"The current weakness in U.S. consumer demand has affected nearly every industry, and auto insurance certainly has not been immune from the impact," said Kevin Levitt, comScore vice president. "With fewer consumers purchasing cars, there is less demand underlying auto insurance purchasing. Despite these conditions, however, the number of policies purchased online is still growing, which underscores how important the Internet has become as a transactional medium for the auto insurance industry."
E-Servicing Yields Cost-Savings to Auto Insurers
Other online auto insurance activities continuing to pick up steam included e-servicing activities such as online payments and policy management. E-servicing, in general, has represented a positive trend in the industry from both the consumer and insurer point of view. For consumers, e-servicing can reduce the time and hassle of managing one's policy, while minimizing paper transactions. For the insurer, e-servicing often represents a significant cost savings by reducing the need for customer service and material costs.
In 2008, total e-servicing visits at seven leading auto insurer sites grew by 6 percent to 127 million visits. This growth was driven by an increase in visits to both the online payments sections (up 5 percent) and policy management sections (up 6 percent) of the respective sites.
"Many consumers prefer online policy management, because it gives them direct control of their policy and a streamlined means of making policy adjustments and payments," added Mr. Levitt. "The insurers also derive a particular benefit, especially in the current economy, by being able to reduce costs of service while enhancing the quality of their long-term relationship with consumers."
