Customers feel let down by insurance

NEARLY half (48%) of people who have made a claim about home, travel, motor and pet insurance experienced at least one problem during the process, according to Which?

Problems included needing to repeatedly chase insurers for information and firms not identifying and responding appropriately when people were struggling as a result of the incident that led to their claim.

Issues also surfaced in situations where insurers brought in third parties to deal with claims, the consumer group said.

A consumer duty was introduced in July 2023, meaning financial firms need to put customers at the heart of what they do, including when designing products and in their communications.

Some customers felt harassed for hard-to-obtain information about seriously ill or deceased family members.

The research indicated that vulnerable customers are sometimes being failed, it added.

People who had been severely impacted by the event they were claiming for were more likely to report problems in the claims process than those who had not, at 63% versus 33%.

In one case seen by Which? a woman cancelled a family holiday to Spain after her father-in-law had a stroke.

After she contacted her insurer, she was asked to upload relevant claim documents to the online portal. But after doing so, she was repeatedly asked to upload the documents again, despite receiving email notifications to say they had been received. Which? said the process lasted several weeks.

Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said: “This research paints a shocking picture of insurers’ failure to handle customers’ claims in a timely, empathetic way – and it’s particularly concerning to see how people in vulnerable circumstances due to the event that led to their claim are being failed by their insurers.”