For the thousands of Canadians who experienced an auto incident that prompted a “drivable,” non-tow claim in the past 12 months, the stress did not end with the event in question: in fact, J.D. Power reports that auto insurance satisfaction has declined significantly as the result of consumers’ displeasure with the auto claims process.
In particular, its 2015 Canadian Auto Claims Satisfaction Study found that claimants reported a 16 point decrease in satisfaction from 2014, largely due to low approval levels with first notice of loss (FNOL) and settlement.
“It’s really interesting because these are deemed to be some of the less complex types of claims out there, yet they’re still driving the annual decline,” said Valerie Monet, director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power.
The claims process should be a concern to brokers, however, since it is such a critical driver of overall satisfaction rates.
“While a majority of customers don’t have a claim, when they do file one, this becomes the most important aspect of the experience when working with an auto insurer, even more than the price they pay,” said Monet. “As a result, getting the claims experience right is important for insurers to do well.”
Her research reveals that 80% of “delighted” claimants intend to renew their policy, as opposed to 13% of displeased ones. In addition, 78% of delighted customers report a willingness to recommend their auto insurer to friends, families and colleagues, contrasted with just 4% of the displeased group.
“These numbers really hit the idea home that getting the claims experience right not only has a huge impact on retention, but on new customer acquisition as well.”
The study found the highest ranking auto insurers for claimant satisfaction to be:
| Auto carrier |
Customer Satisfaction Index (Based on 1,000-point scale) |
| Intact Insurance |
812 |
| The Co-operators |
810 |
| Belairdirect |
789 |
| Desjardins General Insurance |
787 |
| Industry Average |
782 |
| The Personal |
781 |
| RBC Insurance |
781 |
| State Farm |
776 |
| TD Insurance |
774 |
| Allstate |
765 |
| Aviva Insurance |
764 |
| Wawanesa |
762 |
Monet provides several recommendations for brokers looking to improve the customer experience, based on her findings:
- Make sure claimants feel at ease when initially speaking with representatives
- Return phone calls, as nearly two in 10 claimants who expected a callback didn’t receive one
- Ensure claimants don’t need to repeat information
- Provide reasonable expectations about settlement, as 10% of claimants receive something other than what they anticipated
- Provide an accurate claim length expectation. Overall, more than one-third (34%) of claimants say the claim length estimate they were given was incorrect or they weren’t given one at all, which is a significant opportunity for improvement.
The study examined more than 2,500 auto insurance claimants who successfully settled a claim in the past 12 months.
