• July 13, 2011

State Farm, AAA and GEICO were the best-perceived insurance brands in the first half of 2011, according to YouGov BrandIndex. Rounding out the top 10 ranking, in order, are Aflac, Allstate, Progressive, Nationwide, Farmers Insurance Group, MetLife and Travelers.

The top three brands were substantially ahead of Progressive, Nationwide, Farmers Insurance, MetLife, and Travelers, with more than triple YouGov BrandIndex's score for MetLife and Travelers.

Farmers Insurance Group was the brand with the biggest perception gain in the first half of this year compared to the same period a year ago, followed by United HealthCare (which still remains in negative sentiment territory).

All major insurance brands were measured using YouGov BrandIndex's Buzz score, which asks respondents: "If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?"

YouGov BrandIndex interviews 5,000 people ages 18 and older each weekday from a representative U.S. population sample, more than 1.2 million interviews per year. Respondents are drawn from an online panel of more than 1.5MM individuals. Margin of error is +/- 2%.--Tanya Irwin