We often say that the point of claim is a ‘moment of truth’ for insurance, where the promise that people have paid for becomes real.
But while there is a lot of research, for example in the FCA’s Financial Lives Survey, about when consumers have to make a claim and how well it is handled by their insurer, there is very little research about how important the claim is to customers.
Are most claims about chipped windscreens, smashed vases or lost luggage so important, with only a handful of claims really addressing a catastrophic change, or are all claims a big issue that customers will remember for years to come?
As part of the CII’s Trust Index, we asked consumers how important their claims were to them, with some very interesting answers.
For retail consumers, almost all motor claims were considered to be important, with 87.5% of respondents saying the claim was very important to them, and only 3.5% of respondents disagreeing.
For buildings insurance the picture was slightly different, with 73.5% of respondents saying the claim was very important to them, and 6% saying it wasn’t very important.
The picture was similar for the timing of a claim – 80% of motor insurance customers said the claim happened at a difficult time for them, compared to just under 60% for home insurance customers.
So it is not surprising that motor customers were more likely to find the experience inconvenient – 73% of motor insurance customers agreed with the statement ‘making an insurance claim was a major inconvenience’ compared to 50% of home buildings and contents customers.
So there is little doubt that making almost any claim is very important for customers. It is a reminder of how high the stakes are for insurers, who are dealing with difficult and potentially emotionally charged situations almost every time they answer a claimant’s call.
