Meanwhile motor claims reduced by 48% in Q2 2020 

Public trust in the claims process for travel insurers dropped in 2020.

This is according to the Chartered Insurance Institute’s (CII) Public Trust Index, which surveyed 1,000 consumers and 1,000 SMEs in May and September. It measured the gaps in expectations for key measures on a scale of plus and minus 30.

It found that for travel insurance, this gap widened on several key statements. For example, the statement ’the insurance company does not try to avoid paying out’ widened from 2.97 at the beginning of 2020 to 8.24 later that year in September.

And claimants also found it harder to get through to travel insurers in 2020, with the score for the statement ’I can get through to the insurance company quickly at any time’ going from 1.94 to a very high 11.89 by September.

Matthew Connell, director of policy and public affairs at the CII, pointed out that 2020 saw huge changes in people’s lifestyles, with people travelling less.

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He said: “Travel insurance, which has traditionally had a very high level of trust in its claims processes, has suffered, as holidays continued to be disrupted throughout 2020.

“The fact that many airlines directed customers to claim on their insurance instead of paying out statutory insurance straight away has undoubtedly had an impact on levels of trust.”

Significant service improvement

Meanwhile, average motor claims reduced by 48% in the second quarter of 2020 and service levels improved.

Connell added: “The reduced demand for claims services does seem to have resulted in a significant improvement in service, with customers reporting that it is easier to get through to firms and that they are less likely to be unhappy with the result of their claim.”

The score for the statement ’the insurance company does not try to avoid paying out’ reduced from 10.93 to 7.21 over the same reporting period in reference to motor insurance.

Furthermore, the expectation gap for the statement ’I can get through to the insurance company quickly at any time’ also got smaller for the motor sector, decreasing from 11.49 to 6.32.

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