A seamless experience across their carrier’s channels factors heavily into customer satisfaction. (Credit: terovesalainen/Adobestock)
With auto insurers returning to profitability after years in the red, carriers are shifting their focus from raising rates toward improving relationships with their customers, J.D. Power reports. Their newly released 2025 U.S. Auto Insurance Study revealed that insurance customers have become increasingly unhappy, with 38% reporting they are not very satisfied with their insurer.
Good rates may convince a customer to initially purchase a policy from a carrier. However, J.D. Power’s research shows that when it comes to renewing that policy, quality customer service and good claims experiences are what keep people coming back.
“Now that insurers are shifting back into growth mode, they really need to focus on cultivating and keeping high-value customers,” Stephen Crewdson, managing director of insurance business intelligence at J.D. Power, said in a release. “But among many of those customers, overall satisfaction this year is not particularly high. To shift that perception after the past few years of significant rate increases, insurers need to focus on delivering a tailored, seamless customer experience across all channels.”
J.D. Power’s report found that even higher-value customers — those with long tenures with their insurer, higher annual premiums and multiple policies — are at risk of jumping ship. Only 51% of these customers said they “definitely will” renew with their insurer, compared to 53% of medium-value and 54% of low-value lifetime customers who plan to renew.
A seamless experience across their carrier’s channels factors heavily into customer satisfaction, as well. J.D. Power found that when insurers deliver in this area, customers are significantly more likely to have higher levels of trust, feel better about the people from the carrier they are working with and feel like it is easy to work with their insurer.
J.D. Power also measured customer auto insurance satisfaction across 11 geographic regions in the U.S. The highest-ranking insurers for satisfaction in each region were:
- California: Auto Club of Southern California (AAA)
- Central: Shelter Insurance
- Florida: Allstate and GEICO (tie)
- Mid-Atlantic: NJM Insurance Company
- New England: Amica
- North Central: Erie Insurance
- Northwest: State Farm
- Southeast: Erie Insurance
- Southwest: CSAA Insurance Group (AAA)
- Texas: Nationwide
Nationwide ranked as the highest carrier for customer satisfaction in usage-based insurance for the second consecutive year.
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