Claims Process Satisfaction Increases Across Generations

Oct. 25, 2016

Oct. 25, 2016—Gen Y customer satisfaction with the auto insurance process, while still the lowest among all generations, is improving, according to the J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study.

Overall satisfaction among Gen Y averages 844 on a 1,000-point scale in 2016, which is up from 827 is 2015. The 17-point increase lifted the overall industry average to 860, a three-point boost from last year.     Gen Y is the largest generational group of auto insurance claimants at 40 percent.

Pre-Boomers have the highest satisfaction at 912, followed by Boomers at 878 and Gen X at 847. Gen X was the only generation to experience a decline from 2016, dropping 8-points.

Driving the increase in satisfaction overall, and specifically among Gen Y auto insurance claimants, is the offering of multiple communication options, such as email, online and telephone, during the claims process. The study found that the use of technology to check the status of a claim has increased year over year by 5 percentage points to 42 percent of claimants. Email and online updates have each increased by 2 percentage points from last year to 27 percent and 17 percent, respectively.

But technology cannot fully replace humans during the claims process. The study found that overall satisfaction is highest among customers who first contact their agent when filing a claim at 882, compared with 848 among those who file a claim directly through the website. In fact, only 7 percent of customers overall prefer to use digital channels (web or app) to report their claim. Gen Y has the highest preference for digital channels to report a claim, at 10 percent.

"While technology offers a customer more options, what we find is that even when customers file a digital claim they still want to talk with someone to get an explanation of the process, what to expect along the claims pathway and the timing," said Mark Garrett, director of insurance industry analytics at J.D. Power. "Even the younger generations, which are most comfortable using digital channels, still want to talk with someone. We see the biggest gains in satisfaction when technology is used as a complementary channel for receiving status updates."

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