The Hartford ranked third in the nation and Travelers came in 17th in a survey of customer satisfaction when shopping for auto insurance released Tuesday by J.D. Power and Associates.

The annual survey, which doesn't address claims handling, asks consumers who shopped around how they felt about the price, variety of coverage offered, the experience of dealing with the agent or company salesperson, and using the insurer's call center and website.

The Hartford Financial Services Group scored 889 points on a 1,000-point scale, just below Erie Insurance at 893 and American Family at 891, which came in first and second place, respectively.

USAA actually scored the highest with 918 points but wasn't ranked because it is open only to active or former military personnel and family members.

The score for Travelers Cos. was 844, compared with the industry average of 865 in the list of 22 auto insurers. In last year's rankings, Travelers came in 13th among 18 listed companies. The Hartford was No. 2 in the 2008 ranking.

Survey results can be viewed online at jdpower.com; click on "press releases" for the 2009 Insurance Shopping Study.

This year's study was done from February to March. Results were based on responses from more than 13,500 consumers who requested an auto insurance price quote from at least one insurer in the past 12 months.

GEICO, the company known for its gecko and cave men commercials, ranked fourth. Amica Mutual, which routinely scores high in surveys by Consumer Reports magazine, ranked eighth in J.D. Power's shopping survey. AIG took the bottom spot at 22nd with a score of 813.

The J.D. Power study found that fewer consumers are shopping for a different insurer -- 28 percent compared with 36 percent in 2008.

"The decline in the number of customers shopping and switching insurance providers may in part be due to the current economic situation, as many customers are employing a hunker-down mentality," said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power. "Most customers would prefer to hold tight to their current provider, which they already know, rather than risk trying a new provider, particularly amid negative coverage surrounding a number of insurance providers recently."

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