I was recently talking to someone who has worked in the insurance industry for 30 or so years. Back when he started, his job was in the claims department - where bills to doctors, claimants and such are processed - that is, where the money went out. Most people at the company - regardless of which department they worked in - soon learned the hard way or by word of mouth that the claims department was hell. Too much work, too few people - and that could only create a situation with angry customers.
Meanwhile, the underwriting department - where the money comes into the company - was a considerably nicer place to work. Of course, over the last 30 years, working just about anywhere has become less pleasant as bosses squeeze more out of workers. But there's still a difference.
So, why is that? It would not surprise most people to hear that some bosses are ruthless. It would make a kind of sense to intentionally under-staff claims departments for a number of reasons. Making claims difficult enough will make some claimants give up. Even if they don't give up, delays can mean the insurance company can make money on their investments a bit longer. And with fewer employees, they're saving money on salaries, benefits, office space, office supplies, etc. Of course, delaying claims too long results in legal expenses as people sue the company. A skillful boss will balance the delays to save more money than it costs in legal expenses.
But we don't have to assume it's all consciously planned. Any company will run into hard times sooner or later. It may be the result of an economic downturn, bad choices by management, greater competition from other companies, etc. In hard times, management is likely to implement cutbacks to save money. Let's suppose management makes no conscious choice to make bigger cuts to the claims department for the reasons discussed above. So, there are equal cuts to all departments, including claims and underwriting.
Sometime after these cuts, there's likely to be a review of financial changes. Perhaps, a regularly scheduled accounting by the financial department. Maybe, there will be reports from management of the underwriting department about customer complaints. Maybe, there will be insurance industry statistics that show customers switching to competitors. Less money coming in through the underwriting department will set off red lights to management. Seeing that there's less money going out through the claims department won't cause so much alarm. The company responds by restoring at least part of the cuts to the underwriting department, but less (if any) of the claims cuts will be restored.
The end result is fewer resources given to parts of companies such as claims departments and "customer service". There can be limits to how far the process can go, but the parts of companies that bring in the money will continue to get more resources.
This is one of the internal logics of business. At best, big business provides just enough service to balance the number of customers they lose as a result of poor service and the amount of money they save by providing poor service.