Public feel disillusioned and undervalued by industry but still renew policies
Nearly half of policyholders think insurers do as much as they can to avoid paying claims, research has revealed.
A survey by Directexcellence found that 43% of consumers believe insurance companies "will do anything" to get out of paying claims.
Furthermore, only 36% of respondents thought insurance companies valued their business and 41% thought that service was not of paramount importance to insurers.
Only 30% thought insurers were good at explaining the benefits of their policies.
But despite these concerns, the survey revealed that 51% of home and 47% of motor policyholders had been with the same insurer for over three years.
In addition, 68% of home insurance and 61% of motor insurance customers renewed with their existing insurer.
Directexcellence said the results could indicate a strong level of consumer loyalty, although they could also suggest inertia on the part of consumers. But 43% of those surveyed said insurers "try to rip off" existing customers and only offer the best prices to new customers.
Directexcellence general manager Stephen Jacobs said: "The research throws up some interesting results in terms of buying behaviours, loyalty, channels used and reasons why consumers change insurance provider."
