3 July 2007
Phone remains king for motor insurance sales
A new poll suggests that motor insurers could be losing out on sales because their websites fail to take into account buyers' behavioural preferences, according to a new poll. The research, conducted by usability consultancy Webcredible revealed that, while the vast majority, 68 per cent of motorists use the web to research insurance policies, just one in three are willing to buy car insurance online. The phone remains the preferred buying mechanism for most, with 64 per cent choosing to pay this way and 25 per cent of motorists ignoring the web altogether to buy exclusively over the phone.
The poll follows Webcredible's recent insurance industry online usability benchmark report. Driving Online Sales for Motor Insurance which showed that as many as 70 per cent of major insurance brands fail to clearly display their telephone number online.
Trenton Moss, director, Webcredible comments: “This poll confirms the results of our recent benchmark report, which suggested that motor insurance brands are missing out on both online and phone sales by ignoring motorists' buying habits. With the web firmly established at the heart of the motor insurance sales process, insurers need to make their sites work much harder to convert research into sales.”
The benchmark report evaluated 20 major UK motor insurance brands sites against 20 key usability criteria, awarding each a Web Usability Index rating out of 100. Only half of the motor insurers achieved a score of over 55 in the study, with Quinn Direct, Hastings Direct and the AA topping the Index with scores of 76, 69 and 69 respectively. However, many big insurance brands landed at the bottom of the league table, including Elephant (53), Endsleigh (43) and The Post Office (43). Swiftcover provided the worst experience, scoring a mere 42 out of 100.
“While the majority of motorists use the Internet as a search tool, insurers need to do more to encourage them to pay for their policies online,” added Moss. “The poll confirms the findings of our recent benchmark study which showed that motor insurers are driving customers away by failing to meet basic usability criteria. This study also found that 70 per cent of major insurance brands do not display their phone number online, which means they could be missing out on the 39 per cent of motorists who want to pay by phone after their initial research.”
The usability study also found that many insurers were making their websites too complicated for customers to undertake simple tasks such as getting quotes and further policy information. Most motor insurance sites fail to set clear expectations or provide clear instructions at the start of the quote process, and 40 per cent of insurers did not advise users of their errors or provide explicit instructions on how they should be corrected during the online application process.
Webcredible compiled the Online Motor Insurance Usability Report in March 2007 following user testing and expert reviews of 20 motor insurance websites.
The insurance poll, which took place on Webcredible's own website, ran between January and April 2007 and received 883 votes.
About Webcredible
Founded in 2003, Webcredible is a user experience consultancy, dedicated to making websites easy to use, accessible to all and ultimately more effective. The UK-based consultancy offers a wide range of services, including user-centred design, usability & accessibility testing, accessible web design, an accessible CMS, as well as a comprehensive training programme.
With almost 200,000 monthly website visitors and a long list of global clients in the private and public sector, including T-Mobile, Norwich Union, eBay, the BBC and the World Health Organization, Webcredible is widely regarded as one of the most respected consultancies in the user experience industry.
The consultancy brings an unrivalled passion and enthusiasm to their work and their uniquely open and collaborative approach to projects ensures clients can fully understand and contribute to the process while gaining on-the-job training and knowledge transfer.