A survey conducted by market research institute GfK Switzerland on behalf of moneyland.ch in October 2016 let Swiss policyholders rate their health insurance providers based on key aspects of customer service. The representative survey brings major discrepancies to light.
Insurance policyholders where asked to rate their insurance providers in these categories: friendliness of employees; helpfulness of employees; availability of customer care; efficiency in clarifying questions; value for money; accuracy in billing; accommodation in handling claims; speed in reimbursing claims; clarity of information provided; overall customer satisfaction; readiness to recommend the insurance provider.
Policyholders could choose ratings between 1 (unsatisfied) and 10 (very satisfied) in each category. Overall customer satisfaction ratings were calculated using the average of total ratings, with ratings for “overall customer satisfaction” and “readiness to recommend the insurance provider” carrying more weight than ratings in the other categories.
Combined, health insurance providers received relatively good customer ratings with an average rating of 7.88 out of 10.
Many insurance providers received good or even very good ratings, with the best customer satisfaction ratings going to ÖKK, Swica, KPT, Visana, Sanitas, Concordia, Sympany and Agrisano.
Other insurance providers received lower customer satisfaction ratings. Assura received an overall rating of 7.1 out of 10 points, while Supra had a customer satisfaction rating of just 5.7 out of 10.
French-speaking Swiss less satisfied with their insurance providers
Aside from showing different levels of customer satisfaction among customers of different insurance companies, the survey shed light on other aspects of customer satisfaction. Results show that residents of French-speaking regions are markedly less satisfied with their insurance providers than are residents of German-speaking regions. While overall customer satisfaction ratings in German-speaking Switzerland averaged 8 out of 10 points, ratings in French-speaking Switzerland averaged just 7.6 out of 10 points.
Customer satisfaction, in this case, correlates with insurance premiums. On average, residents of French-speaking Switzerland pay much higher health insurance premiums than residents of German-speaking Switzerland.
Health insurance: A necessary evil for the young and healthy
Woman are, on average, more content with their health insurance providers than are men. Overall customer satisfaction among women averaged 7.96 out of 10 points, while insurers received less-glowing average ratings of 7.85 out of 10 from men.
Differences between age groups are more pronounced. Results show that the older a policyholder is, the more likely they are to be satisfied with their health insurance provider. Age-based discrepancies are notable.
While the average customer satisfaction rating among policyholders between 50 and 74 years old is very high, at 8.4 out of 10 points, the average rating among adults between the ages of 26 and 49 years old was just 7.6 points. Customer satisfaction among young adults between the ages of 19 and 25 years old was even lower, at just 7.3 out of 10 points.
Typically, young adults spend much more money on health insurance premiums than they receive in the form of insurance benefits. For this reason, young policyholders primarily associate health insurance providers with cumbersome obligatory insurance premiums.
More information: Are you interested in receiving a complete chart outlining customer satisfaction with health insurance companies? Please feel free to write us at info”at”moneyland.ch.
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Swiss health insurance: customer service compared
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