Insurance Customer Experience “OK”

As an industry, P&C insurers earned an “OK” rating in the 2013 “Temkin Experience Ratings,” while health insurers were rated as “Poor.”

Temkin Group, a customer experience research and consulting firm, asked 10,000 U.S. consumers to rate their customer experiences on a scale of 1-to-7, in terms of being functional, accessible and emotional. Temkin limited the analysis to 246 companies, each of which included responses from 100 or more consumers. USAA was the top-ranked P&C insurer, and TriCare was the top-ranked health plan.

However, overall, health plans took seven of the 15 lowest spots. Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and auto insurer 21st Century were among the lowest five rated companies overall.

TriCare and Kaiser Permanente, and USAA outperformed their industry averages by more than 10 points, the survey found. Auto insurer 21st Century fell 10 or more percentage points below the industry average.

Temkin Group identified four competencies companies must master to build and sustain customer experience leadership:

  • Purposeful Leadership: Operate consistently with a clear set of values
  • Employee Engagement: Align employees with the goals of the organization
  • Compelling Brand Values: Deliver on your brand promises to customers
  • Customer Connectedness: Infuse customer insight across the organization.

Health plans were found to functionally “OK,” slightly below that for accessibility and fell below that mark for emotional connection. Insurance carriers were deemed “OK or better” in functionality and accessibility, but also fell short for emotional connection.

Overall, customer experience scores are rising; 37 percent of companies earned a “good” or “excellent” rating, which is 9 percent higher than last year, and 21 points higher than in 2011.

Thirty-seven percent of companies received a “good” rating or better, an increase over 28% of companies in 2012 and 16 percent in 2011. Grocery chains, fast food chains, parcel delivery services and retailers earned the highest average scores while TV service providers, health plans and Internet service providers earned the lowest.

2013 Temkin Experience Ratings for insurers and health plans:

29. USAA 77%

100. Nationwide 68%

115. GEICO 66%

123. Kaiser Permanente 65%

123. Allstate 65%

134. Progressive 64%

142. Metlife 63%

150. Travelers 62%

150. The Hartford 62%

150. Farmers 62%

150. AAA 62%

182. Coventry Health 59%

191. American Family 58%

191. Medicare 58%

203. Anthem (BCBS) 56%

203. Liberty Mutual 56%

213. Aetna 54%

213. Aetna 54%

222. CIGNA 53%

232. Humana 51%

232. Carefirst (BCBS) 51%

232. BCBS California 51%

232. Health Net 51%

239. Highmark (BCBS) 50%

239. Medicaid 50%

242. 21st Century 49%

242. Empire (BCBS) 49%

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