Trust is the thread that runs through everything the insurance profession does. It is present in the promises made, the cover designed, and the response when people and businesses are in need. Since 2019, the Chartered Insurance Institute’s Public Trust Index has helped to measure where that trust stands and, crucially, what customers say would strengthen it further. The latest results suggest a real shift: consumers are beginning to feel that insurers are responding to longstanding concerns about loyalty. That is encouraging progress, though with plenty of room for even further improvement.
The headline figures are clear. Overall consumer satisfaction has risen to 86% in the first quarter of 2026, returning to its highest level since the Index began. Performance has improved across all nine themes we track, and the most notable movement is around loyalty – which we summarise as ‘getting a fair deal’. While loyalty remains the area where consumers still see the greatest scope for improvement, the gap between expectations and experience is now at its smallest since the Index began.
So, what more can firms do? Consumers tell us that the things that would make the biggest difference to them are for complaints to be handled professionally and fairly; for companies to acknowledge prior loyalty even after a claim; and for policy wording and key limitations to be explained clearly, so there is no mismatch between the cover they think they have and the cover they actually hold.
The results from SMEs, as one of the customer groups canvassed for the index, tell a broadly similar story. Satisfaction among SME firms has edged up to 84% - the highest level recorded over the past seven years - with performance also improving across all nine themes. Recent progress is especially visible in how claims are handled, with more positive assessments of both ‘control’ and ‘respect’. Businesses are also very clear about what would take trust further: being confident about what is and is not covered; feeling that loyalty is recognised over time; receiving effective assistance and advice during a claim; and being assessed on their specific risks rather than on generic assumptions.
There is another consistent theme in this research, that trust is won or lost in the claims experience. Customers’ priorities naturally shift when they have had to make a claim. For this group, loyalty matters even more, but what matters most is getting through quickly to their insurer at any time, receiving immediate assistance, and having meaningful choices over how a claim is settled.
More generally, the latest wave identifies a steady picture across the population as a whole. Consumer satisfaction is identical at 86% across all age groups, and travel insurance satisfaction has reached a record 88%, while dissatisfaction with buildings and contents cover is at its lowest recorded level - just two per cent. The consistency in general needs nuance: different segments still weight our themes differently, and our analysis shows that ethnic minority consumers, in particular, point to ‘relationship’, ‘speed’ and ‘ease’ as areas where improvement would build confidence more quickly. So, the challenge appears to be to sustain the overall gains on loyalty while also tailoring improvements to the needs of distinct customer groups.
For the profession, the implications of this latest research are practical. First, insurers should continue to design renewal journeys that demonstrate fairness to long-standing customers, not simply parity with introductory rates. Second, insurers should continue to invest in claims capability: access, speed of decision, clarity of process, and choice in settlement all matter, and they are precisely the areas customers tell us make the greatest difference when they need us. Third, insurers should take every opportunity to explain policies in plain language - up front, at renewal, and around claims – so that confidence grows through understanding, not just through outcome.
As the professional body dedicated to building public trust in the insurance profession, the CII will keep doing its part: tracking sentiment, sharing insight, and supporting firms to embed standards that endure. The direction of travel is positive. But the Public Trust Index is a reminder that the public sets the test, not us, and the test is an ongoing one. Trust is not a quarterly or annual metric; it is a standing commitment. To borrow a familiar principle from our professional standards, credibility is built not just by what we do well once, but by what we keep on doing well.
