Despite steadily rising interest rates and strained business conditions, U.S. small businesses are increasingly satisfied with the products and services they are receiving from their commercial insurance providers. According to the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Small Commercial Insurance Study, released , overall customer satisfaction has reached an all-time high of 847 (on a 1,000-point scale) as customers note significant year-over-year improvement in three of five factors evaluated in the study.
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“Contrary to what we’ve seen in personal lines insurance, small business customer satisfaction keeps rising even as premiums have continued to climb”
“Contrary to what we’ve seen in personal lines insurance, small business customer satisfaction keeps rising even as premiums have continued to climb,” said Stephen Crewdson, senior director of global insurance intelligence at J.D. Power. “While the overall satisfaction numbers are high, there are some important variations based on the size of the small business. The trend is really being driven by businesses in the ranges of five to 10 employees and 11-50 employees, as opposed to the micro businesses with fewer than five employees. That variation should inform more targeted small business strategies on the part of insurers.”
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Following are some key findings of the 2023 study:
- Customer satisfaction reaches all-time high: Overall small business customer satisfaction with commercial insurers is 847, up 5 points from 2022 and up 70 points from a decade ago. Customer satisfaction improves across all factors in the study and is led by claims, price and interaction.
- Smallest small businesses feel less satisfied: Although overall customer satisfaction improves across all categories of businesses evaluated in the study, the micro category—which consists of businesses with fewer than five employees—has a lower overall satisfaction score (823) than do medium-size (855) and larger (857) small businesses.
- Proactive communication takes the sting out of rising premiums: When insurers proactively discuss price changes with small business customers and work with them to find ways to minimize that increase, overall customer satisfaction improves. Among the 36% of customers who made changes to their coverage to minimize a price increase, satisfaction with the price of their policy increases 84 points. And of the 25% of customers who made changes to their business practices to reduce their risk, price satisfaction increases 135 points.
- Social media plays key role in communicating with small businesses: Small businesses are generally interested in receiving tips for reducing costs, new product information and information on state and federal regulation changes via social media. Overall satisfaction is 88 points higher among micro business customers who follow their insurer on social media than those who do not.
Study Ranking
Nationwide ranks highest in overall customer satisfaction with a score of 883. State Farm (877) ranks second and Cincinnati Insurance (870) ranks third.
The 2023 U.S. Small Commercial Insurance Study is based on responses from 2,472 small commercial insurance customers. The study, now in its 11th year, examines overall customer satisfaction among small commercial insurance customers with 50 or fewer employees. Overall satisfaction is comprised of five factors (in alphabetical order): billing and payment; claims; interaction; policy offerings; and price. The study was fielded from March through June 2023.
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