While studies continually show that Canadians are happy with their home purchases and view real estate as a valuable long-term investment, this sentiment does not appear to extend to the insurance companies covering these residences.
In fact, overall satisfaction for the home insurance industry has dropped by 11 points nationwide, according to J.D. Power’s 2015 Canadian Home Insurance Study.
Moreover, one of the more troubling aspects behind this trend is the low regard in which members of Generation Y hold their insurers. Researchers found that this demographic reported a 12-point drop in satisfaction rates, most notably in the area of non-claim interactions.
This should be of great concern to brokers, since first time buyers comprise over 50% of home purchases in Canada.
“Satisfying Gen Y customers with the service interaction experience is critical for insurers to remain competitive in the marketplace,” said Valerie Monet, director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power.
In particular, Monet discovered that call center satisfaction fell by16 points in this age group, and agent satisfaction declined by 20. While these numbers may be somewhat startling, she believes that they can be remedied with easily implementable best practice solutions.
First, since many consumers expressed frustration with call wait times, Monet recommends limiting hold time to less than one minute.
Also, once brokers make contact with these clients, their aim should be to ameliorate any issues and concerns as quickly as possible, as Gen Y’s year over year dissatisfaction is highly correlated with lowered rates of quick issue resolution.
“Meeting those service level expectations is important,” she said. “This involves making sure customers don’t have to repeat information when they call and resolving any issues they may have as quickly as possible, preferably on the same day.”
In addition, fewer Gen Y customers reported instances of resolving their concerns entirely online, which may also contribute to these lowered approval ratings for insurers.
Finally, education serves as a powerful tool for brokers to have a meaningful impact with their clients. In particular, Monet suggests that they should engage in “making sure customers understand their bills, including what the amount is and whether any discounts apply, their payment schedule, bill payment options and answering any questions they have about setting up auto pay or making payments on the website.”
The discount piece is particularly crucial, as only 38% of Gen Y respondents who received three or more discounts were aware of this fact, compared with 46% of Gen X, 55% of Baby Boomers and 59% of Pre-Boomers.
