MA Assist reveals main reasons for property claims dissatisfaction

MA Assist has revealed the major reasons for client dissatisfaction with property claims.

The property claims specialist has conducted detailed research into the 4% of its customers who said that they would not recommend the company to others following a claim.

Delays remain the most common cause of frustration for those who express dissatisfaction at the end of a claim, with 57% of unhappy claimants saying that it affected their opinion of MA Assist. 65% of these claims had been ongoing for more than 10 days before they were assigned to MA Assist, often resulting in frustrations around delays even before the real work to resolve the claim could begin.

67% of claims that led to client dissatisfaction also had more than one other party involved, such as a loss adjuster, surveying company, drying company or asbestos removal company. This, said MA Assist, was because when more than one party is involved, the operational frictions increase and delays grow. 33% of claims with a detractor involved a loss adjuster, and 31% involved drying.

Alex Kilpatrick, MA Group sales and marketing director, said: “While the number of detractors only represents 4% of customers surveyed, we still believe we can learn a lot from this group of important customers.

“There is a clear correlation between customer dissatisfaction and the number of parties involved in a claim. So while it may sound counter-intuitive to a cost-conscious insurer who feels they must shop around, if control of the claim rests with one supplier throughout the process the customer experience is often improved. We have demonstrated this repeatedly to the insurers we work with, and achieved reduced claims durations and costs in the process too.

“We also know that if several suppliers are involved, each stage of a claim takes place sequentially. But there is no reason why they can’t run in parallel.

“There needs to be more liaison between surveyors and builders to ensure an initial schedule of repair work is accurately and fairly scoped, so that costs are agreed and approved quickly.”

Kilpatick said that the property claims system needed to be simpler and more efficient if the industry was to make any headway into improving customer experience and retention.

“Through improved processes, together with many aspects of better customer communication, we are convinced we can break the typical patterns of claimant dissatisfaction,” he added.

Mark Dugdale