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About one of every 15 U.S. homeowners insurance policyholders files a claim each year and these claimants are now giving insurers their highest ever satisfaction ratings, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).

The J.D. Power 2017 U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study gives U.S. home insurers a record score of 859 (on a 1,000-point scale). The industry’s cumulative score stood at 846 in 2016. Five factors are considered when assessing policyholder satisfaction: settlement; first notice of loss; estimation process; service interaction; and repair process.

“Insurers are the nation’s economic first responders and, as such, are continually working to improve how they help Americans recover their lives and businesses in the wake of tragedy and catastrophe,” said Sean Kevelighan, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.). “This year’s J.D. Power and Associates survey results are a clear reflection that the industry’s hard work and dedication are delivering the intended results.”

These all-time high claims satisfaction scores are even more remarkable given that incurred losses and loss-adjustment expenses for U.S. property/casualty (P/C) insurers grew by 7.6 percent year-over-year when comparing the first nine months of 2016 to the first nine months of 2015, according to an analysis developed by Dr. Steven Weisbart, the I.I.I.’s chief economist.

Incurred losses reflect the dollar amount of a home insurer’s claim payout whereas a loss adjustment expense is the sum an insurer pays for investigating and settling claims, including the cost of defending a lawsuit in court.

Moreover, Dr. Weisbart noted, catastrophe-related claims through the first nine months of 2016 were already at their highest level since 2012—the year of Superstorm Sandy—and the fourth quarter of 2016 pushed those numbers even higher after insured claim payouts from October 2016’s Hurricane Matthew.

The federal government agreed that 2016 was a volatile, and costly one, estimating 15 separate weather and climate events last year caused more than $1 billion in economic losses, not all of them insured, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“Property and casualty insurers have redoubled their efforts to improve the settlement process and fine-tune their customer interactions, efforts that have been clearly recognized and appreciated by homeowners who experienced significant losses this past year,” J.D. Power said.

The study also noted opportunities for improvement, most notably in water-related and other complex claims that take a long time to settle and that cause significant lifestyle disruption. J.D. Power noted, “Insurers that manage to get the settlement process and customer interaction equation right in these types of disruptive and often catastrophic scenarios are those that raise the bar for the industry.”

The study is based on more than 6,600 responses from homeowner’s insurance customers, and was fielded between January and November 2016.

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Late summer is the peak time for hurricane season. And as if on cue, there’s a few storms brewing out in the Atlantic. It’s too early to tell if they will impact Florida, but it is not too early to prepare as if they are.

Review our hurricane season insurance checklist. First on the list is probably the most important: Make certain to have enough coverage to completely rebuild your home in the event it is severely damaged or destroyed. This means sufficient insurance protection to rebuild your home and replace all its contents.

Don’t confuse the real estate value of your home with its insurance cost. Typically, the older your home the bigger the gap between what it costs to insure it, which is the rebuilding costs, and what you would get if you sold it.

The second thing to check NOW is the amount of your hurricane deductible. If your home is insured for over $100,000, you have a minimum 2 percent hurricane deductible. You can increase that deductible to as high as 10 percent. With three months left in hurricane season, are you confident you selected a deductible you can live with? Call your insurance professional and have The Talk.

You can’t make changes to your insurance policy when a named storm is heading our way. As soon as the National Hurricane Center bestows a name on a tropical system, you’re locked into whatever decision you made, within the timeframe set in the statute on hurricane deductibles.

What’s in a name? Well, it could be your money, so be proactive while keeping an eye on Gaston and Hermine, the two tropical storms getting weather forecasters’ attention.

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Florida summers means thunderstorms nearly every day. Most trees benefit from the daily drenching, except for the dead ones. They get deader, if that’s really a thing. Dead trees and diseased or damaged tree limbs can cause havoc on your property as summer rains root out (literally AND figuratively) the weak from the strong. Inspect your property and get rid of damage waiting to happen.

Look up. If your home is surrounded by tall pine trees, you might see one that looks more like a telephone pole. That is an obvious sign that it has passed its useful life. A tree without branches is not a tree anymore.

Some tree damage is not so obvious, so having a professional conduct a tree risk assessment will help identify structural problems. An arborist can tell you which trees are worth saving and which have to go.

If a tree falls on your house, you are covered by insurance, even if it is your neighbor’s tree. Insurance covers the cost of repairing the damage and removing the tree. If the tree does not hit an insured structure, there would generally be no insurance coverage. Check our video on trees and insurance for more information.

A stroll through your own backyard is a way to get back to nature – before a storm comes that may cause nature to get back at you.

For many Americans, their home is their largest investment. But, according to the Insurance Information Institute’s ( I.I.I.) annual Pulse Survey, understanding some key aspects of homeowners insurance remains a challenge.

In PulsePoints: Home and Auto Insurance, we present findings from a survey of more than 1,000 adults in the United States. We asked homeowners specific questions about their insurance and the protective measures they took to prepare for a catastrophe. In this poll, we also surveyed Americans’ sentiments about emerging technologies that could affect their insurance needs and pricing (e.g., telematics devices and self-driving cars).

Answers reveal a wide range of results that point to some interesting (and sometimes surprising) facts and trends, including: that insurers can improve how they engage consumers in helping them to better understand the details of their insurance policies; and that many Americans are quite accepting of emerging, even disruptive, technologies.

Please click on the file name below to view the white paper in PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the file.

Download pulse-wp-112415-8-final.pdf

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