Overall customer satisfaction with US P&C insurers plateaus due to basic digital experience

P&C insurers’ basic digital capabilities don’t meet the seamless user experience that customers demand following increasing migration to digital channels, per the J.D. Power 2021 US Insurance Digital Experience Study. Overall satisfaction with insurers’ customer service experience, which is measured on a 1,000-point scale, improved just 2 points over last year to 860, while satisfaction with the shopping experience declined from 800 to 788.

Insurers are particularly struggling to help users handle complex tasks online, highlighting the lack of digital maturity in the industry. J.D. Power found that the more complex tasks became, the more customer satisfaction declined. For example, dissatisfaction increased when using shopping and account management functions online, like requesting a quote or adding another driver to an existing policy. On the flip side, satisfaction scores improved by around 100 points or more when customers said that completing tasks is “very easy” versus “somewhat easy,” per the study. Insurers are likely failing to upgrade these tasks online due to their reliance on legacy systems, which take up 70% of insurers' IT budgets, leaving little room for developing innovative services.

Insurers need to offer more advanced digital capabilities, and they could look to insurtechs for aid.

• Insurtechs already offer digital tools to help users more easily complete complex tasks online. Lemonade uses AI to provide quotes, handle claims, and answer customer questions, and last year it became the first insurtech to outperform incumbents in J.D. Power’s renters insurance customer satisfaction ranking. The insurtech also offers easy-to-understand terms and conditions via its Policy 2.0, making it simpler for users to research policy information online.
• Insurers should integrate white-label solutions from insurtechs to help deliver the online experience customers expect. Insurtechs Hi Marley and Spixii, for example, help automate user interactions, whether through AI-powered texts or chatbots, to discuss claims, billing, and policies. Such solutions could help insurers simplify user access to their services—and ultimately drive satisfaction.