Car-Insurance-UK-Supermarket.co.uk
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90% expect their car insurer to be difficult with a claim17 July 2011by Donald MacKenzie A survey from direct car insurance and price comparison website car-insurance-uk-supermarket.co.uk has found that most motorists do not expect their car insurance provider to play fair if they need to make a claim. Only ten per cent of respondents expected that their car insurance provider would make a rapid payment without any problems. A further 25% expected some problems from their insurer, but did anticipate rapid compensation.  The remaining 65% expected payment to be delayed with 4% (of the total sample) anticipating a severe delay. Over a third (34%) expected 'major problems' while a further 56% expected 'some problems' from their insurer. Clearly, borrowing on the advertising slogan used by one well-known insurer in the past, the public expect their car insurance provider to make a drama out of a crisis. Presumably some of these respondents are drawing on personal (bad) experiences with insurance companies, while everyone has heard of examples from friends or via the media where insurers have behaved unreasonably in relation to claims. But is the picture really as bad as this in practice or are people just worried that it will not go well for them as insurers have a reputation for 'playing hardball'? There is some evidence to support the public's perception that making a claim often does lead to problems for the claimant. When the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) looked at the outcome of 2,000 low value cases (for under £10,000 of damages), they found that in over 60% of these cases the car insurance provider admittted liability outside the prescribed protocol period of three months for claims to be handled through the Road Traffic Accident Claims Portal. From the car insurance company's perspective, they have a duty to their policy-holders and shareholders to gatekeep their underwriting costs to maximise competitiveness and profitability. They are well aware of the high prevalence of fraudulent car insurance applications and claims and must be cautious and vigilant in their assessement of all claims as a result. By necessity, this can take some time and, of course, insurance companies need to process large numbers of claims. On the basis of the above car-insurance-uk-supermarket.co.uk survey findings, however, it would appear that the public believe that car insurance providers have got the balance between their own self-interest and the legitimate needs of their customers wrong, with the widespread expectation that should they need to claim, the process is likely to be protracted, stressful and unsympathetically handled by their insurer. The insurance industry is well aware of its poor public image. In a recent survey of 57 major UK insurers conducted by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and KPMG, poor reputation was seen as their biggest weakness. Chief Executives of insurance companies clearly had their doubts about their handling of claims with only two-fifths seeing their ability to help in a crisis as their greatest strength. The survey also found that only 18% of consumers saw their helping with claims as their greatest strength. The car insurance industry is anxious to improve its reputation with the public. Their focus should be in improving customer relations in their hour of need. The most common cause for a relationship breakdown is lack of information. Insurers could and should do more to keep claimants well-informed as to what stage their claim has reached and the likely time-scales, while one person should be assigned to the claimant to manage them through their claim to its conclusion. |
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