Almost three quarters (72%) of web savvy insurance customers use the internet to generate an insurance quote and two thirds (65%) go on to buy insurance policies online via the insurance website, according to new research from Global Reviews, the customer experience benchmarking company.
Their customer research shows that insurance websites have dramatically improved over the past 12 months.
Insurance companies have added more website content and improved website usability to: reassure prospective online insurance customers of the quality of their service; provide efficient answers to specific questions about insurance policies; and provide quotes and an application for the insurance policy.
However, the survey of 1,000 consumers revealed that not all tasks were suited to the web. 46% said that they would still prefer to call an insurance call centre to ask a specific question, and only 22% of respondents said they would want to make an insurance claim online.
The research found that the quality of online insurance claims information varied significantly, and Global Reviews recommends that insurance providers should look to the websites of Lloyds, Direct Line and LV for examples of good online claims information.
Bertie Stevenson, director of Global Reviews, said: "The research shows that even the most web savvy insurance customers still prefer to do some things in person. It seems that consumers just don't yet believe that some activities will be as quick and easy to achieve online and, regarding some providers, they are quite right."