Customer satisfaction with insurance remains under pressure as rising premiums and heavy investment in back-office automation continue to outpace improvements in the channels customers rely on most.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) Insurance Study 2026 finds health insurance down 1% to an ACSI score of 75 (on a scale of 0 to 100) and life insurance down 1% to 77, while property and casualty (P&C) insurance is unchanged at 76. Digital channels remain among the highest-rated parts of the insurance experience, but they are losing ground, with mobile app quality and website satisfaction slipping in both health and life insurance. In P&C, agent courtesy, call center satisfaction, and claims processing speed all improve.

This occurs as policyholders pay more for coverage and carriers race to adopt AI. Employer-sponsored family health premiums climbed 6% in 2025 to an average of $26,993, according to KFF. Among life insurers, 87% already use AI in at least one area of their operations, according to LIMRA and UCT research.

“Customers are paying more, and they want to see something for it,” said Forrest Morgeson, Associate Professor of Marketing at Michigan State University and Director of Research Emeritus at the ACSI. “Insurers are making real investments in AI, but so far most of that work sits behind the scenes in claims and underwriting. Property and casualty insurers got the service basics right this year, with better agent interactions and faster claims, and satisfaction held steady. Until AI shows up in those moments, the human side of insurance will carry most of the weight.”

Other key takeaways from the study include:

Health Insurance

  • The health insurance industry dips 1% to an ACSI score of 75, with all reported insurers holding steady or experiencing declining satisfaction.

  • Humana leads the industry for the fifth consecutive year at 78 (down 1%), while UnitedHealthcare posts the steepest decline among reported companies, dropping 4% to 74. Centene falls 3% to 73, the lowest score in the industry.

  • Reliability of mobile app (unchanged at 83) leads customer experience benchmarks. Ease of submitting a claim rises 1% to 78, but call center satisfaction falls 1% to 76. Website satisfaction slips 1% to 81 and mobile app quality retreats 1% to 82.

Life Insurance

  • Life insurance satisfaction falls 1% to an ACSI score of 77, marking the industry’s third consecutive annual decline.

  • Mutual of Omaha emerges as the industry leader at 81, gaining 1% and overtaking State Farm (down 1% to 79). Among the largest established carriers, New York Life and Prudential each decline 3% to 78, while AIG posts the largest single-company decline, falling 4% to 74.

  • Pacific Life debuts at 77, Northwestern Mutual returns at 76, and Primerica returns at 71, the lowest score among life insurers.

Property and Casualty Insurance

  • Property and casualty insurance holds steady at an ACSI score of 76, yet there is a 16-point spread between the leader and the lowest-scoring insurer.

  • State Farm rises 3% to 81, taking the top position as USAA, available to military-affiliated individuals and families, drops 9% to 77. Allstate gains 1% to 78, and Geico climbs 3% to 77.

  • Chubb returns to the study at an industry-low score of 65. American Family and Nationwide each fall 4% to 75, while Auto-Owners declines 4% to 72. Travelers rebounds 3% to 74 after finishing near the bottom a year ago.

  • Agent courtesy for policy questions (80), call center satisfaction (78), and claims processing speed (75) all improve 3%, while policy discount availability climbs 4% to 77.

The ACSI Insurance Study 2026 is based on 14,155 completed surveys. Customers were chosen at random and contacted via email between October 2025 and September 2026. Customers are asked to evaluate their recent experiences with the largest companies in terms of market share, plus an aggregate category consisting of “all other” — and thus smaller — companies. Download the full study and follow the ACSI on LinkedIn.

No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the data and information in this release without the express prior written consent of ACSI LLC.

About the ACSI

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) is a national economic indicator and a leading provider of customer analytics products that help organizations build lasting customer relationships and prove ROI on experience investments. ACSI’s AI-enhanced platform delivers intuitive dashboards and cause-and-effect analytics that pinpoint the quality drivers most predictive of customer allegiance, retention, price tolerance, and financial performance. ACSI data has been shown to correlate strongly with key micro and macroeconomic indicators, including consumer spending, GDP growth, earnings, and stock returns.

Founded in 1994 at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, the ACSI measures customer satisfaction with more than 400 companies in over 40 industries, including federal government services, based on approximately 200,000 annual interviews. Learn more at https://www.theacsi.com/.

ACSI and its logo are Registered Marks of American Customer Satisfaction Index LLC.

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