Around 75% of life insurance policy holders are satisfied with their adviser and their life insurer, according to new research, contradicting a recent consumer survey which ranked advisers lowest for satisfaction when purchasing insurance.
The new research, conducted as part of wider policy holder and claimant studies, found that non-aligned financial advisers were rated highly by new policy holders with an overall rating of 78.2% and life insurers were rated at 73.6%.
The Beddoes Institute research did find, however, that policyholder satisfaction dropped off after two years with insurers given overall satisfaction rating of 60.6% and advisers given an overall satisfaction score of 56.8%.
Beddoes Institute Director, Dr Rebecca Sheils said the decline in satisfaction levels was the result of consumers equating lower levels of contact with less value as they have come to expect more frequent interaction from service providers in other walks of life.
“…it is not surprising that a relative lack of communication by insurance companies…is perceived negatively by policyholders…”
“This research shows that whenever a Life Company or an adviser interacts with their customers across multiple touch-points and channels, customers rate them higher than when there is minimal or no contact,” Sheils said.
“In this digital age consumers expect ongoing and constant interaction with the product and service providers they engage with. They increasingly experience this from banks, publishers and such companies as eBay, Facebook, and Amazon. With consumers’ expectations of constant interaction set high, it is not surprising that a relative lack of communication by insurance companies during the later years of a policy is perceived negatively by policyholders,” Sheils said.
The research also contradicted other reports that found dissatisfaction with claims, according to Sheils, with surveyed claimants rating their interaction with insurers and advisers highly, despite initial reservations by policyholders who expected the claims process would be difficult.
“In contrast, the actual experience of recent claimants is significantly better than policyholders expect, despite the negative stories communicated in main stream media. Claimants with an approved claim rated their insurer highly with a rating of 79.3% and this exceeded the rating of 66.0% given by policyholders prior to going through the claims process”, Sheils said.
“These findings add to the evidence that insurers are working hard to respond to the needs of consumers in an increasingly difficult environment.”
Further details about the research are available in the March RiskInfo eMagazine in the article: Filling the Gaps in Consumer Satisfaction
