Auto insurance satisfaction numbers are up and it's due in largepart to Gen Y (those born between 1977-1994), according to theJ.D. Power 2015 U.S. Auto Insurance Study.

The study involves five different factors that contribute tocustomer satisfaction: price, policy offerings, billing andpayment, and claims, which are measured on a 1,000-point scale.

Overall satisfaction with auto insurers reached an all-time highof 818, an improvement of eight points over 2014. Satisfactionrates varied, but Gen Y showed the most growth – improving by 21points. Gen X (those born between 1965-1976) increased by sixpoints and Boomers (born 1946-1964) by four points, whilePre-Boomers (born before 1946) actually dropped by threepoints.

The study also found that customer preferences when it comes tointeracting with their insurers are definitely changing, with manypreferring the option for self-service. Twenty-seven percent of GenY customers prefer digital self-service exclusively, an increasefrom 21% in 2011. Gen X jumped from 19% in 2011 to 23%; Boomersshowed a slower increase, going from 10% to 12%; and Pre-Boomersalso saw a 2% jump from 4% to 6%. Interestingly, while consumerspreferred self-service through company websites, they also rated itlower than other interaction channels.

“While customers across all generations are able to use onlineself-service for basic tasks such as making a payment and gatheringinformation about their account, they should also be able toresolve more complex issues online,” said Valerie Monet, directorof the insurance practice at J.D. Power. “It is critical forinsurers to resolve customers' service needs entirely on thewebsite.” She adds that greater website usage can minimize servicecosts and free agents to cultivate new business.

There are times when customers would prefer to speak to acompany representative such as when discussing price changes ordealing with questions about policy coverage.

Forty-nine percent of customers across all age groups said they“definitely will” recommend their current insurer (the same as in2014) and 50% said they “definitely will” renew their policy (down1% from 2015).

J.D. Power also found that satisfaction varied by region witheight of the 11 study regions showing significant increases inoverall customer satisfaction compared to 2014. The full study canbe found here.