Insurance customers who interact with a local agency tend to be more satisfied than customers who interact with their insurer’s call center, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Insurance Customer Contact Study released Nov. 21.

The inaugural study is based on customer interaction with their insurance carrier either through an agency, call center, or Web channel. For each service channel, the study examines the key practices that drive high satisfaction levels, which may lead to policy retention and customer advocacy. Across all service channels, routine service interaction is the most important element driving customer satisfaction, accounting for 38 percent of overall customer satisfaction with their insurer.

“Routine service interaction between customers and their insurer has a considerable impact on overall satisfaction, which, in turn, positively impacts policy retention and renewal rates – all of which are considerably beneficial for an insurer’s bottom line,” said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power and Associates.

The study finds that more than 75 percent of personal auto and home insurance customers interacted with their insurer either through an agency, call center, or website during the past 12 months. Among insurance customers who interact with a local agency, satisfaction averages 884 points on a 1,000-point scale, compared with 824 points among those who interact with their insurer’s call center. While 78 percent of insurance customers are serviced through agencies, only 30 percent interact exclusively with their agency. Slightly more than half of all customers report using their insurer’s call center or website and 64 percent use a combination of agency, call center, and website channels to interact with their insurer during the course of a year.

Regardless of the service channel a customer chooses, those who accomplish their reason for contact through a single channel are significantly more satisfied with their insurer than those who had to use multiple service channels to resolve their issues.

“Having a streamlined contact process is most ideal for customers and, in particular, those interacting with their insurer’s call center often have higher expectations than those interacting with an agency,” said Bowler. “For instance, call center customers are most satisfied when their issues are resolved the same day they contact their insurer while agencies can take slightly longer before customers become less satisfied. Similarly, customers expect an agent to retrieve their information in two minutes or less while call center representatives have only one minute before satisfaction declines drastically.”

The study also finds that agent-served customers tend to be more loyal to their agent than they are to their insurer. Among customers who perceive their agent to be independent, 44 percent say they “definitely will” renew with their insurer while 60 percent say they “definitely will” continue doing business with their agency. Furthermore, only 7 percent of customers indicate they “definitely will not” switch insurers if their agent recommended another company.

The study also reveals the following insurance customer behavior patterns:

• One-fourth of a customer’s overall impression of their agent, agency staff, or call center representative is driven by their courtesy and friendliness.
• Two in five customers meet with their agent in person; most visit their agent without a scheduled appointment.
• Time is critical in satisfying call center customers, as key satisfaction drivers include not being placed on hold, connecting to a call center representative within two minutes, and accessing account information within one minute.

Source: J.D. Power and Associates

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