J.D. Power says its 2023 US Claims Digital Experience Study shows many insurers are struggling to deliver a seamless digital experience, despite digital communication channels being the key to maintaining customer satisfaction throughout the insurance claims process. As a result, overall satisfaction is rated at 854 (on a 1,000-point scale), down three points from the 2022 study.
“Across all of our insurance claims experience studies, we find that the more insurers can do to manage expectations, keep customers updated and make it easy for them to manage the claims process without a lot of effort, the more satisfied customers become, even when repair cycle times are longer than ever,” said Mark Garrett, Director Of Global Insurance Intelligence at J.D. Power.
“Customers have an expectation that using digital tools will create efficiencies in the process and keep them informed throughout their claim, but many insurers struggle to meet those expectations. Only 41 per cent of customers ‘completely agree’ both expectations were met. Whether it is making the claim, submitting photos or communicating with claims staff, there are still bumps along the digital road. Notable, too, is that only 35 per cent of customers said the estimation process was ‘very easy’.”
According to J.D. Power, digital communications in the form of personalised text messages, status updates via mobile apps and guides to help reading estimates can dramatically improve the experience without significantly raising customer service costs for insurers.
“Perception is everything when customers are going through an insurance claim,” said Michael Ellison, President of Corporate Insight, which collaborated with J.D. Power on the study. “If it feels like the insurer is proactively managing the process and making it efficient and easy to communicate, customers come away with a very satisfying experience. Effective use of digital channels delivers that high touch, personalised experience and digital leaders are finding they can better manage customer engagement, increasing customer satisfaction and retention when they get the formula right.”
KEY FINDINGS
One-third of claimants still need to call the insurer following digital update: Overall customer satisfaction with the digital claims experience is highest when claimants receive an email, text or mobile app update that answers all of their questions. However, 33 per cent of claimants say they needed to contact their insurer to ask additional questions following a digital update, causing overall satisfaction to fall 78 points.
Easy digital experience drives satisfaction and loyalty: Among customers who state that claim reporting, estimation and settlement processes were all “very easy”, satisfaction is 948, and 86 per cent of those customers say they ‘definitely will’ renew their policy. Satisfaction and renewal rates fall to 895, with 69 per cent of those stating some of those processes were very easy. Among those who state none of them were very easy, satisfaction is only 799 and only 41 per cent say they ‘definitely will’ renew with the same carrier.
Few insurers manage to deliver all benefits of a digital experience: While most claimants agree that their insurer’s digital tools deliver on at least one element of a comprehensive digital experience, just 35 per cent agree that their insurer is hitting the mark on three main criteria – creates an efficient claim process, keeps customers informed, and reduces time spent on the phone.
Repeat photo and information submission requests sap customer experience: Overall customer satisfaction scores among the 58 per cent of insurance claimants who only needed to submit photos of their damaged property once is 875. That score falls to 837 when they needed to submit photos two times and 806 when they needed to submit photos three times or more.