Motorists want easy solutions, not hours spent on the phone

The second of the 5 identified key areas that motor insurance customers think needs to change is Technological Innovation and Mobile Apps. 

So much of our lives has been impacted by the pandemic and motoring has not escaped what has turned out to be a massive force for change. Not only has driver behaviour changed, impacting vehicle usage, but technical innovations in many areas of life have led to higher expectations in customer interaction and service from customers. 

Large swathes of the population are used to dealing with the minutiae of life via apps on their mobile devices, allowing them to do their banking, shopping, control thier heating or even answer the door remotely, as and when it suits them.

Customers are now demanding better experiences from motor insurers. They want the same seamless intuitive customer experiences they find elsewhere in their lives, enabling them to manage a key expense to fit their circumstances.

On average current motor insurers manage to communicate with customers just once in the annual lifespan of a policy, at renewal time. This failure to engage, to reward and thank customers is noted and perceived as the insurer not ‘valuing’ the customer. We know the tech is there to enable easier and better engagement… So why don’t insurers adopt it? 

The reasons are centred on cost. It costs too much to develop new tech solutions in-house and is too time and resource heavy. Integrating new platforms sounds worryingly complicated with the potential for costs to snowball. Unfortunately, this  all sounds like insurers don’t want to invest in their customers and to retain them with intelligent ‘fact’ based renewal quotes. Instead, it ‘appears’ that motor insurers would prefer to ‘race to the bottom’ on price and squeeze margins even further when in fact, we know they are in constant battle to maintain operational profitability. 

The By Bits platforms offer fast and very cost-effective tech solutions that would truly innovate the rating engines of motor insurers and equip them to meet the demands of the changing marketplace. 

This blog is part of a  series on what customers want from their motor insurance. You can read the previous one here – Fairer, More Transparent Pricing

You can also download and read our report – ‘A customer first future for motor insurance’ 

For more information contact us or click on the blue button for a demo of the By Bits Rating and or Policy engines.