J.D. Power’s 2021 U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study shows insurers’ use of photos and videos for estimation increased during 2020 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 J.D Power study tracked customer experiences with home insurance claims using technology both before and during the pandemic, specifically through customer adoption of digital claims reporting by examining five factors: settlement, claim servicing, FNOL, estimation process; and repair process.
Robert Lajdziak, senior consultant, insurance intelligence at J.D. Power shared, “Overall use of technology— particularly on behalf of the carriers—increased significantly during the past year, creating direct benefits such as faster claims and secondary benefits such as a more consistent claims process for all customers. The key now is addressing some of the lingering issues that create breaks in the digital claims process and continued improvement to convenience and adherence to best practices.”
J.D. Power found:
- Increased use of digital claims tools drove faster payment and improved satisfaction: On average, when homeowners engaged in fully digital claims processing, including estimation and first notice of loss (FNOL), the time to payment was reduced up to 5.5 days.
- Pre-claim inventory cataloging was key: Use of mobile apps and other software for inventory creation is up more than 33% since 2018. When inventory lists were created prior to a loss, customers received payment 3.4 days faster than when the inventory list was made after the loss.
- Satisfaction falls when breaks in the digital chain occur: Satisfaction is significantly lower among claimants who unsuccessfully tried to use fully digital reporting and estimation process compared with those who do not use digital channels at all.
