Despite the prevailing P&C insurance-industry rallying cry in favor of online modernization, even the savviest consumer-facing systems won't have much impact should insurers fail to wrangle recent rate increases, according to J.D. Power. The consumer insights and advisory firm recently released the results of its 2022 U.S. Insurance Digital Experience Study, which surveys customer satisfaction with insurer digital offerings. The research found a year-over-year decline in online consumer satisfaction with the insurance industry even though carriers have made notable technology investments in recent years. "Although insurers keep upping the ante on technology, improvements are being offset by frustration among customers who are going online to shop for a better rate — and not finding one," Robert M. Lajdziak, director of Insurance Intelligence at J.D. Power, said in a recent press release about the study. "We're also seeing a clear trend in which more than half of digital insurance shoppers are choosing not to use digital tools or educational resources to help them through the shopping process. This further exacerbates the decline in customer satisfaction." The study evaluated online customer experiences for policy quotes and other routine servicing matters. Researchers took into consideration such basic digital tools as websites and mobile applications, and factored in such characteristics as speed, visual appeal and ease of use. J.D. Power teamed up with the research consultancy Corporate Insight to produce its 2022 U.S. Insurance Digital Experience Study. "While insurers are spending a great deal on tech on an industry-wide basis, we're seeing very uneven execution between brands, particularly in the area of mobile apps, where the top performers are really breaking new ground, but the bottom performers are keeping overall customer satisfaction scores low," said Michael Ellison, president of Corporate Insight. "We're also starting to notice some noteworthy year-over-year volatility among the brands in the study, which shows that smart investments in good technology can drive rapid performance improvement." The slideshow above illustrates the top P&C insurance carriers for customer satisfaction in 2022, according to J.D. Power and Corporate Insight.

Other relevant findings

• Pricing frustration looms large: Overall customer satisfaction with the P&C insurer digital shopping experience is just 499 (on a 1,000-point scale), down 16 points from a year ago. Overall customer satisfaction with the digital service experience is 705, which is down one point from 2021. The decline in shopping satisfaction is driven by growing customer frustration with rising rates and the inability to find premium cost relief through shopping for a new policy.
• Slow digital adopters: More than half of insurance consumers surveyed (54%) said they did not use digital shopping tools to find their policies.
• Wide gap in app performance: The average satisfaction score among the top-performing 25% of respondents using a mobile app is 885—significantly higher than any other channel. However, satisfaction with the bottom 25% of respondents using a mobile app falls 358 points to 527.
• Incumbents vs. startups: Overall customer satisfaction with digital account servicing is the same among traditional insurers and digital native insurtech brands. While insurtechs outperform on speed and visual appeal metrics, traditional carriers are making up the difference with better information/content and access to human support when customers need it.

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