Homeowners claims are taking longer to resolve than ever before with the average claim cycle time—from filing the claim to finished repairs—now 32.4 days, says J.D. Power.
Catastrophic events and homeowners premium increases across the country have combined with slow repair cycle times to dampen customer satisfaction with the homeowners insurance claims experience, according to the J.D. Power “2025 U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction StudySM."
Homeowners claims are taking longer to resolve than ever before. The average claim cycle time—from filing the claim to finished repairs—is now 32.4 days. The average cycle time from first notice of loss to final payment is now 44 days. Both are the longest times ever recorded by the study, which began in 2008.
For claims that are completed within 10 days, the average customer satisfaction score is 762 on a 1,000-point scale, according to J.D. Power. For claims that take more than 31 days to repair, the score falls to 595.
Insurer-initiated premium increases put more strain on customer satisfaction. Half of the survey respondents experienced insurer-initiated premium increases in the past 12 months. When carriers initiate a premium increase unrelated to a claim, overall customer satisfaction is 629, compared to 730 for those who did not experience a premium increase. Customers in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Oklahoma were the most likely to have seen a carrier-initiated premium increase.
Catastrophic events continued to plague the homeowners market in 2024, with 27 individual weather and climate disasters with at least $1 billion in damages in the U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). That's topped only by the record-setting 28 events in 2023.
As catastrophes continue to pile up, “homeowners insurers are currently losing roughly one nickel on every dollar of premium they collect, and with total cost of events like the California wildfires still being assessed, there seems to be no end in sight," said Mark Garrett, director of insurance intelligence at J.D. Power. “Customers are, in essence, paying higher prices for slower service. The average claimant does not receive final payment on a claim until 44 days after the first notice of loss, and unless insurers are communicating frequently and clearly along the way, customer satisfaction suffers."
Thankfully, communication does have a significant impact on improving customer satisfaction. Satisfaction scores are twice as high among customers who say it is very easy to communicate with their insurer, at 777 on average, than customers who say it is very or somewhat difficult to communicate with their insurer, at 337.
Among customers who have difficulty contacting their carrier, common communication breakdowns include needing to leave voicemails, needing to call repeatedly with questions, and not receiving timely follow-up emails and text messages.
Further, the ability to use digital tools when filing a claim boosts satisfaction, especially among Generation Z and millennial consumers—87% of which indicate they are comfortable managing the claims process completely through digital channels. App usage has the highest levels of satisfaction. Meanwhile, 40% of boomers and those who are older are not comfortable with a completely digital experience.
AnneMarie McPherson Spears is IA news editor.
