Insurance Industry Focusing More on Customer Satisfaction
October 29, 2014
By Raju Shanbhag
TMCnet Contributor
Like any other industry, customer satisfaction matters a great deal in the insurance sector. Various studies conducted have proven beyond any doubt that a satisfied customer is the best advertisement for an insurance company.
In its new report, titled 2014 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study, J.D. Power has stated that auto insurance companies have been performing increasingly well when it comes to customer satisfaction. The study focuses on the claims experience for auto physical damage loss.
During the past five years, auto insurance companies have realized the importance of customer satisfaction to their business and as result; customer satisfaction has risen to 857 on a 1,000-point scale in 2014 from 842 in 2010.
While customer satisfaction has increased, the severity of claims has gone up for a third consecutive year. This is primarily because the number of complex claims has increased. By complex claims, one means those cases where vehicles have considerable structural damage and need to be towed. According to the study, this amounts to 20 percent of auto claims and 17 percent of claims where the vehicle is declared a total loss.
“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.”
In 2011, the company conducted another study about the insurance sector where it focused on the purchasing behaviors of consumers and their shopping habits. It also looked at the satisfaction levels of recent insurance buyers.
Edited by Maurice Nagle
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