Homeowners’ Satisfaction

U.S. homeowner insurers are doing a better job than ever making their customers happy when responding to claims, according to J.D. Power. Results of the firm’s Property Claims Satisfaction Study show that overall customer satisfaction with the property claims process reached a record high of 881 on a 1,000-point scale.

When a claim is filed with a homeowners insurance company it is a make-or-break opportunity for the carrier to positively engage with its customer, and, according to the J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study, insurers are rising to the occasion. Not only is overall customer satisfaction with the property claims process at a record high, year-over-year improvements have been realized across the majority of insurers evaluated in the study.

The 2020 J.D. Power U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study found that:

• The overall customer property claims satisfaction with homeowners insurance score of 881 (on a 1,000-point scale) represents the highest overall customer satisfaction level among all current J.D. Power consumer-based service studies in the United States and Canada, including auto claims (868); mail order pharmacy (867); and direct banking (860).
• Two of the factors most likely to drive homeowners insurance customers to shop their policies with other carriers are claim-related premium increases and the necessity of exerting a high level of effort to get the claim resolved. When homeowners insurers miss the mark on these two factors, overall satisfaction decreases by 85 points and customers become 13.5 times more likely to shop for a new policy.
• Digital solutions for first notice of loss (FNOL) and estimation, along with self-service account management tools are having a positive effect on convenience and speed of the claims process, but few claimants say they are ready for fully digital claims. More than one-fourth (27%) of customers still prefer the entire claims process to be handled offline and just 4% say they would prefer a digital-only claims experience.

Amica Mutual ranks highest in property insurance claims experience for a ninth consecutive year, achieving a score of 902. The Hartford ranks second with a score of 896, followed by Farmers with a score of 893.

Overall customer satisfaction with the property claims process has reached a record high.

The U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study measures satisfaction with the property claims experience among insurance customers who have filed a claim for damages by examining five factors (listed in order of importance): settlement; claim servicing; FNOL; estimation process; and repair process. The 2020 study is based on responses from 6,025 homeowners insurance customers and was fielded between April and December 2019.