Seven auto and home insurers saw a statistically significant change to their Customer Experience Index (CX Index™) scores in 2018. As a result, the average score for the industry has moved up one point since 2017.

Insurers should not get too excited, though. Despite this small lift, most policyholders in the US saw little or no change in their experience. In fact, part of the reason the industry saw the one-point improvement is that the lowest-scoring insurance companies have substantially improved their CX while the leaders have barely changed or fallen. Why?

Some key findings from our research show that:

  • Customer service is critical, yet the percent of positive service experiences dropped. How well insures resolve customer issues has the most impact on an insurer’s overall CX Index score. In 2018, 71% of policyholders reported having a positive experience with their insurers’ customer service. That’s down nine percentage points from 2017, when 80% of customers said they had a good customer service experience. Home and auto insurers must keep their eyes on the CX that their customer services teams and technologies deliver and constantly evolve and enable their organization to meet customer demands.
  • Website and mobile app are the least important driver categories. Sixty-nine percent of policyholders had a good experience with the website and mobile app of their insurer. However, these touchpoints have the least influence on the overall customer experience, meaning that good digital experiences have less impact on overall perceptions than other aspects of customer experience. This shift demonstrates a need to balance human and digital experiences effectively — without solely focusing on digital transformation.
  • The top emotions that drive loyalty have not changed. Making customers happy is not the biggest driver of loyalty — the top emotions that drive loyalty are feeling appreciated, respected, and valued. Among policyholders who felt valued, 76% plan to stay with the brand, and 90% will advocate for the brand.

Read the entire report here: “The US Auto And Home Insurers Customer Experience Index, 2018