80% of UK insurance buyers engage in online research but only 45% make the final purchase online. Source Acord 2018.
In 2017 McKinsey found that " smart insurers convert digital customers at six times the rate of their peers".
This is reflected in ACORD's Best Digital Experience Study 2018- Only two out of 26 insurers got a 100% yes to "Would you buy insurance from this website". A further 7 got a 79% yes rating.
This shows how unfriendly or complicated insurer websites are. An exception is Legal and General's "Smart Quote" in which gives a quote after asking just 5 simple questions. That is just digitisation but they have gone further and digitally transformed the claims process with "Smart Claim" from beginning, FNOL, to end- cash, repair or replacement.
It shows that digitisation is not enough i.e. white labelling a new insurtech product like Slice or developing a better online buying experience. The complete customer life-cycle must be digitally transformed across all the touch points they have with insurers.
From buying, through making claims, to engaging and communicating to offering the wide range of macro- and micro-insurance products to meet current and future lifestyles.
Easier said than done when insurers offer different products in different countries in differing portfolios. Which is why it is far more than just digital transformation . The metamorphosis from analogue to digital is far-ranging : -
- Strategic
- Enterprise-wide
- Cultural and emotional
- Structural and logical
- Front-end & back-end
Worse still for the risk-averse and analogue-centric the speed of change must be fast- a savage jerk from the lethargy of the past decade. Luckily there are both technology platforms and consulting companies to help make that happen successfully.
Further reading
- Best Digital Customer Experience Survey from Acord
- Digital integration of claims ecosystems
- How smart insurers convert digital customers at six times the rate of their peers- follow link below
It’s not just about the demographics. Insurers often point to the age and income of their customer base to explain their struggles with digital marketing, especially their generally low rate of success in converting online visits into actual policy sales. Most of the visitors to their websites are older, they say, and older visitors just don’t want to purchase insurance online. They’re much more likely to visit one or more websites to explore their options, then see an agent to get a quote and complete the transaction.
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