Many insurers struggle to deliver a seamless digital experience, according to the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Claims Digital Experience Study.

Overall customer satisfaction is down to 854, on a 1,000-point scale, dropping three points from last year. Only 35% of customers said that the claims process was “very easy.” 

The study evaluates a customer’s digital claims experience with property & casualty insurers by examining the functional aspects and 3,184 evaluations from auto or home insurance customers who filed a claim in the past 12 months. The study was fielded from June through October 2023 and conducted with Corporate Insight, a consultant and digital user experience researcher for financial services. 

Mark Garrett, director of global insurance intelligence at J.D. Power, said in an emailed response, that there are many reasons contributing to a sub-optimal digital experience.

“The digital photo submission process has opportunities to improve,” Garrett said. “Many insurers have document upload pages on their website/apps that mention submitting photos but these are often not a part of their photo estimation process (which often involves being sent a link to a separate tool/website). So there is confusion among customers who have to submit photos multiple times or even submit photos but still need to arrange an in-person inspection. Both of these experiences can have a negative impact on customer satisfaction.”

The study indicates that for customers who state claim reporting, estimation and settlement processes were all “very easy,” satisfaction is 948—and 86% of those customers say they “definitely will” renew their policy. Among those who state none of the processes were very easy, satisfaction is 799 and only 41% say they “definitely will” renew with the same carrier.

“Claims are taking much longer than ever now, so having to keep customers informed across a longer period of time, where there may not be much status changing to communicate, can lead to  frustration among customers. Particularly if they need to make a phone call to find out what’s going [on]. We see that when customers have to make that effort of calling, the digital experience is perceived as falling short and missing expectations,” Garrett said. 

One-third of customers still have to call their insurer to ask additional questions after a digital update like an email, text or notification from a mobile app. Only 35% of claimants agree their insurer is creating an efficient claims process that keeps customers informed and reduces time spent on the phone.

“Only 41% of customers completely agree that digital tools created efficiencies and kept them informed throughout the claim. That seems very low and indicative of the work insurers still need to do to optimize the digital experience,” Garrett said. “Customer expectations are constantly evolving and they want information how and when they want it; they expect digital to create efficiencies, make things simpler, faster and keep them informed. I think insurers are very focused on digital processes and the big insurers have entire teams working on the digital experience, so continuous improvement is key here.”

Garrett said many insurers have invested in digital processes and tools over the last four years like overhauling digital claims reporting tools, integrating the usage of digital photos, with artificial intelligence being incorporated to assist adjusters in getting better estimates from the photos.

“Investments in websites have changed the way insurers are setting expectations and allowing customers to track key events in their claim and see where they are in the process,” said Garrett.