Small-business customers who buy coverage through predominately personal-lines insurers have a higher satisfaction level than those who buy through commercial-lines carriers, J.D. Power's latest satisfaction survey shows.
“While both groups show year-over-year improvement, insurers that predominantly write personal lines insurance benefit from the personal relationships they are better able to build with their small-business customers,” says Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power, in a statement. “The relationship is typically established early because small-business owners often purchase commercial insurance from the same agent that provides their home and auto insurance. Additionally, the agent is often local, so they have more personal contact with their customers and better understand their business.”
J.D. Power says the survey of U.S. small business commercial-insurance buyers, now in its second year, shows overall satisfaction at 783 on a 1,000-point scale, which is up six points from last year. Predominately personal-lines insurers scored 804, while commercial-lines-focused insurers scored 766.
The study, J.D. Power says, “examines overall customer satisfaction, insurance shopping and purchasing behavior among small-business commercial insurance customers with 50 or fewer employees.” Satisfaction is measured through five factors: interaction, policy offerings, price, billing and payment, and claims.
According to the study, 41% of customers with predominantly personal-lines insurers say they first had their personal insurance with the insurer and added commercial lines later. Additionally, 63% of these customers say they met with their agent in person, compared to 53% of those with commercial-lines-focused insurers.
“Satisfying customers has an economic impact on insurers,” J.D. Power says. “For example, 'delighted' customers of predominantly commercial insurers purchase 1.5 additional products and pay more than $2,000 in annual premiums, compared with 'dissatisfied' customers (overall satisfaction scores of 549 or lower).”
Below, see which insurers scored best among the 3,525 respondents in J.D. Power's 2014 U.S. Small Business Commercial Insurance Study.
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