Natural disasters are the ultimate test for insurance carriers. When families may be forced to leave their homes, businesses are unable to operate and policyholders are in urgent need of funds for housing, transportation, repairs and other living essentials, insurance can be a lifeline. The scale of this challenge is growing.
That concern is especially timely as
For insurers, that puts even more pressure on one of the most consequential moments in the policyholder relationship: what happens after
The claims experience has become a retention issue
Seventy-five percent of the consumers surveyed by InvoiceCloud said they would be likely or very likely to switch carriers following a bad claims experience. That should make claims more than an operational concern. It is also a retention issue.
A claim may involve days or weeks of investigation, assessment, documentation and coverage validation before it can be approved. Insurers cannot eliminate every source of delay in that process. They can, however, make sure that once a claim is approved and payment is authorized, disbursement does not create another unnecessary wait.
Insurers often measure whether a payment was issued. Policyholders measure whether the money was available when they needed it. That difference should shape how carriers evaluate the final stage of the claims journey.
InvoiceCloud's 2026 survey found that only 15% of consumers surveyed received a payout within a week of filing a claim, while 25% received payment one to several weeks later. Those timelines generally reflect the broader claims lifecycle rather than payment processing alone. The opportunity is to ensure that payment execution is never the reason a policyholder waits any longer after approval.
Speed and visibility matter to consumers
When consumers were asked, in the survey, what changes they would make to the claims process, 29% identified faster payment after a claim was approved, while another 22% wanted clearer and more consistent communication about payment status.
That distinction matters. For property claims, where policyholders may have lost their homes and possessions, the stakes are especially high. Even when a payment cannot be delivered immediately, knowing where the claim stands, what is holding it up, and what happens next gives the policyholder greater control during an otherwise uncertain experience.
Policyholders have different preferences for how they communicate during the claims process. Phone remains the preferred claims communication channel for 38% of consumers surveyed, followed closely by email at 36%. Insurers need to think about speed, communication, and choice together.
Give policyholders practical ways to access their money
Consumers manage their money very differently than they used to, and their expectations for insurance payments are changing with it.
More than half of consumers surveyed, 52%, prefer to receive claims payments through direct deposit, and 50% said online banking is the easiest way to access funds during an emergency. While these preferences indicate that digital options are essential, it's also important that they aren't the only options available to consumers.
Circumstances following a catastrophe can vary significantly. A policyholder may have been displaced from their home, have limited connectivity, lose access to a device, or need another way to receive funds. Offering options such as direct deposit, push-to-debit, digital wallets and, where appropriate, paper checks allow people to choose what works best for their unique situation.
Property claims can introduce another layer of complexity. When lienholders, contractors, or other third parties are involved, getting funds where they need to go may require additional documentation, signatures, and coordination. Insurers should design for those scenarios rather than treating every disbursement as a simple final transaction.
Prepare the payment experience before disaster strikes
The middle of a catastrophe is not the time to discover gaps in a disbursement process. Carriers should understand the complete path from claim approval to usable funds before claim volumes spike.
That starts with mapping manual handoffs, identifying exception scenarios and measuring approval-to-access time rather than simply whether a payment was initiated. It also means establishing how policyholders will receive status updates and how more complex payments involving multiple parties will be handled.
Payment choice and communication plans should be built into that preparation. A fast digital option may work for many policyholders, while others still prefer a check. Insurers should also offer flexibility in language options, communication channels, and the level of assistance available when policyholders are completing required steps to ensure that any policyholder, no matter their situation, is able to receive support.
Finally, insurers should test these workflows under catastrophe-level volume and make sure claims, operations and customer service teams understand the process. Technology matters, but readiness depends on whether people know how to resolve exceptions when policyholders cannot follow the standard path.
The moment insurers can control
Natural disasters are unpredictable but never impossible. When they strike, insurance carriers have an opportunity to make something go right when nearly everything in the policyholder's life is going wrong.
Approval is not the finish line. The claims experience ends when a policyholder can access the funds, understand the payment status and begin moving forward.
