Customer satisfaction with auto insurers increasing, homeowners insurance flattens

The gap in customer satisfaction reported by home insurance policyholders and auto insurance policyholders has steadily widened since 2004, JD Power and Associates reports.
Homeowners insurance customer satisfaction has remained essentially flat during the past five years, while satisfaction with auto insurers has steadily increased, JD Power found.
The 2008 Homeowners Insurance Study is based on responses from more than 12,900 American homeowners’ insurance policyholders between May and June 2008, a release says.
JD Powers compared the results of the homeowners survey with the results it obtained in its 2008 National Auto Insurance Study (the number of respondents in the auto survey was not disclosed).
The homeowners study measures satisfaction by examining five key factors: policy offerings; price; billing and payment; interaction; and claims.
Customer satisfaction with homeowners’ insurance shifted only one index point from an average of 753 on a 1,000 point scale in 2004 to 752 in 2008.
In contrast, satisfaction with auto insurers increased 25 points from 2004 to a score of 787.
“Although some improvements have been noted in the [homeowner] policy offering factor, the lack of improvement in customer satisfaction with homeowners’ insurance providers is primarily driven by declines in scores in the claims and pricing factors,” the release says.
The study found satisfaction levels were particularly high among policyholders who bundled multiple policies with their homeowner’s insurance provider.
“Satisfaction averages 782 when policyholders bundle home insurance and auto insurance policies, compared with an average of 689 among policyholders who do not bundle policies.”