Citizens Releases Claims Performance Measures
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s claims volume is up but policyholder satisfaction has increased according to claims performance measures through the first quarter of 2012. Based on activity through the first quarter Citizens estimates it will receive First Notice of Loss on approximately 70,000 claims in 2012. This would be an increase over the 66,044 First Notices of Loss Received in 2011. The claims volume has grown steadily since 2009 when Citizens received 40,039 notices of loss. Citizens saw an 18.7% increase in 2010 when it received 47,517 notices and a 39.0% increase in 2011 when it reached 66,044 notices. Claims volume thus far in 2012 is up 6.0% as compared to the year to date results for 2011.
The largest peril leading Citizens’ claims is water damage. These claims make up 49.8% of all new claims this year. Weather related claims make up 14.3%. Burglarly and theft comes in at 8.5%. Sinkhole claims comprise a staggering 6.5% of all claims, which is alarming in light of the increased loss assessment expenses and claims amounts associated with these claims.
Ciitzens’ cycle time for claims of the various peril types continues to be consistent with performance targets. Less than 1% of Citizens’ claims are resulting in consumer complaints, which is a significant improvement over 2009 when about 1.4% of claims resulted in complaints. The number also is slightly better than the last couple of years when the complaint ratio hovered around 1%. Citizens’ customer satisfaction survey results also are up, with Citizens receiving an average score of 3.78 out of 4. Citizens’ results throughout 2011 were about 3.73.
Citizens also tracks the number of referrals to its Special Investigative Unit and to the Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud. SIU referrals are up 15.8% over year-to-date referrals in 2011. Referrals to the Division of Insurance Fraud are up 225% for the year to date (54 vs. 24).