Commercial Insurers Gradually Mend their Relationship with Small Businesses After the Pandemi

The relationship between commercial insurers and small businesses in the U.S. seems to be getting back to the right track. These parties had been facing more than two years of ups and downs due to the pandemic.  

According to the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Small Commercial Industry Study, overall business customer satisfaction with commercial insurers climbed 13 points to 842 (on a 1000-point scale), just 2 points lower than its pre-covid high.  

Small businesses’ satisfaction with commercial insurers started tumbling down for the first time in seven years in 2020 when the pandemic was at its peak. This led to business uncertainty and economic disruption. The alleged slow response from the carriers and lack of clear legal provisions during one of the most chaotic times in the U.S. economy infamously drove a wedge between small businesses and commercial insurers.  

 “We must take note of the fact that we’re seeing increases in customer satisfaction across all factors-including price- at a time when 30% of small businesses have experienced an increase in insurance premium,” said Stephen Crewdson, senior director of global insurance intelligence at J.D. Power. “That’s the highest proportion of insurance customers experiencing price increases that we’ve witnessed in the past eight years, “he added.  

Here are some of the critical findings of the study:  

Customer satisfaction of small businesses with their commercial insurers improved in 2022, reaching 842 points after dismal records in 2020 and 2021.  
Businesses with fewer than five employees feel less satisfied than bigger small businesses. Such businesses had a satisfaction score of 826 compared to medium-sized (841) and large small businesses (852).  
Carriers who proactively communicate with their clients about the price hike in insurance premiums and collaborate with them to mitigate the effect of the price increase have more satisfied customers.  

According to J. D. Power, State Farm has made it to the top of the list with a customer satisfaction score of 856, followed by Chubb (855) and Nationwide (854), respectively.  

The J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Small Commercial Industry Study is based on 2254 small business insurance customers and was fielded from March through June 2022. It considers factors like billing and payment, claims, interaction, policy offerings, and price to calculate overall customer satisfaction among small business insurance clients.