What Are Customers’ Most Common Questions During Claims?
Carriers can improve the claims experience by anticipating customers’ most frequently asked questions.
Knowing claims consumers’ most frequently asked questions helps carriers improve the claims experience by taking proactive actions based on the customers’ highest priority needs. This approach also boosts efficiency and saves time by providing better process explanations, setting clearer expectations and answering common questions before they are asked.
The Claims Experience Impacts Customer Retention
Poor claims experiences drive customers to switch insurance carriers. Accenture’s 2022 report found that 77 percent of claimants that reported being dissatisfied with their home and auto insurance claims handling experiences—representing up to $34 billion in premiums annually— said they had switched or were considering switching insurers.
Additionally, Bain & Company says a positive claims experience can boost customer retention. In its Q4 2021-Q3 2022 NPS Prism® US Insurance survey, around 50 percent of customers satisfied with their claims experience say they’re likely to renew, compared to only a third of dissatisfied customers. Bain noted, “Industry leaders will improve those experiences by focusing on clear and helpful communication, expectation setting, and optimal timing.”
Hi Marley’s analysis of 25,000 claims customer satisfaction surveys revealed that four categories have the most significant impact on customer satisfaction: Timeliness of Service and Resolution, Communication, Process Effectiveness and Adjuster Attitude and Approach.
Carriers can continuously improve customer satisfaction by leveraging existing conversational data to anticipate customers’ needs, questions and concerns and proactively tailor communications throughout the claims process.
Analysis
To uncover trends and reveal the most frequently asked questions, who they involve and how carriers can get ahead of these inquiries, we categorized a random sample of 1,040 auto and property claims in Hi Marley’s database by the root cause of what drove the customer inquiry.
| Root Cause | Sample Inquiries |
|---|---|
| 31% Process Explanation / Next Steps Inquiry resulted from an unclear understanding of the process and next steps |
|
| 30% Ad Hoc Request Inquiry related to a specific issue or topic |
|
| 18% Informational Only The customer did not ask a question, but they required a response or acknowledgment |
|
| 13% Expectation Setting Unclear expectations drove the customer question |
|
| 5% Scheduling Inquiry related to coordinating schedules for a phone call, response, appraisal or other needs |
|
| 2% Response Timeliness Customer indicated urgent need for a response, or expressed frustration with lack of outreach |
|
| 1% Undetermined There was not enough context in the inquiry to determine the root cause |
|
Do FAQs involve additional parties?
We then identified which claims involved additional parties and, if so, which entities. While 65 percent of the inquiries related only to the individual posing the question, 35 percent involved other parties.
The remaining inquiries are spread among different categories, including police department, other carrier, towing and salvage, appraiser, contractor and bank. However, we found a significant number involved the body shop (48 percent) and rental car provider (25 percent).
We also looked at the customer questions to identify the exact inquiry and action needed by the carrier and found trends among 39 inquiry categories.
Key Findings
Improve Process Effectiveness with Better Process Explanation and Expectation Setting
If carriers effectively explain processes and set claim-handling expectations up front, they will experience far fewer questions later in the process.
Better Process Explanation Top Driver of Customer Inquiries
The top root cause for customer inquiries centered around the need for better process explanations. The most common inquiry categories that required further explanation include:
| Inquiry Category | Sample Inquiry |
|---|---|
| 23% asked about the status of their claim 10% specifically related to payment status |
Is this on hold until October when the repair takes place? Just wondering as I have not received any transfer of funds. |
| 9% wanted to know the next steps | The other carrier has been in contact with me and I’m getting the repairs right now. The estimate has been completed by them. I’ve also gotten the rental car. Is there anything else I need to do on my end? |
| 8% asked what type of documentation is needed Specifically, what consumers need to send to the adjuster |
What documents do I need to submit for next steps? |
In addition, 17 percent of all inquiries requested contact from the carrier (Ex: “Hello, can you please call me?”). Carriers can mitigate these requests with better process explanation and expectation setting in the beginning, which ultimately reduces the number of incoming and outgoing phone calls.
Unclear Timelines Result in Body-Shop Related Inquiries
In our study, 171 inquiries needed or shared information regarding the body shop entity:
| Inquiry Category | Sample Inquiry |
|---|---|
| 20% related to repair status | So what’s going on with getting my bumper fixed? |
| 11% pertained to inspection status | The garage has an estimate. Now what? |
| 8% asked about auto claim next steps in the context of the body shop | Do I need to submit all receipts together?? |
| 6% requested an update on the payment status of the body shop | Hi Ryan, has the check for repair been sent to the car shop, or are you still waiting on the car shop? |
Forty-five percent of body shop-related inquiries could have been avoided by better process explanation and expectation-setting earlier on.
Additionally, most towing and salvage questions revolved around tow-process explanation (64 percent), which, again, ties back to process explanation and expectation setting.
This study indicates that adjusters can avoid most inbound inquiries that require further explanation by being more proactive, thoughtful and detailed in terms of initially explaining the process and setting customer expectations as to what will occur, when it will happen and who will need to do what.
Rental Car-Specific Inquiries Show Clear Trends in Frequently Asked Questions
Several rental car-specific inquiries included questions related to rental extensions (19 percent) and rental charges or coverage (15 percent), while the majority (64 percent) revolved around rental car scheduling.
As part of the initial auto claim setup, carriers can leverage predefined text message templates that proactively provide the type of information that the customers regularly request, including:
- Available rental coverage (and what the coverage does and does not pay for)
- The scheduling, pickup and delivery processes
- Rental car vendor locations
- Rental extension process and managing extension expectations if it takes longer to fix the car than initially thought
By anticipating these questions and providing pertinent information up front, carriers can proactively address 98 percent of rental-specific inquiries, significantly reducing the number of inbound questions. With text message templates, adjusters no longer need to type out generic responses, saving time and enabling them to focus on high-value claim-handling activities and make more frequent contact with policyholders. And consumers will have all the information they need in one place and can refer to it again in the future.
Enhance Communication Through Automation and Standardization to Help Customers Feel Heard
Customers need support and want to feel heard. In our analysis, 23 percent of the inquiries were not requests or questions, but comments that required acknowledgment of receipt or confirmation of information they sent to their claim handler. These types of requests appeared 244 times, resulting in 823 messages exchanged to resolve the inquiry.
If carriers proactively acknowledged receipt before a customer asked, they could potentially save three messages per conversation on average.
Carriers could satisfy these requests, provide better support and improve efficiency through automated responses if their core system were advanced enough to recognize a request type for confirmation of receipt.
Configuring automated replies removes a manual step for adjusters, creates timelier responses and puts the customers’ minds at ease while making them feel supported.
Leverage Templates to Manage Expectations and Enhance Communication
To improve the claims experience, carriers can leverage predefined text message templates to handle frequently asked questions, keep customers informed and ensure they communicate relevant and correct information.
Templated messages help carriers accurately answer frequently asked questions and thoroughly explain standard processes in a friendly way.
For example, 26 percent of body shop-related questions asked for shop recommendations or reviews. Carriers can take this opportunity to proactively offer a list of preferred body shops with contact information, customer reviews and other details. This will strengthen the carrier’s preferred network penetration rate, while also giving consumers peace of mind that they are in capable hands.
Impact Customer Perception of Timeliness of Service and Resolution with Regular Status Updates
The introduction of new technology like Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS), combined with today’s labor shortages, rising costs and supply chain issues, creates challenges for auto repair shops to obtain the parts they need to get vehicles back on the road. As a result, insurance carriers are experiencing prolonged cycle times and increased average severities.
Longer claims processes directly impact customer satisfaction. Accenture found that if a claim isn’t settled within a month, dissatisfaction rises 30 percent. Furthermore, in our analysis of customer satisfaction surveys, Hi Marley found that 12 percent of 1-star customer satisfaction surveys cited “untimely service” or “resolution took too long” as the primary driver of their poor claims experience.
Managing expectations in claims is critical. J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Claims Digital Experience Study found when carriers fail to provide regular updates, customers are three times more likely to say the claims process was slower than expected. Conversely, customers who are provided with regular status updates via digital channels are two times more likely to say the process was quicker than expected.
And with nearly 24 percent of all inquiries in our study relating to a status update, it’s clear there’s ample opportunity for carriers to improve the customers’ perception of cycle time and enhance the claims experience.
To improve customer satisfaction, carriers can take simple steps like setting reminders to reach out to customers and schedule regular, proactive status updates–even if it’s just an update that there is no progress. Letting customers know that you care and are paying attention is better than silence.
With simple reminders and proactive guidance, carriers will save time and reduce frustration.
Know Your Audience to Provide Empathetic Support and Enhance Adjuster Attitude and Approach
Accidents happen. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, almost 19,000 car accidents happen every day in the U.S., nearly 7 million in a year.
While adjusters may touch numerous auto claims every day, the average driver files an auto claim once every nearly 18 years. So, when a customer files a claim, it is likely their first interaction with their carrier, their first claims experience or an experience they last endured nearly two decades ago. Things that seem like second nature to adjusters, or a conversation they already had ten times that day, is often brand-new information for an insured or third-party claimant. Adjusters who consistently show empathy and remember that customers do not know what to expect always provide a better overall claims experience.
As Insurance Thought Leadership editor-in-chief and Pulitzer Prize nominee Paul Carroll wrote, “An awful lot of experts I’ve dealt with over the years, whether a plumber or a lawyer, have forgotten that they’re experts. They assume I know things that I have never remotely experienced.” According to Carroll, claims professionals will benefit from a frequent reminder that they:
- Need to start from zero as they’re explaining the process to someone filing a claim
- Avoid jargon at all costs
- Set realistic expectations (or under-promise and over-deliver)
By understanding customers’ needs, anticipating their questions, and providing proactive communication and information, carriers will drive a better claims experience and improve customer satisfaction.
To Learn More Download the Complete White Paper
