Time to first contact weighs heavily on claims satisfaction
A recent Hi Marley study found the highest performing claims adjusters respond to 80% of their cases in under 3.5 hours.
Time to first contact (TTFC) – the amount of time it takes an adjuster to contact a claimant once they’ve opted into text messaging – has become highly important to customers. Recent research from Hi Marley found that the highest-performing claims adjusters make first contact with claimants within three minutes at least half of the time, and with 80% of claimants within 3.5 hours. In contrast, the lowest-performing claims adjusters take around 43 hours or more to make first contact in 50% of their cases.
“In my years of claims leadership, I saw how, more often than not, excellent initial and ongoing responsiveness by adjusters positively impacted customer experience and ultimately impacted policyholder retention,” said the report’s co-author, Mark Snyder, principal consultant and claims subject matter expert at Hi Marley, in a press release. “Carriers have so much data at their fingertips, it’s hard to know what metrics to track. Our research confirmed that time to first contact is a key indicator of how well an adjuster will serve customers and handle a claim throughout the lifecycle. By measuring and improving this one metric, carriers can drive tangible business outcomes, including increased customer satisfaction and cost savings beginning with just a simple text message.”
The importance of communication to customer satisfaction has been evident in other studies as well, with CapGemini’s World InsurTech Report 2021 revealing nearly 80% of customers would switch carriers if they felt their insurer’s responsiveness was “less than stellar,” which is up 11% from their 2020 findings.
Not only does speedy TTFC affect customer satisfaction, but it can also impact an insurer’s bottom line. In their research, Hi Marley found the highest-performing claims adjusters resolve claims an average of 10% faster than the lowest-performing adjusters. This amounts to about three fewer days spent settling a claim.
This is especially important in situations like auto claims where the carrier must cover a rental for the insured. With the average rental rate most insurers provide sitting around $45 a day, those savings add up when considering carriers could handle thousands of auto claims each year.
A copy of Hi Marley’s full “Metrics That Matter: Unlocking the Value in ‘Time to First Contact’” whitepaper can he found here.