US auto insurance companies’ focus on their customers during the claims process is reflected in the continuing improvement in satisfaction, according to the J.D. Power 2014 US Auto Claims Satisfaction Study released this week.
The study measures customer satisfaction with the claims experience for auto physical damage loss. Depending on the complexity of a claim, claimants may experience some or all of the following factors measured in the study: first notice of loss; service interaction; appraisal; repair process; rental experience; and settlement.
Overall customer satisfaction with the auto insurance claims process has improved steadily during the past five years to 857 on a 1,000-point scale in 2014 from 842 in 2010. While overall satisfaction improves by a modest 2 points compared with 2013, satisfaction in the service interaction factor increases significantly(+7 points) year over year. Within service interaction, claim professional satisfaction increases significantly(+17) in 2014, primarily driven by higher ratings for responsiveness and concern for the claimant’s situation.
“Insurance companies are placing more emphasis on training their employees and representatives to be customer-centric, especially during the interaction process,” said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the global insurance practice at J.D. Power. “That focus is reflected in the increase in satisfaction, specifically with claim professionals, whose primary responsibility is to accurately estimate the amount of the insurance settlement. Historically, those individuals have been recruited and trained for their technical knowledge but haven’t always been known for being customer service-oriented.”
The study finds that the average severity of claims(based on the dollar amount of the loss) has increased for a third consecutive year. That increase in severity is due to a rise in more complex claims—those in which vehicles have significant structural damage and need to be towed—which account for 20% of auto claims and 17% of claims in which the vehicle is declared a total loss. That rise represents a 5 percentage point increase from 2011 when complex claims represented 32% of all auto claims.
Despite an increase in number of complex claims, insurers are doing a better job handling more complex claims, which typically result in much lower satisfaction scores. Satisfaction with total loss claims in 2014 averages 829, compared with 851 for towed vehicle claims, each claim type improving by 12 points from 2013. Satisfaction with claims in which the vehicle was still drivable after the accident averages 867, down 1 point from 2013. Those improvements in satisfaction with insurers’ handling of complex claims are largely due to insurers managing customer expectations with respect to the timing of the claim and moving the claim along more quickly—key metrics of communicating the settlement, repair time, and paying the customer (if applicable) are all performed faster in 2014.
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