The claims experience remains one of the most powerful drivers of broker behaviour in the commercial lines market, with the quality of claims handling playing a central role in shaping trust and influencing whether brokers maintain or expand relationships with insurers.
Based on more than 800 commercial lines claims experiences, Insurance DataLab’s new Commercial Lines Claims Pulse Survey, conducted in partnership with Research in Finance, highlights a consistent pattern: positive claims outcomes reinforce insurer relationships, while poor experiences quickly erode trust and negatively influence placement decisions.
More than three quarters (78%) of brokers who had an unsatisfactory claims experience said their trust in the insurer fell as a result.
This is also having a direct impact on business placement decisions – more than a third (39%) of brokers say they are unlikely to place business with an insurer after a poor claims experience.
Conversely, 95% of brokers reporting positive claims experiences say they are likely to place business with the same insurer in the next 12 months, compared with just 10% of those who were dissatisfied.
This suggests that claims performance is not just an operational issue, but a key commercial lever that has a direct impact on broker relationships, retention and future business placement.
The good news, however, is that the majority of brokers (77%) are satisfied with the overall commercial claims experience and we will soon be revealing the top performers who will be the inaugural winners of the Insurance DataLab Commercial Lines Claims Gold Awards.
Turning Claims Insight into Better Placement Decisions
As regulatory expectations continue to rise under Consumer Duty, the ability to demonstrate consistent, high-quality claims outcomes is becoming increasingly important.
For brokers, this means not only understanding how insurers perform at the point of claim, but being able to evidence how those insights inform placement decisions and support good customer outcomes.
Insurance DataLab will be releasing the full findings from the Commercial Lines Claims Pulse in the run up to BIBA, as part of its inaugural Insurer Performance & Conduct Report, created in association with BIBA and sponsored by SSP.
The report brings together claims, complaints, solvency and underwriting into a single, comparable framework – providing brokers with a clearer, data-led view of insurer performance.
The full report will be available at the BIBA Conference, where copies can be collected from the Insurance DataLab stand (G65), with Matt Scott and Dan King on hand to discuss the findings and what they mean for broker placement decisions. Or, click here to be sent a free copy of the report via email as soon as it is published.
Click here to arrange a time to meet Matt or Dan at BIBA or to find out more about the Claims Pulse.
About Research in Finance
Founded in 2013, Research in Finance is a full-service global market research agency specialising in asset management, banking and insurance. They deliver high-quality data and insight across a broad range of market segments, from large-scale tracking to fully bespoke research programmes.
They partner with more than 60 of the world’s leading financial services organisations, supporting global and domestic asset managers, insurers and reinsurers, wealth managers, investment platforms, fintech and robo-advice firms, trading platforms, industry bodies and government departments.
Its experienced research team combines deep financial services expertise with perspectives from other sectors, bringing fresh thinking and up-to-date market understanding. They design and deliver research that uncovers actionable insights and helps drive our clients’ strategic decision-making.
They manage their own proprietary global panels covering professional and consumer participants across multiple countries. Every participant is verified through rigorous screening, detailed profiling and ongoing quality controls to ensure robust, reliable data.
In insurance, they are supported by a dedicated panel of expert insurance consultants, senior decision-makers and operational leaders in the UK insurance and protection markets, providing invaluable insight into risk management, products and market trends.