Compared to what D-Rating observed in 2017 during its first campaign concerning retail banks (less than 15% of incumbent banks proposing 100% digital account opening), D-Rating observes in 2022 for its first study concerning insurers, that the online subscription journey for home insurance contracts is rather digital (two third of evaluated incumbent insurers proposing home insurance 100% digital subscription). Indeed, it is now possible to subscribe online to a home insurance contract, including for incumbent insurers (except for most bancassurers for whom home insurance is not a way to gain new clients).This was far from being the rule at the time for network banks.
But do the incumbent insurers have the right level to capture the digital natives? And what are the main differences with the neo insurers seen from a customer who wants to subscribe to a home insurance contract?
As part of the preparation of our first insurers Digital Performance rating campaign, we have done the test on about thirty European insurers*.
Dealing with trust :
Dealing with claims that can be severe, the notion of trust is a key issue in insurance; it is even a crucial point for new players who do not have the notoriety that incumbent insurers have on their market. The websites of new insurers therefore provide information with the aim of establishing a climate of trust from the start of the subscription process.
In particular through the display of ratings and customer reviews (app store, trustpilot…): while 77% of the neo-insurers evaluated offer this type of content, only 14% of the more traditional insurers do so.
Moreover, we see more and more content related to the transparency of the business model (or to be more concrete about « what happens to my contributions ».) A third of neo-insurers offer this type of information compared to only 5% for incumbent insurers.
Fluid and dedicated digital sales funnel :
Systematically among neo-insurers (this is the case for only 35% of incumbent ones), the subscription process is done in a conversational logic, far from an administrative form to be filled out online.
In 88% of cases (only 6 out of 10 for incumbent insurers), the sales tunnel is really dedicated and no other information distracts the user during the home insurance subscription process.
And the process is very progressive and fluid, with little information requested after each click (maximum information per page on average: 4.4 vs. 7.5 for incumbent insurers).
Transparency on prices (and commercial hooks) :
Price transparency is key for neo-insurers because it is above all a commercial hook. From the beginning of the process, the customer knows in two thirds of the cases the indicative level of the insurance premium.
In addition, during the customer journey, the Internet user is offered an initial rate as soon as he has entered the first elements relating to the home. Then he can refine the rate at the same time as he gives more detailed information concerning him (amount of goods to be insured…). This way of operating the customer journey is the basis of the neo-insurer since it is a reality in 65% of the evaluations that we have carried out. Concerning the incumbent insurers, it is the case for only 1 out of 10.
Implementation of the "codes" of the net during the subscription process :
Neo insurers use the « codes » of the net with, for example, the systematization of the presence of a chatbot. The presence of micro-interaction during the subscription process (for example, highlighting the floor of the house on the building icon) is also much more present among neo-insurers than among traditional insurers. Nearly 25% of neo-insurers use it, which is 4 times more than their incumbent competitors. Another detail, the simulation of the recalculation of the premium (fake as such a calculation is instantaneous) when parameters are changed is present in two thirds of the neo-insurers while only one third of the traditional insurers use this artifice.
Digital commercial follow-ups :
Finally, on the commercial follow-up (we did not follow the process until the contract was signed), practices are also different. Among neo-insurers, the follow-up is systematic and 100% done by email: the follow-up channel is the same as the one used to make the quote and the subscription process. It is also the preferred channel of the younger generations who only really use the phone features of their smartphone if really needed. For traditional insurers, 75% of the follow-ups are made by phone (a way to optimize the workforce of their call center) and a channel more adapted to older generations.
We can therefore see that the neo-insurers and traditional insurers differ in the design of the home insurance customer journey. While the incumbent insurers do offer digital subscription journeys, these seem less adapted to the new generations.
*evaluated insurers: ABN AMRO, Allianz, Aviva, AXA, Belfius, BPCE Assurances, CA Assurances, Cardiff, Centraal Beheer, Facile, Flora, Friday, Generali, GMF, Groupama, Huk, Lemonade, Leocare, Lovys, Luko, MAAF, MACIF, MAIF, Mapfre, Matmut, Mutua, Prima, Tuio, Unipol Sai, Uniqa
