J.D. Power: Auto Insurance Repair Cycle Times Improve, but Price Increases Take a Toll

Auto insurers have been fighting rising costs and longer repair cycle times since the pandemic, but some relief is in sight for one of those trends.

The J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study released this week shows that the average repair cycle time for claims filed later in the survey period was 18.9 days, down 5.0 days from 23.9 days in the early survey period.

That may offer some relief to insurers and their customers, but the average repair cost rose 26% in the past two years. Premiums have followed suit, rising 15% during the past year, the study shows.

Other findings of the study include:

• The overall average repair cycle time in this year’s study is 22.3 days, down 1.0 day from the 2023 study. But when results are broken out into the quarter in which the claim was filed, cycle times have improved steadily since peaking in early 2023, for a 5.0-day reduction throughout fielding of the 2024 study.
• Overall, 48% of study respondents experienced a premium increase during the past 12 months. Satisfaction is particularly low among those who incurred increases prior to their claim, and these customers may have been entering the claim process already upset by rising prices.
• Insurers have been focused on improving mobile apps and the outcome appears to be paying off. For the past three years, claims filed via call centers or agents outperformed digital channels, but now digital is receiving higher scores with mobile apps achieving the highest scores. In addition, satisfaction is higher among those who stay in the app to submit photos and receive status updates (775) than for all other digital experiences. However, this group comprises only 13% of customers. Boomers and Pre-Boomers are still hesitant to adopt fully digital processes, with 32% stating they disagree with being comfortable using digital tools for the entire claim.
• The No. 1 key performance indicator in the study is to ensure that communicating with insurer reps is easy: being accessible; responding in a timely fashion; reps providing consistent service; managing timing expectations; and providing options for proactive updates are all critical elements of communication throughout a claim.

The study is based on responses from 9,725 auto insurance customers who settled a claim within the past nine months prior to participating in the survey. It measures customer experience across eight core dimensions: trust; fairness of settlement; time to settle claim; people; communication; ease of resolving claim; ease of starting claim; and digital channels. The study excludes claimants whose vehicle incurred only glass/windshield damage or was stolen, or who only filed a roadside assistance claim. The study was fielded from October 2023 through August 2024.