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24.1.2006 Among Finnish property insurance companies, differences in product quality are not very significant. However, in the level of customer service and value for money, the differences among companies are clear.These are some of the results from the latest EPSI Rating study concerning property insurance companies in Finland. The same study was done in every Nordic country and in Russia. In the study, for example, company images, customer expectations, product and service quality, value for money, customer satisfaction and loyalty were measured. Both private and corporate customers expressed their opinions. When the reasons for the differences in customer satisfaction between companies are inspected, it can be seen that the differences in product quality are not very significant. However, in the level of customer service and value for money, the differences among companies are clear. In the next tables, private customers' indexes for the companies' service quality and value for money are presented. Nordea Vahinkovakuutus (TrygVesta) seems to receive here the highest scores.
* Those companies who have the required 250 respondent
* Those companies who have the required 250 respondents Indexes concerning private customers' overall satisfaction with their property insurance company are below.
* Those companies who have the required 250 respondents Concerning customer loyalty and commitment, Tapiola has the most loyal private customers. The customer loyalty index for Tapiola is 79,2. The customer loyalty indexes for different companies are presented below.
Concerning claims handling, private customers give generally rather good scores to property insurance companies for their claims handling, much better than for their complaint handling. The customers give an average score of 8,3 (on a scale of 1-10) for companies for their claims handling, but only 6,8 for their complaint handling. It seems that property insurance companies administer their claims handling procedures well, but not as well customers' varying complaints. The companies are not significantly different in that respect. The variance within the companies is greater that between the companies. The smallest variance in private customers' claims handling seems to be in Tapiola. In comparing customers who prefer personal visits in contacting their insurance company to those customers who prefer phone or Internet contact, it can be seen that customers do not differ in their satisfaction, but do differ in their loyalty. All those customer groups are equally satisfied, but those customers who use the Internet are less loyal and tend to switch company more easily than do those who use other means of contacting their insurance company. |
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Property insurance companies in Finland* (Corporate customers) | Customer Satisfaction Index, 2005
(On scale 0-100) |
| Fennia | 75,4 |
| Other companies | 74,6 |
| Tapiola | 72,4 |
| If | 71,7 |
| Pohjola | 71,6 |
* Those companies who have the required 250 respondents
Fennia has the most satisfied corporate customers in Finland with an index of 75,4. The second is the group "Other companies". Tapiola is also on the corporate customer side in the middle with an index of 72,4. The last are If (71,7) and Pohjola (71,6). The difference between them is not statistically significant.
When the reasons for the differences in corporate customer satisfaction are inspected, it can be seen that the differences in product quality are not significant among companies. However, in the level of customer service and value for money, the differences between companies are clearer.
Service quality in Fennia and "Other companies" are seen to be better than in the rest of the companies. Concerning pricing and value for money, Pohjola is given lower scores by its corporate customers than other companies are.
Tapiola has not managed to tie its corporate customers as well as its private customers. Tapiola's customer loyalty index was "only" 73,8 among corporate customers, whereas it was as high as 79,2 among private customers. Corporate customers' loyalty indexes for different companies are presented below.
Property insurance companies in Finland (Corporate customers) | Customer loyalty index, 2005
(On scale 0-100) |
| Other companies | 78,2 |
| Fennia | 77,8 |
| Tapiola | 73,8 |
| Pohjola | 73,7 |
| If | 73,5 |
Concerning claims handling, also corporate customers give good scores for property insurance companies for their claims handling. Customers give an average score of 8,2 (on a 1-10 scale) for companies' claims handling, but only 6,9 for their complaint handling. The variance within the companies is greater that between different companies. Among corporate customers, the smallest variance in claims handling seems to be in If and the greatest in Fennia.
Customers of property insurance companies are more satisfied in Finland than in other Nordic countries.
Customer satisfaction index for property insurance companies, 2005 (Scale 0-100) | Finland | Sweden | Norway |
Private customers | 70,7 | 66,7 | 69,6 |
Corporate customers | 72,6 | 65,3 | 67,1 |
Moreover, Finland is the only country where the corporate customers are more satisfied with their insurance company than its private customers are.
The EPSI Rating study
The data for the research was gathered by telephone interviews in October and December 2005. The respondents were asked to evaluate the property insurance company they primarily use. The respondents were selected by randomization procedures to participate in the study. The respondents for Nordea Vahinkovakuutus were drawn randomly from their customer register. For each company 250 respondents were interviewed. 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 Institutet för Kvalitetsutveckling and the Stockholm School of Economics.
European quality organizations, the European Foundation for Quality Management and the European Organisation for Quality are backing the research, along with the International Foundation for Customer Focus. The research is coordinated in Finland by Dr. Juhani Kuokkanen.
In Sweden, the same methodology has been in use since the year 1989, and there the study already covers a major portion of the national economy. In Finland as well, it is the intention to gradually expand the research to cover the Finnish economy. In addition to insurance sector, also results from banking, telecom, supermarkets, "do-it-yourself" outlets, and electricity companies have been released. For more information, and press material also in Finnish, see the EPSI Finland web-site: www.epsi-finland.org.
For additional information, please contact:
Dr. Juhani Kuokkanen phone: +358 40 5093401, juhani.kuokkanen@epsi-finland.org
Professor Jan Eklöf phone: +46 70 6964185, e-mail: jan.eklof@epsi-rating.com
Internet: www.epsi-rating-com