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Consumer Shopping for Auto Insurance Grows
Many carriers provide eService links that can be placed on their agency’s website, allowing clients to go the agency website first and then link to the carrier’s sign-in page and make a payment. In total, 34% of customers pay their bills online, either at the insurance carrier’s eService website or by online banking.
Online activity varies with age The biggest increases for those shopping online for auto insurance were between ages 18 to 24 and 25 to 34. All age ranges over 35 decreased: 18-24: 23% 25-34: 21% 35-44: 18% 45-54: 15% 55+: 9% Conversely, the percentage of those purchasing through an agent rises from 6O-70% as age ranges increase.
Buying with or without an agent The top four reasons consumers gave to use an agent include: wanted real person to visit with or call (38%); have always used an agent (34%); wanted local agentfrom one company who could help with all insurance needs (26%); agent quoted best price (25%). The top four reasons consumers chose not to go through an agent were: more convenient to use website or 24-hour, toll-free number (27%); faster to purchase online or through toll-free number (23%); got a quote with a toll-free number and decided to purchase (23%); prefer website or toll-free number (16%). Agents can employ available technology tools to offer the same convenience and speed as the direct carriers but add on top of that the personal advice and local presence they offer.
Where are the opportunities? The majority of consumers are going online to research auto insurance premiums. Agent websites can attract a larger portion of those by improving site functionality with quoting and by making their
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site easy to find with social networking and search engine optimization. Of those in the comScore survey, 22% went to local agents to get quotes, and 26% looked online for a local agent, either on a search site or on a carrier’s website. Agents can continue to provide a crucial link in helping shoppers find a great price matched with the coverage they need. While the direct giants like GEICO and Progressive Direct still get the most online quotes, the agent-based insurers have the lead in total premiums written and the best retention. With 25% of respondents having individual auto and homeowners or renters insurance with different carriers and 54% having additional insurance policies outside of auto and homeowners (primarily life), there is a significant opportunity for the agent to attract more consumers to educate them on the price and flexibility advantages of writing all of their insurance needs with one carrier. Links to carriers’ eService sites are one way to keep the clients who pay their bills online in touch with agency websites. In addition, 82% of online purchasers were able to sign all policy documents online at the time of purchase, which is up from 76% in 2009. Carriers and agents should work together to offer this same eSignature capability for online forms. While the clear trend is toward more online activity without the savvy agents can start to divert a lot of this business by using Internet tools to
duplicate the speed and convenience the direct carriers are providing. Agents can now optimize their websites with online quoting and eServicing capabilities and links, as well as attract more traffic with social networking. Including customer self-service functions on agency websites not only provides more customer preference options but also keeps the agency website in the customer’s field of view. Ron Berg can be reached at rberg1@ metlife.com. Berg produced this article for ACT. This article reflects the views of the author and should not be construed as an official statement by ACT, nor or MetLife Auto & Home’s endorsement of comScore or the report.