Homeowners insurers in recent years have done a better job portraying coverage as a value sale, evidenced by increases in consumer satisfaction with policy offerings, according to an insurance expert with J.D. Power & Associates.

Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the global insurance practice at J.D. Power, says customer satisfaction in the company's most recent survey was at787 on a one-thousand-point scale, up by two points compared to last year's survey. Bowler notes that satisfaction had been trending upward leading up to and into 2009, before dropping from 773 to 750 in 2010 due to the recession. The industry has seen steady improvement since then, Bowler notes.

In this year's survey, Bowler says satisfaction with pricing declined, while satisfaction with claims and policy services was a push. The satisfaction gains, he said, were in billing and payment, and policy offerings.