How to improve customer experiences in insurance?

Customer experience is firmly in the insurance spotlight as the first anniversary of the Consumer Duty rules approaches and organisations across the sector take stock of their impact.

Data released earlier this month by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) indicates a growing divide between consumer expectations and their experience with insurers, a gap at its widest since the CII launched its Public Trust Index in 2029. The index also noted the ongoing dip in consumer confidence in insurers, with respondents highlighting how insurers could improve in handling claims professionally, fairly and efficiently. This was further cemented by the findings of the consumer advocacy group Which?, raising concerns about how insurance claims are being handled by providers.

Harnessing the power of broker feedback

The challenge at hand is clear – insurers need to put the right foundations in place on which to create improved customer experience strategies. But what do those foundations look like? Drawing on the CII’s research, it seems the answer is to be found in the insurance broking community, given that professional brokers were found to outperform price comparison websites, banks, building societies and insurers when it comes to building customer loyalty and confidence.

No customer experience strategy can afford not to base itself on the feedback of the brokers who have their ear to the ground on how to deliver the best possible outcomes for insureds – so what do brokers have to say?

High-quality products and ease of doing business

Front of mind for the broking community today is the demand for high-quality, accessible insurance products. Brokers want the confidence to know that when they recommend a policy for their clients, they’re working with tested and assured, highly rated products and solutions that will deliver at the point of claim.

Closely linked to that is the demand for increased ease of doing business. As to how insurers can meet that demand, Rob Fairs, product and channel management director at RSA, noted that two core components require addressing – reducing friction and creating accessible communication channels. Looking at RSA’s e-trade platform, he noted that the insurer has made significant investments to create meaningful, iterative changes to the platform to create a clear underwriting strategy.

“What that means is driving less friction in our business and enabling brokers to spend more time with their customers actually adding value as opposed to administration,” he said. “In our market, we have over 1.5 million inquiries every year. And therefore, when something refers, as a business, we want to be very targeted about that so that we’re able to win it.

“That leads on to the second part around ease of business, which is when we do have referrals and there’s contact between us and our brokers, we have to be on our game in order to drive outperformance in terms of customer experience. And we recognised the need to do that from our broker feedback.”

There are numerous ways an insurer can look to drive that outperformance – including increasing its number of underwriters, simplifying communication channels and building out individual product teams, backed by underwriting licenses. By increasing these underwriting licenses, you can ensure that when a broker speaks to an underwriter, they have immediate access to expertise and can expect a first-time resolution.

Pricing, data and strong relationships

Particularly amid the current economic environment, pricing remains a significant consideration for brokers – and whether the proposition on offer works as a whole for the insured. 

At the core of getting pricing right is data, as it’s only through the rigorous use of high-quality data that you can ensure you’re delivering the best possible coverage at the best possible price. “As you start to increasingly focus on driving the best possible outcomes for customers, you see that you have to have data at the heart of what you do,” Fairs said. “Data is key to driving successful business models, both for brokers and insurers. And I really feel there’s a market opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves by enhancing the data we use to make data-lead decisions to drive business outcomes.”

Relationships are the heart of how the insurance industry operates, and to keeping those front-and-centre means insurers can’t afford to take a ‘once and done’ approach to seeking out broker feedback. It is only by engaging with brokers, and getting their insights into what’s working and not working in terms of product, pricing and consumer confidence in digital channels, that insurers can put those insights into meaningful action. 

For Tovah Grosscurth, commercial lines digital director responsible for RSA’s SME and eTrade business, talking to brokers on the ground has given her confidence that the market is moving in the right direction.

Brokers are a great source of feedback, because they’re vocal about where they want to see improvements, she said, but also on where they have seen improvements. Genuine collaboration is what’s required to move the dial on customer experience in insurance and also to make sure that companies don’t become too internally focused when they’re looking to deliver a transformation strategy. “It’s about getting the balance right,” she said.