If processing a claim is indeed the moment of truth in an insurer's relationship with customers, why are small-business consumers apparently being kept in the dark when it comes to how a loss will be handled?

That was one of the critical questions raised by participants in a pair of focus groups run on behalf of Deloitte Research, featuring buyers from a variety of industries responsible for insurance issues at their respective companies—with half representing those employing 10 or fewer, and the other half at firms with between 11 and 50 workers.

The focus groups generally found the claims-management process to be something of a mystery. Most said they were not told when they bought or renewed their policies—either by their agents or brokers or by their carrier—how a claim would be processed or investigated, other than being given a toll-free number to call in case of a loss. There was often no mention of how any dispute over a claim could be reconciled or how a rejection might be appealed.