UK insurance customers reward ease and fairness — and mortgage brokers recommending cover should take note
UK homebuyers and borrowers increasingly judge their insurance providers not by price alone. For mortgage brokers who recommend insurance products alongside lending, the implications are worth understanding. What matters most to customers is how little effort they are required to expend. That finding comes directly from Smart Money People’s UK Insurance Market Q3 2026 report.
The report draws on verified customer reviews submitted across multiple insurance sectors in Q3 2026. Overall satisfaction reached 4.89 out of 5. Ease of doing business reached 4.82, while customer service averaged 4.78.
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Ease and fairness define the modern insurance experience
Customers who rated their experience positively described it in terms of frictionless simplicity. Ease of contact, speed of resolution, and clarity of information all featured consistently. Customers do not expect every interaction to be digital — they want the option of reaching a knowledgeable person when a query becomes more complex.
The pattern held across the purchase journey and beyond. Clear information at quote stage, straightforward policy changes, and renewals that did not require chasing all featured in positive feedback. That consistency, the report argues, is what separates a strong insurance relationship from one that erodes.
What does rising insurance satisfaction mean for mortgage brokers?
The same logic applies whether the product is buildings cover arranged at completion or protection recommended as part of a wider advice process. Clients who feel friction at any point in the insurance journey will associate that friction with the broker who recommended the product.
The report’s Net Promoter Score of +91.1, with 93.2% of respondents classed as promoters, reinforces this point. Advocacy is not built on a single factor. The data points to alignment — between the product sold, the expectations set, and the experience delivered — as the foundation of strong advocacy.
Claims remain the moment of truth
Among dissatisfied customers, the recurring complaints were sharp renewal increases, difficult claims journeys and poor communication. Claims featured far more often in negative feedback than in positive reviews.
The straightforward reality is that a policy’s true test comes when a customer actually needs to use it. Mortgage brokers who treat protection as a tick-box exercise are not just falling short of good advice practice. They are attaching their reputation to a claims experience they have not adequately prepared their client for.
Smart Money People’s Insurance Fairness Index reached 96.0 for Q3 2026, up from 95.8 in Q3 2025. The index scores customer confidence across four areas: product understanding, suitability, value for money, and fair treatment. All four improved or held steady year on year.
For brokers who include insurance within their service, this data connects directly to Consumer Duty. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) brought those obligations into force on 31 July 2023. Demonstrating good customer outcomes requires brokers to look beyond the sale. The FCA defines those outcomes in part through whether products genuinely meet client needs.
Ease of access, clarity of cover, and the experience at renewal and claim are all within the scope of what a mortgage broker recommends. As Consumer Duty has raised the standard of mortgage advice, these are the expectations any broker who introduces insurance must now be prepared to meet.
