According to the 2026 US Property Claims Satisfaction Study conducted by JD Power, property insurers in the United States are facing rising prices, high deductibles, and increasing out-of-pocket costs. Despite these challenges, customer satisfaction has increased, driven by shorter repair and payment cycle times as well as improved digital capabilities that enhance the overall claims experience. Additionally, a relatively mild hurricane season and lower non-catastrophic claim volumes have helped offset negative impacts.
“There was no shortage of headwinds to customer satisfaction with the property claims experience this year, particularly when it comes to the financial burden customers face, but carriers were really able to counter the negative effects of higher prices by delivering exceptional service,” said Mark Garrett, director of insurance intelligence at JD Power.
“Thanks to investments made over the past several years in digital channels that make it faster and easier to communicate with customers throughout the claims process, insurers have made important efficiency gains that are translating into better customer experience. Despite the industry-wide improvement, however, customer expectations are not always met, with almost one in five customers indicating their experience was not great, so there is still work to do,” the official added further.
“Customers are satisfied despite cost pressures: A total of 19% of homeowners’ insurance customers faced insurer-driven premium hikes, out-of-pocket expenses, and a deductible of USD 1,000 or more. Even though satisfaction among customers who faced all three of these challenges averages only 606 (on a 1,000-point scale) this year, overall customer satisfaction for the industry rises 20 points to 702,” the study noted.
“The average amount of time required to complete a repair is 29.6 days, down 2.8 days from 2025, and the average amount of time before customers receive final payment is 40.7 days, down 3.4 days from last year. Repair cycle times are heavily influenced by the use of direct repair programmes, through which the insurance company connects homeowners with a contractor from their approved network. Among the 41% of customers using these programmes, there is a notable improvement in the average time to start work, leading to faster overall repairs—averaging more than two weeks shorter for higher-severity claims compared to those not using the programmes,” it added.
While the utilisation of digital tools increased throughout touchpoints of an insurance claim, be it reporting the first notice of loss to submitting photos used to estimate/pay the claim, apart from receiving updates, overall levels of satisfaction remained higher among customers using digital tools for each of these interactions, compared to those who performed the same functions offline.
“While 51% of insurers fully meet customer expectations for how their policy will work, and 15% exceed those expectations, 34% of customers say their policy did not fully meet expectations. Common issues experienced among those whose policies did not fully meet expectations are a lack of explanations or the opportunity to discuss the estimate/settlement; high out-of-pocket costs; and frequent customer-initiated contacts,” the report concluded.