What Great CX Looks Like in Life Insurance (2025 Benchmark Research)
By Eileen Potter, VP of Insurance Marketing at Smart Communications
In a market defined by complex products and long customer lifecycles, delivering exceptional experiences can be a key differentiator for Life & Annuity organizations.
Customers want clarity, empathy, and convenience across every touchpoint, but many organizations still struggle with manual, paper-based processes and impersonal communications. In this post, I’ll explore what defines “great” customer experience in life insurance today, drawing on fresh 2025 insights into CX performance across the industry. From onboarding to claims, let's dive into what leaders are doing right—and where many still fall short.
Curious about how your experience measures up? While this isn’t a benchmark deep dive, we’ll share themes inspired by recent life insurance CX benchmarking data—helping you understand how customer expectations are shifting and what CX benchmarks for life insurance look like in 2025.
Why CX Is Mission-Critical in Life Insurance
Customer experience requires a deeper level of empathy in life insurance. The stakes are higher, the journeys longer, and the trust required is deeper.
Done right, great CX in life insurance builds loyalty over decades, not months. It reduces churn, boosts referrals, and opens the door for future product conversations.
5 CX Benchmark Takeaways in Life Insurance in 2025
Here’s what’s rising to the top among today’s strongest-performing life insurance brands—based on emerging patterns from 2025 customer data:
1. Frictionless onboarding is non-negotiable. Customers consistently rated an intuitive, streamlined start to the customer journey as a top driver of positive experience. Long forms, confusing steps, or a lack of status updates were top friction points.
2. Omnichannel isn’t optional anymore. Policyholders increasingly expect to move seamlessly between digital, agent, and call center experiences—with minimal repetition required.
3. Human + digital beats either/or. Customers value both speed and support—meaning hybrid models are winning. One trend in the data: customers and beneficiaries who had access to digital tools and real human help reported higher satisfaction.
4. Claims transparency is a growing CX lever. Respondents pointed to proactive status updates and clear claims timelines as factors strongly linked to loyalty.
5. Customers now expect personalization, speed, and proactive outreach. For example, nearly 60% of customers who received relevant check-ins (like reminders or policy education) said they were more likely to recommend their insurer—hinting at the value of contextual engagement. Moreover, overwhelming majorities across regions and generations indicated communications were critical to their overall experience.
Common Gaps and CX Pitfalls in Life Insurance
While some insurers are raising the bar, others are still held back by:
- Legacy tech and siloed systems—resulting in clunky, inconsistent experiences
- Disconnects between digital and agent touchpoints—leading to repeated questions or broken handoffs
- Low clarity on coverage and next steps—which ranked among the top frustrations in recent feedback
- Lack of proactive communication—especially during emotionally important or time-sensitive moments
- Paper-based, manual processes–many organizations still expect customers to download and fill out forms by hand and mail them to the insurance company to make changes
These pain points don’t just annoy customers, they erode trust.
Moving from Good to Great: What Leaders Are Doing Differently
The data shows a growing divide between brands that meet expectations and those that exceed them. Here’s what the top performers are doing differently:
→ Journey orchestration, not just journey mapping. Leading teams are designing CX with intentionality—thinking end-to-end across departments, not in silos.
→ Customer feedback loops that drive change. The highest-scoring organizations act on real-time signals, rather than relying solely on annual surveys.
→ Empowered agents who understand digital-first customers. Many top performers are re-skilling frontline teams to better support hybrid customer journeys, blending empathy with tech fluency.
How to Start Elevating Your CX Today
Even if you're early in your CX transformation, there are simple, strategic steps you can take now:
- Audit your top 3 customer journeys (e.g., onboarding, claims, policy changes) and look for friction.
- Identify moments of silence or confusion and build in communication touchpoints.
- Align your CX metrics to customer outcomes—such as clarity, ease, and confidence—not just speed or cost.
Conclusion
Customer expectations won’t slow down in 2025—and neither should your CX evolution. The most successful life insurers are the ones who treat experience not as an add-on, but as a core value driver.
Want to know what top-tier CX really looks like this year? Our latest report reveals how real customers are engaging, what’s working (and what isn’t), and what you can do to move from average to exceptional.