Poor claims service sends UK insurance sentiment into the red

UK consumers are growing increasingly dissatisfied with their insurance service and a poor showing in the second quarter of this year – driven largely by weak claims service – has seen the industry’s net promoter score (NPS) fall to -6.8.

This is according to the latest UK Insurance Market report from financial services review site Smart Money People, released today (23 July 2026).

NPS scores – a customer experience metric which compares “promoters” and “detractors” in much the same way as political approval scores – of below 0 highlight an overall negative sentiment towards a subject.

And the insurance industry’s score of -6.8 marks a substantial fall since the first quarter of the year, the +3.7 score of which was already markedly down on the largely positive results of 2025.

More tellingly, the number of customers reporting that they “understood their product details” fell by over 10% to 80.7%, while Smart Money People’s proprietary Insurance Fairness Index fell between quarters from 84.6 out of 100 to just 60.

Peer Jelendorf, chief executive at Smart Money People, explained that the second quarter data “confirms that customers are no longer judging their insurer on price alone”.

“They want confidence that when something goes wrong, they’ll be treated fairly and supported without having to constantly chase for updates and end up doing the work themselves,” he added.

Home insurance model

In contrast to the falling scores seen across the wider market, home insurance providers saw their performances improve across a variety of metrics.

Overall satisfaction rose from 3.77 out of 5 to 4.24 out of 5, while NPS increased from +28.2 to +52.3. The strong sentiments were backed up by customer outcome measures, with 91% of surveyees saying they understood their product details and a further 81% saying they felt fairly treated by their insurance providers.

The report suggested that the strong customer satisfaction scores were the result of a “combination of competitive pricing, easy policy management, clear information and helpful service”, notably regarding online journeys and staff interactions.

Jelendorf concluded: “Home insurance shows what’s possible when providers get the fundamentals right – clear communication, fair pricing and helpful service that fills customers with confidence rather than leaving them facing delays and feeling frustrated. The rest of the market has a clear blueprint to follow.

“For insurers, the message from Q2 is understanding a policy isn’t the same as trusting the provider behind it. Closing that gap should be the priority for the second half of the year.”