Timing is everything when it comes to satisfactorily resolving aclaim.

At least that's what 11,000 recent auto and homeowners'claimants told J.D. Power and Associates when the company conductedits 2007 Insurance Claims Study, which measured auto and homeownerinsurance customer satisfaction with the claim process. The keyfactors addressed in the study included claim settlement, claimservicing, first notice of loss, estimation process, repairprocess, and rental experience. According to J.D. Power, repairshops and insurers have a time period of 14 days to get a claimsettled and the property repaired -- regardless of whether it is anauto or homeowner claim. If that deadline is reached, a majority ofclaimants will be satisfied. Extend repairs beyond that two-weekwindow, though, and satisfaction begins to plummet. The study alsorevealed that while timing may be king, other issues can influencesatisfaction results. For instance, claimants who were redirectedby their agents to call in their claims directly to an insurer orcall center tended to be less satisfied with the claim experience,J.D. Power said. This is a result of having to explain the sameinformation over and over again, which can lead to a feeling thatunnecessary time is being spent on the process. In fact, studyresults showed that those who had agents acting as the primaryclaim contact were much more satisfied than those who did not.Unsurprisingly, the least satisfied claimants were those who hadout-of-pocket expenses in addition to their deductible that werenot fully reimbursed. Even if those expenses were later reimbursed,J.D. Power said that those claimants still were at the low end ofthe satisfaction scale.

"It becomes extremely important to manage customer expectationsas far as how long it will take for their vehicle or property to berepaired or replaced," said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of theinsurance practice at J.D. Power and Associates, in a statement."Proactively contacting the customer, keeping them informed andexplaining the process at each step can soften the impact of aparticularly long claim process -- enhancing customer confidenceand satisfaction with their insurers." More information, includinga management discussion based on the study's findings, is availableby HYPERLINK"http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/library/download/?files=9998886"clicking here .

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