Survey finds number of insureds happy to buy policies online drops
Despite insureds' purchasing preferences, chatbots are unpopular in all parts of the insurance buying process.
Interest in using apps to purchase or switch insurance has increased, but once a policy is in place, 44% of customers still prefer human interaction, according to the recent Consumer Insights Survey from Duck Creek Technologies. Regardless of the method they use to purchase their policy, 93% of insureds said they are confident they have the proper coverage for their needs.
Most people (72%) buy their insurance directly from a provider, and 67% feel insurance providers’ websites are the easiest and quickest method of purchasing policies – a major jump from Duck Creek’s 2022 survey, in which only 40% said the same. Ease and speed of purchase aside, those who said they had purchased insurance through an app were the most confident in the security of their chosen method.
The survey saw an increase in the number of insureds who claimed they hadn’t heard from their insurer at all over the course of a year; up from 34% in 2022 to 45% in 2023. And while it could be easy to assume that insureds leaning toward digital insurance shopping means they prefer to keep contact with their insurer to a minimum, 82% of insureds want to hear about new services from their provider and 75% want to hear about other products at least once a year.
On average, one-third of survey participants said they would prefer contact from their insurer quarterly.
When it comes to customers in the United States, only 36% said they were happy to switch insurance online – down from 55% in 2022. This dip in interest was a common trend among many of the countries included in the survey, including the U.K. (down from 80% in 2022 to 72% in 2023), New Zealand (down from 60% in 2022 to 52% in 2023) and Canada (down from 52% in 2022 to 32% in 2023).
In contrast, countries that saw an increase in the number of insureds happy with switching online included Spain (up from 34% in 2022 to 46% in 2023) and Portugal (up from 46% in 2022 to 49% in 2023.
“This is a key takeaway that insurers who are developing humanized digital channels should recognize,” the survey report reads. “Overall, consumers rate their perception of the security of purchasing through digital channels highly, but they still feel the security of in-person and paper application purchasing is higher. It is worth noting for insurers the relatively low perceptions of the security of telephone purchasing.”
Insurers should also note that chatbots are an unpopular form of communication in any part of the insurance buying process, and insureds are best served when offered a range of communication options to suit their individual needs.