More than two out of five motor and home insurance customers have suffered delays and problems when making claims, new research from insurance experts Consumer Intelligence shows.
Its study found nearly one in five suffered delays in processing claims while one in seven had to go back with extra information after making a claim.
However the research – which comes as insurers brace themselves for payouts of up to £1.3 billion following the winter floods devastation from Storms Desmond, Eva and Frank – shows 84% of customers say their claims were handled fairly.
Even customers who have had claims turned down do not necessarily blame the insurer – just 30% switch to a new provider after a claim is rejected, the study found.
Consumer Intelligence’s study of how satisfied customers are with claims handling shows on average they rates insurers 6.9 out of 10 with just 12% dissatisfied.
The company’s Claims Satisfaction research2 over the past two years tracking the experience of 50,000 drivers of which 11,000 have made claims reveals the top 10 firms achieve scores of up to 9.3 out of 10 for home insurance and 8.8 for motor.
Top-rated home insurance firms include M&S, NFU Mutual, RIAS, Hiscox, Co-Op, Saga, John Lewis, Lloyds, LV and Barclays.
The best performers for motor included More Than, Saga, LV, Co-Op, Aviva, Esure, M&S, Direct Line, Churchill and NFU Mutual
Ian Hughes, Chief Executive of Consumer Intelligence said: “Customers tend to only see the value of insurance when they make a claim and firms clearly need to do more to ensure the experience is better.
“However they can take comfort from the fact that the vast majority of customers believe their claims are handled fairly and that satisfaction is generally high considering the criticism companies routinely face.
“Even when claims are turned down customers do not instantly leave their insurer as the research shows.”