CUSTOMER SERVICE: Lack of rental coverage hurts customer retention

Would insurers be better off including full coverage for a comparable rental vehicle for the duration of a repair as a standard part of auto insurance policies? Some analyzing the findings of J.D. Power and Associates’ customer satisfaction surveys think so.
Rental coverage affects customers’ perspective of the entire claim, but it’s not something many of them think about prior to a claim. One in five Americans (and almost a third of younger drivers) have no idea if they even have rental replacement vehicle coverage on their policy.
Almost two-thirds of those with coverage get less than $30 a day – which results in a third of them paying some out of pocket for the rental. This translates into big drops in customer satisfaction. Those with no coverage, and even those who were only partially covered, had satisfaction levels 100 points (on a 1,000 point scale) below those fully covered. Those under-covered for rental defect from their insurer within a year of a claim at three times the rate of those whose rental was fully covered.