The second wave of the survey, conducted in partnership with Research in Finance, draws on almost 1,500 commercial claims experiences and reveals a clear relationship between claims satisfaction, broker trust and future business placement.
Overall satisfaction remains relatively strong, with 75% of brokers satisfied with the commercial claims experience, compared with 77% in the first wave.
But beneath that relatively stable headline figure, the commercial impact of a poor claims experience appears to be growing.
More than four in five brokers (82%) who experienced an unsatisfactory claim said their trust in the insurer fell as a result, up from 78% in the first wave.
And half of dissatisfied brokers now say they are unlikely to place business with that insurer again during the next 12 months. That compares with 39% in the first wave.
By contrast, 92% of brokers reporting a satisfactory claims experience say they are likely to place business with the same insurer again.
Performance varies significantly across the market
The latest Claims Pulse also highlights substantial differences between individual product lines.
Satisfaction reaches 94% for business equipment and office contents and remains strong across areas including employers’ liability, directors’ and officers’ insurance and professional indemnity.
At the other end of the spectrum, commercial motor continues to prove challenging, while construction records one of the lowest satisfaction levels in the study.
There have also been meaningful movements at insurer level.
The latest results identify a new group of Insurance DataLab Commercial Lines Claims Gold Award winners, while only three insurers have retained Gold Award status across both waves of the research.
And looking beyond overall satisfaction reveals further differences in performance across the individual stages of the claims journey, from the initial response and ongoing claims handling through to the eventual customer outcome.
Download the latest Commercial Lines Claims Pulse
With two waves of research now completed, the Commercial Lines Claims Pulse provides an increasingly detailed view of how insurer claims performance is changing – and what those changes could mean for broker relationships and future business placement.
Download the report for free here.