Home insurance websites scrutinised after floods

There are more people going online to insure their homes than ever before and the number grew even faster after the recent floods.  However new research has found that many websites are not providing the information or service that customers need.

The independent study, by customer experience benchmarking firm, Global Reviews, measured consumers’ experience on 21 home insurance websites.  The sites were assessed against over 500 different criteria, including the quality of the information provided, the level of customer support, ease of application, information available to prospective customers and access to claim information.

In the league table of providers Direct Line was found to offer the best overall home insurance website with a score of 58%.  It was followed by Norwich Union with 51% and Tesco Finance at 50%.  RIAS (24%), Barclays (39%) and Elephant (40%) were bottom of the league. However the quality of customer experience varies widely depending on the information or service they are looking for. 

The research revealed that 73% of customers want to be able to view their policy and claim information online and 82% of customers consider information on how to make a claim to be extremely or very important.  This is one of the reasons why visits to insurance websites increased after the recent floods.  However this is one of the categories where the quality of information provided varied the most.  Kwik Fit (76%) and esure (68%) were found to offer the best claims information online, however ASDA, Lloyds TSB, Saga and Liverpool Victoria offer no claims information at all, and the majority of other sites did not score highly in this area.

The research also revealed that

• 57% used the web to get a quote for their present policy, but 76% said that they would get quotes online next time.  ASDA offers the best online quote service for prospective customers with a score of 70%, closely followed by Direct Line with 69%.  Halifax (51%), Nationwide (45%) and RIAS (20%) were bottom of this league.  
• 42% applied online for their last policy, but 68% said they would for their next.  .  ASDA was found to provide the best online application process with a score of 74%, closely followed by Churchill at 70%.  However Elephant received the lowest score (51%).

Global Reviews director, Adam Goodvach said:
“Events such as the floods remind customers of the need for home insurance and the possibility of making a claim. Unfortunately consumers’ online experience varies widely depending on the website they visit.  Many websites focus on quotes and applications, at the expense of policy and claims information. This is particularly challenging for insurance brokers. There is a clear opportunity for companies to improve customer conversion and build loyalty by adapting the experience to meet customer needs.”

Global Reviews asked over 1000 home insurance customers what they want from a home insurance website.  It then looked at the best insurance websites across the globe to create a best practice benchmark with over 500 criteria against which 21 of the UK’s leading provider websites were assessed.

The benchmark was conducted in July-August  2007.
The survey, carried out by Global Reviews, had over 1,000 responses

Download PDF Version

For media inquiries please contact;

Catherine Swift
07801 817 451
Cath.swift@globalreviews.co.uk

Adam Goodvach
Global Reviews Director, UK
020 7681 4065

Notes to Editors
Global Reviews measures and improves the customer experience of it clients with offices in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.  Banking clients include HSBC, Citibank, ING Direct, National Australia Bank, and Hertz. The company also benchmarks websites across 25 non-banking industries and provides actionable recommendations to improve customer acquisition and boost retention.