The pandemic has changed several aspects of society, from how people gather to how children attend school and even how consumers purchase insurance. While factors such as age, location, and income all influence insurance purchases, recent consumer surveys have identified several trends regardless of demographics. Some of the most significant trends include:
- Fewer life events. Life events that typically drive insurance purchases, such as weddings and having children, aren’t happening during the pandemic. Many consumers are delaying these things in favor of waiting out COVID-19. Many are also dealing with unemployment or a reduced income, meaning they have less cashflow for insurance purchases.
- Increased desire for life insurance. Over half of American consumers see a greater need for life insurance due to the pandemic. However, while more people want life insurance, traditional underwriting requirements like medical exams are harder to complete. Unsurprisingly, half of the consumers indicated they’d be more likely to buy a life insurance policy that uses simplified underwriting.
- Consumers are shopping around. Over one-third of consumers plan to shop around for or switch to a new auto insurance provider. Reduced cash flow is once again the driving factor behind this trend. It’s a direct reflection of the desire to keep insurance costs down to save money.
- Consumers prefer digital channels. Nearly 60% of consumers used a digital platform to shop for auto insurance. Digital channels were growing in popularity before the pandemic, but they’re in high demand now to stay socially distant while shopping.
Having digital channels to engage with customers meets their preferences and needs. It helps improve customer loyalty and can give businesses an edge over carriers that don’t offer digital options. Actec’s text and chat support solution can help answer questions customers may have, streamline communication, and more. Contact Actec to learn more about integrating text and chat support.