Recent research found that almost a third (27.9%) of customers believe that the insurance industry offers worse customer service than any other. In 2017, the Institute of Customer Satisfaction found that insurance was the only industry in the UK that was not improving their levels of customer service.

Why insurance? It is such an established business with well-known companies that really know their business. How can they be offering such a poor customer experience?

A recent feature in Customer Experience Magazine lists three key areas where the insurance industry is not matching the efforts of related industries – such as retail banking. These key areas are:

  1. Go beyond the remit; the reality is that most people only interact with insurers at the time of renewal or when making a claim. For this reason it’s very hard to create a positive customer experience and it is estimated that 95% of insurance products are bought based on price alone. Insurance companies need to find a way to interact more positively with customers – rather than only ever being a purchase or call at a time of crisis. Creating a broad range of services that might not usually be associated with an insurer is a good start – such as offering an emergency locksmith service to home insurance customers.
  2. Protect customer identity; 66% of customers are very wary sharing personal data online so insurers need to up their game and demonstrate just how well they all looking after the personal data their customers release to them. The use of automated fraud detection and similar intelligent systems can really boost customer confidence.
  3. Embrace digital transformation; the leading insurance companies in the UK fail to answer over 68% of questions sent to them using social networks. That’s over two thirds of customer questions just being ignored because the biggest insurance brands want customers to call or be ignored. Compare this to the digital-only insurance service Lemonade, which set a world record in 2017 when a claim was made, reviewed, and paid inside three seconds!

Insurance is an unusual product. Most people don’t buy it for pleasure or because they need it, either they are forced to buy cover or they fear the consequences of not being covered. It’s not a product that is associated with fun or enjoyment and therefore it can be tricky to deliver a great customer experience, but as these three points show, there are several key areas where insurers are failing to take basic steps to work with their customers. What do you think? Leave a comment below or contact me on LinkedIn and let me know.

Our white paper Insure Against Loss examines in detail the opportunities in the insurance sector. In this paper we will explore how delivering an exceptional customer experience can increase customer engagement levels and reduce customer churn.