Ward Group, leader of insurance company benchmarking, has declared GEICO a slot in the top 50 High Performing Insurers in the United States.
The annual study revealed that GEICO had made it in the top 50 for twenty consecutive years. And during that double decade wins, the company have been busy introducing new strategies on policy management and improved ways of getting safe insurance coverage.
The Government Employees Insurance Company or GEICO began its leading journey in Ward’s top 50 in 1991. It is renowned because of its auto insurance and other insurance covering motorcycles, terrain vehicles, boats, apartments, houses and mobile homes. Life insurance and commercial auto insurance are also among the company’s product portfolio. It is a part of the Berkshire Hathaway group of companies and declared as the third biggest private passenger auto insurance provider in the United States. Nine million policyholders availed of GEICO’s auto insurance coverage while 16 million vehicles are also insured by it.
Ward Group evaluates the financial health and performance of over 3000 property casualty insurance companies and about 800 life and health insurance companies in the United States. Ward identifies the top performers per category and reports them in its annual report while calling them the Ward’s 50 of the Year. The latest list was so far Ward’s twentieth annual report.
The companies are reviewed and are tried with safety and consistency screens. Companies must pass the minimum standards to qualify for the slots of Ward’s Top 50. The primary safety and consistency tests which are the initial tests include surplus and premiums of not below $50 million annually for the recent consecutive five years. Risk-based capital ratio each year must be at least 100% for property casualty insurance groups and 150% for the life and health groups for five years. The compound annual growth in premiums must also be between -10% and +40%. The net income in four of the last five years is also considered. When the companies pass the tests, they move on and are rated using certain performance measurement ratios such as return on average equity and revenue growth.
GEICO was among the screened companies and was among the companies who deserved a slot in Ward’s Top 50. It also garnered positive reviews from its customers from all over the United States. Standard and Poor’s gave the company a rating of AA+ for financial strength while A.M. Best gave the company an outstanding A++ for financial strength likewise. The ratings are awarded to only a few of the thousands of Property and Casualty companies making GEICO a top achiever in the entire insurance industry.
Ward’s annual theme in choosing the top 50 lies on achieving higher levels of efficiency as compared to peer companies. GEICO has so far been a consistent leader with assets of over $28 billion.
