Trust in insurance among small and medium enterprises remains relatively strong, while consumers more broadly report lower confidence in the sector, according to data published today by the Chartered Insurance Institute.

SME satisfaction rose to 83%, matching the highest level previously recorded in late 2022. Despite this, many SMEs highlighted that insurers still have work to do to build trust. Key areas for improvement included providing clear and timely responses to questions, offering loyalty discounts, ensuring policy documents are easy to read, assessing risks on an individual basis rather than using generic assumptions, and explaining policies in straightforward terms.

In personal lines, consumer satisfaction broadly improved across key themes of loyalty and claims control but fairness continues to lag behind, and remains a core area insurers could address to rebuild trust.

Commenting on the findings, CII group policy and public affairs director Dr Matt Connell (pictured) said: “It is apparent from the data that there is still plenty of opportunity for insurers to show greater fairness to their existing customers. For example, insurers could turn what they ‘must do’ to comply with the Financial Conduct Authority’s rules on price walking into an explicit customer guarantee – that they will never charge customers more at renewal than they would pay if they were a new customer.”

The CII’s Public Trust Index surveys around 1,000 SMEs each quarter to track satisfaction trends and identify areas where insurers can improve how they build and maintain trust.

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