J.D. Power: Small Businesses Eye Insurance Provider Trust, Loyalty and Brand Advocacy

Trust impacts customer satisfaction, loyalty and brand advocacy more than other factors when small businesses choose a commercial insurance provider, a new survey shows.

A J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Small Commercial Insurance Study showed that among small businesses with the most trust in their insurers, 81% “definitely will” renew with their carrier, and 79% “definitely will” recommend their carrier.

The survey measured (in order of importance) trust, price for coverage, product/coverage offerings, ease of doing business, people, problem resolution and digital channels on a 1,000-point scale.

Small-business customers’ average overall satisfaction with commercial insurers was 697.

Both small business satisfaction and trust were up despite the challenges of premium increases.

In 2024, 36% of small businesses saw a premium increase, up from 34% in 2023. Of those, the insurer initiated 51% of increases, while 16% were due to changing business needs, and 13% resulted from changes customers made to their policies.

When customers were notified in advance and understood the reasons behind a premium increase, trust was 142 points higher than when they were blindsided by unexplained increases, the survey shows.

Insurers ranked with the highest levels of trust also provided personalized products. However, only 55% of small businesses surveyed said they’ve received personalized information from their insurer. Personalization drove an average overall trust score of 761, and trust was 106 points lower (655) among those who have not received personalized information.

American Family ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction with a score of 727. State Farm (719) was second and Allstate (716) was third.

The survey was based on responses from 2,817 small commercial insurance customers. It examined overall customer satisfaction among small commercial insurance customers with 50 or fewer employees.