A large number of recent catastrophic events, widespread premium increases and slow repair cycle times are straining customer satisfaction with the homeowner insurance claims experience, according to a new survey.
“There were 27 catastrophic events in 2024 and 28 the year before,” said Mark Garrett, director of insurance intelligence at J.D. Power, which has released its 2025 U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study. “Homeowners insurers are currently losing roughly one nickel on every dollar of premium they collect, and with total cost of events like the California wildfires still being assessed, there seems to be no end in sight. Customers are, in essence, paying higher prices for slower service. The average claimant does not receive final payment on a claim until 44 days after the first notice of loss, and unless insurers are communicating frequently and clearly along the way, customer satisfaction suffers,” Garrett said in a news release.
Key findings of the 2025 study include:
Repair Cycle Times Continue to Rise
The average claim cycle time — the time from filing the claim to finished repairs — has increased to 32.4 days. The cycle time from first notice of loss to final payment now averages over 44 days. Those times are the highest since the start of the study in 2008. The average customer satisfaction score for a claim that is completed within 10 days is 762 on a scale of 1,000 points. When repairs take more than 31 days, the score is 595 — 167 points lower.
Premium Increases Sap Satisfaction
Half of customers surveyed had premium increases initiated by their insurer in the past 12 months. Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Oklahoma saw the largest proportion of such increases. When a premium increase is not in response to a claim, satisfaction scores are 101 points lower than for when an increase is linked to a claim (629 vs. 730).
Insurers can reduce the negative effects of price hikes and longer claim cycles by making it easier for customers to communicate with them. When customers say it’s very easy to communicate, the overall satisfaction scores (777), are more than twice that of customers who say it’s very difficult or somewhat difficult to communicate (337). Shortcomings in the communication process include customers having to leave voicemails; having to call repeatedly with questions and not getting prompt follow-up emails and text messages. “In fact, 82% of customers are interacting often with their insurer via their non-preferred communication channels,” Garrett said.
Digital Helps, Especially With Younger Customers
Customers who use digital tools to file a claim, such as submitting photos used in the estimate and receiving proactive updates, give higher overall satisfaction scores. App usage results in the greatest satisfaction compared with other forms of digital tools. Gen Z and Millennials are most at ease using digital tools, with 87% saying they are comfortable conducting the claims process digitally. But almost 40% of Boomers and Pre-Boomers (those born before 1946) are not comfortable with the fully digital process.
Insurer Rankings
Among insurers, Chubb ranks highest in property insurance claims experience with a score of 773. Amica is second (745) and The Hartford comes in third (725).
J.D. Power notes that it redesigned the U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study for 2025, so scores are not comparable with previous studies. The study measures customer satisfaction with the property claims process in eight factors, ranked by importance:
Fairness of the claim settlement
Level of trust
Time it took to settle the claim
People
Digital channels
Communication how and when I want
Ease of starting the claim process
Ease of resolving the claim
Conducted throughout 2024, the study surveyed 5,178 homeowner insurance customers who filed a claim within the previous nine months.
