Customer satisfaction with total loss auto insurance claims fell for a third straight year in 2026, according to the JD Power 2026 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study — even as satisfaction with repairable-vehicle claims improved.
Auto insurance claim (Credits: Insurance Journal)
Satisfaction with total loss claims fell 12 points on a 1,000-point scale in 2026, marking a 46-point decline since 2023. Overall auto claims satisfaction, however, was unchanged from last year at 700, because gains on repairable claims offset the total-loss drag.
JD Power: Total Loss Claims Drag Down Auto Insurance Satisfaction
Overall, 26% of auto insurance claims were classified as total losses this year, up from just 16% four years ago. The study attributes the growing share to rising vehicle repair costs, consumers keeping vehicles longer, and higher deductibles removing smaller repairs from the claims process.
Affordability pressures also complicated the experience: some customers dropped rental coverage or increased deductibles, making an already stressful process harder to navigate.
There was better news on repair times. Average repair cycle times fell to 15.3 days in the first quarter of 2026, down 10 days from the first quarter of 2024, as claim volumes declined and repair shops gained capacity.
Communication Is the Biggest Gap in Auto Claims
The study found a striking gap based on communication. Satisfaction averaged 804 among customers who strongly agreed their insurer provided a seamless experience across communication channels, compared with just 390 among customers who disagreed.
Yet insurers delivered that seamless cross-channel experience only 54% of the time — one of the lowest-performing measures in the study. Problems cited included unclear explanations, customers having to use multiple channels to get answers, and digital tools that did not work as expected.
Amica ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction with a score of 775, followed by Nationwide at 743 and Automobile Club of Southern California (AAA) at 740. The 2026 study was based on responses from 8,261 auto insurance customers who settled claims within the nine months before participating, surveyed from September 2025 through August 2026.
The takeaway for insurers is clear: total losses are becoming more common, and how a company communicates through them matters almost as much as the settlement itself.
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Source: Insurance Journal — read the full story there.
