The property/casualty insurance industry is falling behind financial services and utilities providers when it comes to the digital customer experience, according to the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Claims Digital Experience Study.

Throughout 2021, just 40 percent of claimants interacted with an estimator via digital channels and only 47 percent made a claim via a website, the study found. In fact, none of the most important key performance indicators are achieving even a 50 percent success rate and adoption remains stubbornly low, J.D. Power said.

Nearly half (49 percent) of claimants interact with their claim estimator via phone, the study found. The average overall customer satisfaction score among those claimants (861 on a 1,000-point scale) is lower than in any other interaction channel. Meanwhile, use of video chat is associated with the highest level of overall satisfaction (882) but is only used by 26 percent of claimants.

“At a time when virtually every other industry is experiencing significant gains in digital customer engagement, the insurance claims process has not really evolved beyond the launch of digital photo estimation three years ago,” said Martin Ellingsworth, executive managing director of P&C insurance intelligence at J.D. Power.

The U.S. Claims Digital Experience Study, now in its second year, evaluates digital experiences among P/C insurance customers throughout the claims process. It examines the functional aspects of desktop, mobile web and mobile apps based on four factors: appearance; clarity of the information; navigation; and range of services. The study is conducted in partnership with Corporate Insight.

Source: J.D. Power