Homeowners Claims Satisfaction Rises as Repair Times Improve

A combination of faster repair and payment cycle times, along with enhanced digital capabilities, has helped drive significant improvements in the overall customer experience with the property claims process in the United States.

JD Power reported those findings while announcing results of its 2026 U.S. Property Claims Satisfaction Study. The annual survey found those improvements offset the negative effects of higher prices.

A decline in large-scale weather events, a relatively calm hurricane season and a reduction in non-catastrophic claims volumes also brought some stability to the claims process, the global data analytics and consumer intelligence company said in a press release.

“Thanks to investments made over the past several years in digital channels that make it faster and easier to communicate with customers throughout the claims process, insurers have made important efficiency gains that are translating into better customer experience,” said Mark Garrett, director of insurance intelligence at JD Power. “Despite the industry-wide improvement, however, customer expectations are not always met, with almost one in five customers indicating their experience was not great, so there is still work to do.”

The study found overall customer satisfaction rose 20 points to 702 on a 1,000-point scale. Amica ranked highest with a score of 773, followed by The Hartford (756) and Chubb (744). Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Erie Insurance and Progressive Home also ranked above the study average.

JD Power measured satisfaction with the property claims experience among insurance customers who filed a claim for property damages across eight core dimensions, listed in order of importance:

• Fairness of the claim settlement
• Level of trust
• Time it took to settle the claim
• People
• Digital channels
• Communicated with me how and when I want
• Ease of starting the claims process
• Ease of resolving the claim

The 2026 study was fielded from December 2024 through December 2025 and is based on responses from 5,093 homeowners insurance customers who filed a claim within the previous nine months.

The average time required to complete a repair was 29.6 days—down 2.8 days from the previous year—and the average time before customers received final payment was 40.7 days, down 3.4 days.

Related: Auto Claims Satisfaction Flat as More Divers Take on Higher Deductibles

JD Power said repair cycle times are heavily influenced by direct repair programs and pointed to a notable improvement in the average time to start work among the 41% of customers using these programs. Repair cycles for these customers were more than two weeks shorter on average for higher-severity claims compared to those not using the programs.

The study also found that the use of digital tools increased across the claims process, with 38% of customers reporting first notice of loss digitally, 49% submitting photos for estimates or payments and 45% receiving updates digitally. Customers who used these tools reported higher satisfaction than those who did not.