While it’s difficult to get customers excited by insurance at the best of times, insurers are now contending with a widening gap between what customers expect and what they receive.
According to research conducted by Target Group, a financial services outsourcing and software business, 40% of people do not believe insurers treat customers well. This is coupled with the seemingly paradoxical finding that 69% of insurance customers said they are likely or very likely to recommend their current insurer to a friend or relative.
The findings were revealed in the whitepaper
Myth v Reality: The Expectation Gap in the UK Insurance Industry. Target Group surveyed 1,000 UK insurance consumers as part of the research.
Bill Alley, Co-Group CEO of Target Group, said the gap between expectations and reality is a challenge for insurers.
“Our findings suggest that this could be down to a combination of residual impressions of the industry left by the financial crisis, negative personal experiences in the past and a lack of engagement by policyholders when it comes to finding out important information such as how to make a claim,” Alley said.
Other findings included 49% of insurance customers stating that finding the cheapest product on the market was either important or essential to them, and 39% identified value for money as being the most important. 20% of people also admitted they didn’t look for information such as how to make a claim when they purchased a policy.
The survey also found 73% of insurance purchases involved the use of a price comparison website.
“The question insurers need to address is how they turn initial goodwill from customers into mutually rewarding and long-term relationships,” said Alley.
“With the prevalence of price comparison sites reducing the direct interaction insurance brands have with their customers, it’s vital that omni-channel technology and practices are adopted to make the most of each touch point with the customer to leave them with a positive experience.”
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