<PAGE>

                                  EXHIBIT 23(b)


                       CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS



We hereby consent to the incorporation by reference in the Registration
Statement on Form S-8 of the 1984 Stock Option Plan and the 1994 Stock Option
Plan of Bancinsurance Corporation of our report dated March 13, 2000 relating to
the financial statements, which appears in the Annual Report to Shareholders,
which is incorporated by reference in Bancinsurance Corporation's Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001. We also consent to the
incorporation by reference of our report dated March 13, 2000 relating to the
financial statement schedules, which appears in this Form 10-K.




/s/PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP



Columbus, Ohio
March 15, 2002


<PAGE>




                        REPORT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS


To the Board of Directors and Shareholders
   of Bancinsurance Corporation:


In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheet and the related
consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, of cash flows and of
changes in shareholders' equity (appearing in the Bancinsurance Corporation 2001
Annual Report to Shareholders which has been incorporated by reference in this
Form 10-K) present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of
Bancinsurance Corporation and its subsidiaries at December 31, 1999, and the
results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in
conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of
America. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's
management; our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial
statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit of these statements in
accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of
America, which require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable
assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material
misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting
the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the
accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and
evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our
audit provides a reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above. We have not
audited the consolidated financial statements of Bancinsurance Corporation for
any period subsequent to December 31, 1999.




/s/PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP


March 13, 2000


<PAGE>



                        Report of Independent Accountants
                        On Financial Statement Schedules




To the Board of Directors and Shareholders
of Bancinsurance Corporation:




Our audit of the consolidated financial statements referred to in our report
dated March 13, 2000 appearing in Exhibit 23(a) in this Annual Report on Form
10-K also included an audit of the financial statement schedules as of December
31, 1999 and for the year ended December 31, 1999 listed in Item 14(a)(2) of
this Form 10-K. In our opinion, these financial statement schedules present
fairly in all material respects, the information set forth therein when read in
conjunction with the related consolidated financial statements. We have not
audited the financial statement schedules of Bancinsurance Corporation for any
period subsequent to December 31, 1999.



/s/PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP


March 13, 2000