Consumer trust in insurance providers is rising across multiple sectors, with car and travel insurance recording the strongest gains.
The improvement comes as claims satisfaction reaches its highest level since 2019, according to the latest Trust in Insurance Index from Fairer Finance.
Falling premiums appear to be a key driver behind the shift. Car insurance prices dropped 9% year-on-year in February 2026, easing cost pressures that have weighed on consumer sentiment in recent years.
Despite the improvement, overall trust levels remain below their Spring 2023 peak, highlighting a recovery that is still uneven across the market.
Claims satisfaction has shown the most significant progress, with the average score across car, home, pet and travel insurance rising to 60.03% — the highest level recorded since 2019. This marks a notable rebound from a low of 51% in Spring 2024 following several years of decline.
Travel insurance saw the largest increase in claims satisfaction, rising from 53.70% in Autumn 2025 to 59.11%, while pet insurance continues to lead all sectors on overall claims performance.
James Daley, Managing Director at Fairer Finance, said, “This is an encouraging set of results. Trust is moving in the right direction and claims satisfaction has improved across all four major sectors following additional scrutiny from the FCA.
“But insurers should not take this as a sign that the work is done. The fundamental problems that Which? pointed to in its super-complaint last year have not yet been addressed – and a significant minority of consumers continue to get poor outcomes from their insurers. Brokers, insurers and comparison sites still have a lot of work to do to close the customer expectation gap and help customers understand exactly what their policy covers and what it doesn’t.
“The FCA’s continued work in this area is a great opportunity for the industry and consumer groups to work together to fix these problems – so we can build a market where consumers trust and value insurance.”
At a sector level, pet insurance remains the most trusted category overall, while travel insurance continues its upward trend after lagging behind in previous years. Home and pet insurance trust scores remained broadly stable.
There are also significant differences between providers. In car insurance, NFU Mutual leads with a trust score of 78.27%, while Hastings Direct trails major competitors at 49.74%. In travel insurance, British Airways ranks highest at 68.6%, while Ecclesiastical leads the home insurance sector with 78.5%.
The data also highlights a complex relationship between claims experience and trust. Customers who have made a claim generally report higher trust levels — by 7.7 percentage points in pet insurance and 5.7 points in car insurance — although this varies significantly by provider.
For example, Aviva sees a 13.2-point increase in trust among car insurance claimants, while RAC experiences a decline among customers who have made a claim.
The findings suggest that while improvements in pricing and claims handling are beginning to restore confidence, inconsistencies in customer experience continue to shape how trust is distributed across the market.
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