A recent report released by J.D. Power shows that auto insurance customer satisfaction has flattened out, largely thanks to one key issue: communication.
J.D. Power's auto insurance study
One positive note from the study is that auto insurance prices have gone down over the past year, but many people failed to notice this silver lining due to dissatisfaction with the communication of their auto insurance companies.
Communication scores have plummeted
This report talks in-depth about the significant declines seen in customer satisfaction relating to their auto insurance's communication. Overall, customer satisfaction with chat and email communication dropped by a whopping 12 points.
Call center satisfaction saw a less severe drop of five points, and auto insurance websites and local insurance agent satisfaction dropped by three points and one point, respectively.
This study should serve as a major wake-up call for auto insurance companies, as communication is one of the most important aspects of the entire business. People purchase auto insurance with the hope that they won't need to file any claims, but when they do get into an accident, they expect to be reasonably supported and assisted by the company they pay significant dollars to every month for that very service.
Price is also a top deciding factor for customers
Communication is important, but the price will always be a major deciding factor for customers when choosing an auto insurance company.
On top of that, over half of those who switched companies recently do so because of a premium increase of $200 or less with their previous company. Perhaps if communication issues among auto insurers got sorted out, people would be less tempted to switch by a relatively modest savings offer from another company.
If auto insurers want to keep their customers’ business, they should take this seriously and attempt to strike a balance between effective communication and keeping their rates as affordable as possible.