Statutory health insurance companies: Lack of coverage is the most common reason for complaint

20.11.2015 12:17

Making customer contact points tangible and positive – that is the goal of every customer service, including that of statutory health insurance companies. But this is not always the case with customers. The most common reason why people with statutory health insurance are dissatisfied with their health insurance company is, at 21 percent, the lack of coverage for services.

This is the result of the joint study “Complaint management as an opportunity for customer loyalty in the GKV and PKV" the Leipzig Health Forum and the market research institute YouGov. In addition, 1,595 people with statutory and private health insurance between the ages of 18 and 65 were registered in the period from September 29th. surveyed representatively by October 13, 2015.

When it comes to assessing complaint handling, around a third of those surveyed (32 percent) who rate the handling as “very good” or “excellent” primarily cite a fair and satisfactory solution to the problem as the reason for their satisfaction. Further positive evaluations of complaint processing are based on a convincing apology (16 percent), a timely response (11 percent) and short processing times (10 percent).

“In order to turn the negative aftertaste of a complaint into the most positive experience possible, the effort on the customer's side should be kept as low as possible. For this purpose, customers should have a contact person who can centrally access all of the customer’s relevant information and their complaint,” says Dr. Oliver Gaedeke, board member and head of financial market research at YouGov. “This avoids customers having to report their concerns again and again,” says Dr. Gaedeke continues.

“The importance of complaint management can be seen above all in the following results: The more satisfied the insured are with the processing of their complaint, the higher the overall satisfaction,” summarizes Nicole Schuldt from the Leipzig Health Forum. “The same effect is visible in the willingness to recommend people. The better the complaint processing, the higher the willingness to recommend the GKV or PKV to others,” says Schuldt.