About 82% of clients are satisfied with their vehicle insurers, but Roy Morgan Research’s latest survey finds some major insurers well behind in the rankings.

The survey of more than 50,000 consumers in the year to September finds overall satisfaction is up from 80.1% in the last survey in 2013, and well above 74.1% a decade ago.

And about 96% of policyholders are “at least fairly likely” to stay with their insurers, while 30.5% are “extremely likely” to renew.

RACT in Tasmania tops the rankings among 18 vehicle insurers, with a satisfaction score of 95.9%.

Most of the market-leading vehicle insurance brands are in the middle of the pack. For example, IAG-owned NRMA Insurance is ranked eighth at 83.3% and Suncorp’s AAMI is in 11th spot with 82%.

Other Suncorp-owned brands did better, with Apia coming second with a score of 91%, and Shannons following with 89.3%.

IAG-owned SGIO came in fourth with 88.2%, and RAC-WA scored 87.5%.

RACV Insurance ranks sixth with 86.7%, trailed by RACQ (85.9%).

CGU tied for 11th with AAMI at 82%, while GIO achieved 82.8% and Allianz 82.1%.

QBE is last with a 75.4% score, and Budget Direct is a notch above at 77.9%.

Roy Morgan Research says RACT, CGU and RACQ have made the biggest improvements since the 2013 survey.

But the scores of QBE, Suncorp and Youi have dropped.

The survey results show about 34% of policyholders are “very satisfied” with their vehicle insurer, Roy Morgan Industry Communications Director Norman Morris says.

“To be successful, it is crucial for insurance companies to retain existing customers,” he said.

“To increase the likelihood that customers will renew, more attention needs to be given to improving the proportion of ‘very satisfied’ policyholders.”