Time to first contact weighs heavily on claims satisfaction

Hi Marley’s survey found the majority of consumers said speed of response while texting a provider is their most important expectation, followed by all-hours availability. (Credit: Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock)

Time to first contact (TTFC) – the amount of time it takes an adjuster to contact a claimant once they’ve opted into text messaging – has become highly important to customers. Recent research from Hi Marley found that the highest-performing claims adjusters make first contact with claimants within three minutes at least half of the time, and with 80% of claimants within 3.5 hours. In contrast, the lowest-performing claims adjusters take around 43 hours or more to make first contact in 50% of their cases.

“In my years of claims leadership, I saw how, more often than not, excellent initial and ongoing responsiveness by adjusters positively impacted customer experience and ultimately impacted policyholder retention,” said the report’s co-author, Mark Snyder, principal consultant and claims subject matter expert at Hi Marley, in a press release. “Carriers have so much data at their fingertips, it’s hard to know what metrics to track. Our research confirmed that time to first contact is a key indicator of how well an adjuster will serve customers and handle a claim throughout the lifecycle. By measuring and improving this one metric, carriers can drive tangible business outcomes, including increased customer satisfaction and cost savings beginning with just a simple text message.”