregnant or even if you plan to get pregnant, plan a visit to your doctor and make sure you are doing everything right to conceive; from eating the right food to avoiding alcohol and smoking. Even being in a smoke filled room is an absolute no. If you are pregnant, you may be required to take supplements in addition to your food. Vitamins like folic acid, iron, calcium and even multi-vitamins are sometimes needed to fill in the gaps. Folic acid, in particular is very important in the initial stages to prevent neurological problems in the baby.
2. Make sure to discuss your food habits with your doctor. You may be advised to include cereals like ragi, whole wheat, jowar or bajra in your diet as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. It is a good idea to reduce processed food, junk food, fried food and sweetmeats as they tend to have empty calories that increase your weight but do not supply essential elements that the body needs. The importance of a balanced diet during pregnancy cannot be emphasized enough.
3. If you have countless cups of coffee in a day, cut back now. All caffeine containing beverages should beminimised or preferably stopped. Substitute with green tea or low fat milk with honey.
4. Talk to your doctor about how much weight you should gain during the course of your pregnancy. If you are underweight, you should put on twelve to eighteen kilos during the nine months, but if you are overweight, ten kilos is the upper limit.
5. Learn to do Kegel’s exercises. This set of exercises increases the tone of the vaginal and perineal muscles and eases the pain during labour and delivery. Another important aspect and means to control pain is by learning the correct way to breathe. Lamaze is a form of breathing that you and your partner can learn and practise so ensure a smooth labour.

Some hospitals and nursing homes encourage you to attend antenatal classes where all these aspects are covered and you are encouraged to ask questions and erase your doubts.

In the next part we’ll tell you more about the types of birth, medications and lifestyle changes that may have to make once the child arrives.

10 diet dos and don’ts during pregnancy by expert dietician Naini Setalvad

10 diet dos and don’ts during pregnancy by expert dietician Naini Setalvad

Naini Setalvad, a renowned nutritionist and diet and obesity consultant gives out some handy dos and don’ts for mothers-to-be about eating habits.

1: Every pregnant woman needs to understand that she is NOT eating for two people. She only requires 300 more calories than her normal diet.

2: You need to get your required number of calories from all food groups and not just fat.

3: Eat lots of leafy greens. They are a good source of iron which helps our red blood cells carry oxygen better. More oxygen in the blood means better nutrition of various parts of the body leading to better health of you and your baby.

4: Include dried figs in your diet to satisfy your sweet cravings and to prevent constipation. They are also a good source of calcium.

5: Sprinkle sesame seeds on your salads. They are packed with folic acid which is essential in the proper DNA synthesis of the growing foetus and improves the all-round health of a pregnant mother.

6: Eat good quality protein. It can also be mixed with green vegetables for example, mix dal and palak to make a healthy dish.

7: Add a vegetable juice or soup to your diet plan. This can be had in-between meals as a small snack instead of gorging on unhealthy, readymade stuff.

8: You don’t have to glug down too many glasses of milk. This is a misconception that many mothers have which needs to be changed.

9: Not all mothers-to-be have cravings during pregnancy. Cravings normally set in when the meals aren’t balanced. Once you start eating healthy at the right time, they will decrease. An Indian thali is very well-balanced as it has different flavours like salty, sweet, spicy, pungent, etc. When all the different taste buds are satisfied, the cravings decline.

10: Many women suffer from morning sickness in the first three months. To beat this, they can try eating dried toast or ginger juice as these help relieve nausea