NATIONAL: Claims' Satisfaction from Property Owner Filers Less than Auto Claimants

A recent J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Home Claims Satisfaction Study says that satisfaction from homeowners' insurance customers filing a property claim was much lower than that of auto claimants.

The study reports that customer satisfaction with the home claims experience averages 828 on a 1,000-point scale. On the flip side, satisfaction with the auto claims experience averages 842, according to the analysis.

The study also reports that greater levels of satisfaction with the home claims experience have a positive impact on customer loyalty and advocacy.

Among customers of insurers that obtain high satisfaction scores (averaging 837 or higher), two-thirds claim they "definitely will" renew their policy, while 64 percent state they "definitely will" recommend the insurer. In contrast, among customers of insurers with lower levels of satisfaction (scores averaging 816 or below), only 49 percent say they "definitely will" renew and 42 percent indicated they "definitely will" recommend the insurer.

Insurers have the chance to improve customer satisfaction during the first notice of loss and settlement portions of the claims process. During the first notice of loss process, less than three-fourths of home claimants indicate that the insurer gave them an explanation of their policy coverage, compared with 81 percent of auto claimants.

During the settlement process, claimants' lack of understanding as it relates to their policy coverage many times leads to negotiated settlements. Twenty-two percent of home claimants stated negotiating the settlement amount, while only 11 percent of auto claimants report the same.

The 2009 Home Claims Satisfaction Study looked at insurance customer satisfaction with the property claims experience by analyzing five factors: settlement; first notice of loss; appraisal; service interaction; and repair process.

The study is based on surveys from 2,500 insurance customers nationally who filed a property claim between January 2008 and July 2009 and evaluates 11 insurance companies across the industry, including: Allstate; American Family; Amica Mutual; Farmers; Liberty Mutual; Nationwide; Safeco; State Farm; TheHartford; Travelers; and USAA.