Auto Insurance Claims Satisfaction Declines Following Increases in Two Consecutive Quarters says J.D. Powers & Associates
According to the global marketing information services company J.D. Powers & Associates, customer satisfaction with the auto claims experiences declined for the first time in three calendar quarters this year. In its 2012 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study – Wave 2, the company says that overall customer satisfaction declined 13 points to 842.
“Forty-seven percent of claimants delayed dropping off their vehicle at the body shop to wait for a more convenient time, and 20 percent indicated waiting for weekends or holidays,” said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “However, these customers tend to also have lower satisfaction as a result of having to wait an extra day and a half, on average, to get their vehicle to the shop compared to results from the prior quarter. This suggests insurers need to do a better job of managing customer expectations for claims processing and vehicle repair times.”
The quarterly study which looked at the responses of more than 3,700 auto insurance customers who filed a claim in January and February of 2012, measures customer satisfaction with the claims experience as the result of suffering an auto physical damage loss. In order to make an valid assessment of customer satisfaction, J.D. Powers looks at five areas: first notice of loss, service interaction, appraisal, repair process, rental experience; and settlement.
The following are some of the highlights from that study:
- The largest driver of lower satisfaction scores is a 19-point decline in first notice of loss–when the customer first notifies the insurance provider of damage to their vehicle;
- Other key factors with significant declines are service interaction (-16 points); appraisal (-16 points); and the repair process (-15 points);
- The claims repair cycle time also increased nearly one full day to 15.8 days in the first quarter of 2012 from 15.0 days in the fourth quarter of 2011;
- Nearly one-half of the increase is attributed to customers waiting approximately one-half day longer to bring their vehicle to the body shop once the appraisal has been conducted.
“Repair times have also increased slightly from the last quarter,” adds Bowler. “This, in addition to customers waiting longer for a more convenient time, or the weekend, to bring their vehicle to the repair shop, has contributed to the overall lower satisfaction scores.”
