WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 40 percent of consumers would like their homeowners insurance carrier to offer coverage for identity theft, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Homeowners Insurance Study(SM) released today.

The study, now in its sixth year, finds that identity theft insurance is second only to auto insurance in the list of products homeowners say they would like their insurance provider to offer.

"As personal information breaches by large corporations and government agencies frequently develop into high-profile news, privacy issues have become incredibly close to the consumer consciousness," said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "Consumers increasingly feel compelled to protect themselves from the damage caused by identity theft, representing a growth opportunity for insurance providers."

The study also finds that a large proportion of homeowners do not carry enough insurance to rebuild their homes if destroyed, with more than 25 percent of homeowners believing they are underinsured. Homeowners who reevaluate their coverage limits on a regular basis to address issues such as increasing building materials and labor costs are significantly more satisfied with their insurer. Twenty-six percent of homeowners think they have a guaranteed replacement cost policy, while 25 percent do not know what kind of policy they have. Approximately 50 percent of homeowners incorrectly believe the insurance company or their agent -- not themselves -- bear the responsibility for determining the replacement cost of their home and its contents, down from 59 percent in 2005.

"Natural disasters that have devastated communities in the past few years have highlighted the fact that many consumers expose themselves to financial hardship or even ruin by not fully insuring their single-most-valuable asset," said Bowler. "Agents are sometimes reluctant to discuss coverage limit policy changes with customers because they believe associated premium increases could cause homeowners to shop for another provider. This year's data reinforces that these kinds of discussions with homeowners have a strong positive impact on customer satisfaction."

While premium increases impact customer satisfaction, the study finds that the effects can be dramatically minimized when the insurance provider notifies customers ahead of time and offers an explanation of alternatives. In fact, customer satisfaction scores provided by homeowners who received a price increase but were given an opportunity to discuss coverage options are 25 points higher than among those who received a price decrease. Approximately one-half of customers show little price sensitivity, indicating a willingness to remain with their insurance provider at any price.

Amica Mutual ranks highest in satisfying homeowner insurance customers for a fifth consecutive year. Amica leads the industry in all five factors contributing to overall customer satisfaction: policy offerings; price; billing and payment; interaction; and claims. One of Amica's greatest strengths is its call center service representatives (CSR), who serve as the company's primary point of customer contact. While homeowners insurance customers generally prefer the personal contact of a local agent, customer satisfaction scores for Amica's CSRs rival the best local agent scores.

Amica is followed in the ranking by Erie, State Farm, Auto Club of Southern California (ACSC) and American Family, respectively. USAA achieves a higher satisfaction score than Amica, but is not included in the rankings because it is only open to the U.S. military community and their families.

Overall Satisfaction Ranking (Based on a 1,000-point scale) Amica Mutual 838 Erie 801 State Farm 789 Auto Club of Southern California (ACSC) 782 American Family 777 CSAA 774 Farmers 765 Industry Average 761 Encompass 760 Allstate 760 The Hartford 759 MetLife 757 ACG 755 Nationwide 751 Safeco 750 Allied 745 St. Paul Travelers 739 Liberty Mutual 731 Other* 728 USAA** 896 * "Other" is an aggregate of smaller insurance companies.

** USAA is an insurance provider open only to the U.S. military community and their families and therefore is not included in the rankings.

The 2006 Homeowners Insurance Study is based on responses from 9,045 homeowners insurance policy holders across the country.

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

J.D. Power and Associates

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