Why insurance customers are frustrated with their claims experience

Any broker or adjuster can tell you that friendly service is not enough to satisfy a frustrated policyholder when they’ve had a claim. 

But what most don’t realize is even the greenest insurance pro can ease a customer’s claims frustrations if they set clear expectations — and then meet them. 

Carl Van, president and CEO of International Insurance Institute Inc., shared an anecdote about a time he monitored a claims call handled by an adjuster named John. 

“The customer is upset about something in the body shop,” Van explained to Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association’s (CIAA) 4th annual Canadian Claims Summit attendees. “John, he’s a great adjuster, he says ‘I’ll tell you what? Let me go ahead and call the body shop, and I’ll call you right back.’” 

John called the body shop manager, and once he got him on the line, he advocated for his client for nearly 45 minutes.  

“He gets back on the phone, calls the customer 45 minutes later… [and says] ‘This is John, giving you a call back,’” said Van, “and guess what the customer says?” 

“‘What took you so long?’” 

Many claims handlers believe friendliness and hard work are critical traits to good customer service. But as Van explains: “It doesn’t matter about being fast. You’ve got to make sure you meet people’s expectations.” 

Set, meet, exceed 

The time it takes to settle an insurance claim varies from days to weeks to several months.  

And it differs by market and coverage. In auto, for example, claims repair periods have gotten longer, thanks to supply chain disruptions, parts delays, collision repair backlogs, and technician shortages. 

However, clients don’t know what to expect until you tell them. 

“We say things like ‘I’ll get to this as soon as I can,’ or ‘I call you as [soon as] I possibly can,’ or ‘let me get right back to you,’” Van said. 

However, a response like this means clients will to set their own expectations about when they’ll hear back from an adjuster. And that leaves a poor impression when their expectations can’t be met.  

“If something’s going to take two days, tell them four. Think it’s going to take you three hours? Tell them six. People don’t know what to expect when you tell them. So, give yourself a break; stop putting these demands on yourself.” 

Data can also come in handy when setting insurance claims expectations.  

Zac Sutherland, president of Sutherland Insurance, previously explained that he improved his brokerage’s customer satisfaction score by nearly 20 points when they started tracking insurers’ turn-around times on claims calls. 

“So, when the client calls and says, ‘I’ve had a claim, and it’s with market X,’ we’re telling them to expect…‘This might [take] seven days,’” Sutherland said. “We were amazed to find that most [clients] just said, ‘Thank you,’ and didn’t call us back for seven days.”  

Feature image by iStock.com/Maria Vonotna