Customer satisfaction in the short-term insurance industry in South Africa showed a decline for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n
According to the SA Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi), OUTSurance and Santam emerged as industry leaders, with Mutual & Federal following closely behind.<\/p>\n
Over 3,160 customers were surveyed to evaluate their satisfaction with short-term insurance and data was collected between December 2014 and March 2015.<\/p>\n
Brands included were Santam, OUTSurance, Mutual & Federal, Hollard and a category called \u201cOther\u201d.<\/p>\n
The overall industry score declined 2.4 points to 76.4 out of 100.<\/p>\n
Industry leaders were OUTSurance and Santam at 80.0 and 77.3 out of 100 respectively.<\/p>\n
Mutual & Federal scored on par with the industry at 77.1 out of 100 and Hollard was rated as below par at 71.6 out of 100.<\/p>\n
| Company<\/th>\n | SAcsi Score<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| OUTsurance<\/td>\n | 80.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||
| Santam<\/td>\n | 77.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||
| Mutual & Federal<\/td>\n | 77.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||
Industry Average<\/strong><\/td>\n| 76.4<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Hollard<\/td>\n | 71.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n | “Tellingly, the lower overall score is linked to the fact that most brands aren\u2019t meeting their customers\u2019 expectations,\u201d said Prof. Adr\u00e9 Schreuder, founder of SAcsi and CEO of Consulta Research.<\/p>\n \u201cThe short-term insurance industry is a low touch industry, meaning customers do not make contact with their providers on a regular basis. This means that the impact of complaints in the insurance industry is significant \u2013 a single complaint can have a big impact.”<\/p>\n Net Promoter Scores – the likelihood that customers would recommend a particular brand – showed a decrease of 7% for Hollard and an increase for OUTSurance of 8%. Consulta reports an anecdotal correlation between this score and its findings on social media platforms.<\/p>\n Customer loyalty is the result of two components: customer retention and price tolerance.\u00a0 As such, the customer loyalty score reflects the impact of price tolerance on customer retention.<\/p>\n \u201cSantam and Mutual & Federal show a significant decrease in customer loyalty and the overall industry loyalty follows the same trend,\u201d Schreuder said.<\/p>\n The Ombudsman for Short-Term Insurance (OSTI) last month published its own report<\/a> detailing South Africa\u2019s best and worst short-term insurers.<\/p>\n Overall, the Ombudsman said it received 10,253 complaints in 2014, up 9.5% from 9,368 complaints in 2013, and from 9,144 complaints received five years ago.<\/p>\n The rand value of complaints resolved in favour of the insured was down to R116 million, from R119 million 2014, and R136 million in 2009.<\/p>\n Majority of complaints related to motor insurance at 46.9% (4,807 complaints), followed by houseowners\u2019 insurance at 20.9% (2,148 complaints).\u00a0 The \u201cmiscellaneous\u201d category accounted for 17.4% of complaints.<\/p>\n Best and worst airlines in South Africa<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Best and worst mobile networks in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n |