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Press information- Finnish Property Insurance Companies 2006 according to the EPSI Rating Customer Satisfaction StudyPrivate customers:¢ Among the big companies, Tapiola received, as last year, the best satisfaction scores from its private customers Corporate customers:¢ From the corporate customers, the best satisfaction scores again to Fennia International benchmark:¢ In Denmark the most satisfied private customers These are some of the results from the latest EPSI Rating study concerning customers' satisfaction with the property insurance companies in Finland. The interviews were done in October 2006. Both corporate and private customers were interviewed. The same study has been done also in other Nordic countries. In all EPSI Rating studies, the customer satisfaction index is the most central measurement. It can take values between 0 and 100 where 100 means that all customers are very satisfied. However, other measurements are included as well. These are known as important drivers and consist of company images, customer expectations, product and service quality, value for money. These drivers together with customer satisfaction result in customer loyalty. Property insurance companies were measured for the first time in Finland in 2005. Private customers:Results concerning private customers' satisfaction with their property insurance company are below.
Among the big companies, Tapiola received, as last year, the best satisfaction scores from its private customersThe best satisfaction scores were given by private customers to group "Other companies" with an index of 73.1. Concerning the companies which were separately studied, Tapiola received, as last year, the best satisfaction scores from its private customers, now with an index of 72.2. Very near became Nordea Vahinkovakuutus (TrygVesta) with an index of 71.6. Pohjola was the third and If the fourth with the indexes of 70.3 and 67.9. Among the private customers, Pohjola and Nordea Vahinkovakuutus have improvedWhen comparing to the last year, both Nordea Vahinkovakuutus and especially Pohjola have improved their private customers' satisfaction scores. On the other hand, Tapiola and especially If received slightly lower satisfaction scores from their private customers than last year. When the reasons for the differences in private customers' satisfaction among property insurance companies were examined, Tapiola and Nordea Vahinkovakuutus seemed to receive better scores than Pohjola and If from the following aspects of consumer decision making process: customers´ expectations, product and service quality, value for money, satisfaction and loyalty. See below.
An interesting exception in the profile of Nordea Vahinkovakuutus (as a property insurance supplier to TrygVesta products) is that it seems to have rather low corporate image (68.3) when compared to its other indexes. The corporate image of Nordea Vahinkovakuutus relates naturally to Nordea image as banking services provider. When comparing the profiles of Pohjola and If, it seems that their profiles are rather similar, but Pohjola seems to have higher scores in Value for money, Customer satisfaction, and Customer loyalty indexes than If from their private customers. Property insurance companies are good in claims handling, not so good in complaints handlingConcerning claims handling, private customers give generally good scores to their property insurance companies for their claims handling. The customers gave an average score of 8.3 (on a scale of 1-10) for Finnish property insurance companies for their claims handling. Interestingly, last year, the score was exactly the same. The variance within the companies in their level of claims handling is greater than between the companies. The smallest variances in private customers' claims handling seems to be in Tapiola and If. It seems that property insurance companies administer their claims handling procedures better than their customers' complaints' handling. Concerning private customers' complaint handling, the average score was only 6.6. Last year, it was 6.8. In addition, the variance in complaints' handling was much larger than in companies' claims handling. Nearly half of the private customers think they are special customersInsurance company customers were also asked, if they think they are a kind of "special" customer in their insurance company (key customer, have a membership etc.). Totally 44 % of all private customers answered "Yes", and 39 % "No", and 17 % that they "Do not know". In different companies, the share of those customers who said they are "special" customers was the highest in Nordea Vahinkovakuutus (71 %). In Tapiola the share was 54 %, in Pohjola 38 %, and in If 30 %. The share of those customers who did not know, if they were "normal" or "special" customers was the highest in If 21 % and Pohjola 20 %, and in Tapiola 18 % and Nordea Vahinkovakuutus (4 %) of all of their private customers. From the corporate customers, the best satisfaction scores again to FenniaResults concerning corporate customers' satisfaction with their property insurance company are below.
Overall, corporate customers are more satisfied with their property insurance companies than last year. The overall industry satisfaction index is now 75.5. There is an increase of 1.6 index points from last year. Among the companies, the best satisfaction scores were given, just as last year, to Fennia with an index of 75.1. On the second place is now If with an index of 74.5 and Pohjola with an index of 74.3. If and Pohjola have improved significantlyIf, Pohjola and also Tapiola have been able to improve their corporate customers' satisfaction indexes from last year, If by 2.8, Pohjola by 2.7, and Tapiola by 1.4 index points. When the reasons for the differences in corporate customers' satisfaction among property insurance companies were examined, it seems that Pohjola and especially If have good scores in product and technical quality related issues. Fennia receives the best scores in service quality and customer loyalty. See below.
If is suffering from low imageAn interesting exception in the profile of If is, that it seems to have a lower index in corporate image than the other big companies. Despite of the low image, customers seem to have high expectations from If. If has the highest share of Internet usersCorporate customers were also asked, by what means they usually are in contact with their property insurance company. 46 % said they usually use E-mail or Internet in contacting their company. Between the companies the share of Internet users varied strongly among the companies. In Fennia the users of E-mail and Internet was the lowest, 35 %, in Tapiola and Pohjola 47 % and in If the highest, 63 %. In Denmark the most satisfied private customers:
Private customer sector was measured in all 5 Nordic countries. The national levels differ quite a bit, with Denmark at top and Sweden with the lowest satisfaction. There is also substantial spread within the countries between companies. In Denmark, Alka comes out at top. In Finland, Tapiola has the highest satisfaction among private consumers. In Iceland, TM is leading. In Norway, Sparebank 1 is in top position, and in Sweden, Länsförsäkringar is at top among the major corporations. In Finland the most satisfied corporate customers:Annual studies of corporate customer sector started recently in most countries (except Sweden where it has been running ever since 1989). The following results are achieved 2005 and this fall.
Here Finland is at top, with Denmark and Sweden, while Norway now lags behind (there was a change between Sweden and Norway this year for the lowest country averages). In Denmark, Tryg has the highest satisfaction among the major companies (but the difference between main players is very slim). In Finland, Fennia is at top, but the difference is very small also here, with the main competitors having improved in comparison with Fennia from last year). Also in Norway the race between the main competitors is very tight with Gjensidige and If almost on par in terms of corporate customer satisfaction. In Sweden, finally, Länsförsäkringar has a rather strong lead on both Trygg Hansa and If. Overall the difference between competitors is narrower in the corporate insurance sector compared to the final consumer segment. The EPSI studyThe data for the research was gathered by telephone interviews. Both private customers and corporate customers from each company were interviewed. Totally, 250 private customers and 175 - 250 corporate customers were interviewed from each company (which are mentioned by name). The respondents were selected by randomization procedures to participate to the research. The respondents represent each company's own customer base. This research is part of European Customer Satisfaction Research, EPSI Rating. It is coordinated by the Swedish Institute of Quality and the Stockholm School of Economics. European quality organizations are also backing the research. In Sweden, the same methodology has been in use since the year 1984, and it already covers a major portion of the Swedish economy. In Finland as well, it is the intention to gradually expand the research to cover the Finnish economy. Next, the results from electricity companies will be released. The research is coordinated in Finland by Dr. Juhani Kuokkanen.
Dr. Juhani Kuokkanen phone: +358 40 5093401, e-mail: juhani.kuokkanen@epsi-finland.org |
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