Canadians buck the trend on customer loyalty

A global survey shows two-thirds of insurance customers would consider buying products from companies other than insurers – but don’t panic yet, because the Canadian responses turn those numbers upside down.

Risk Management News

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A global survey shows two-thirds of insurance customers would consider buying products from companies other than insurers – but don’t panic yet, because the Canadian responses turn those numbers upside down.

According to new research by Accenture based on a survey of more than 6,000 insurance customers in 11 countries, 67 per cent of customers indicated they would consider purchasing products from non-traditional organizations – including 23 per cent who would buy from online service providers like Google and Amazon.

However, Canadian customers showed their loyalty for insurers with only 23 per cent indicating they would do so, with only Japan and France at 24 per cent coming close.

“Competition in the insurance industry could quickly intensify as consumers become open to buying insurance not only from traditional competitors such as banks but also from Internet giants,” says Michael Lyman, global managing director for management consulting within Accenture's Insurance industry practice. “Overall, there is a significant switching risk and we estimate that up to $400 billion in insurance premiums could change hands within the insurance industry over the next 12 months.”

He added that the switching risk is important in western markets but even more so in emerging countries such as China and Brazil, where insurance customers are even more likely to change providers.

Those countries showing the least loyalty to the insurance companies are China, Brazil and the U.K. with 81, 75 and 57 per cent respectively – indicating they would likely switch to another auto or home insurer over the next 12 months. The same three countries’ insurance customers showed the most interest in purchasing online insurance, at 93, 83 and 81 per cent respectively. (continued.)
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Consumers looking for new mobile-enabled insurance services are China (94 percent), Brazil (88 per cent) and South Africa (85 per cent). Those same customers are also looking for comments and recommendations posted on social media before selecting an insurance provider, at 86, 82 and 60 per cent respectively.

Those customers who are the most open to giving out usage and behaviour information to optimize their insurance coverage are Chinese, Japanese and Brazilian customers, at 94, 89 and 87 per cent respectively.

“While Internet access using personal computers or laptops was the first step in enabling customers to use digital channels, the real game-changer has been the growth in mobile,” says Lyman. “The mobile channel offers insurers the opportunity to take customer experience to the next level, enabling them to become partners of their customers' everyday life by tailoring offers and interactions to the physical context, as location-based services can be highly relevant in insurance.”

Of those who participated in the online survey, the 6,135 respondents included 1,012 from the U.S., 520 from Italy, 516 from Brazil, 512 from Japan, 511 each from the U.K., France, Spain, Canada and South Africa, and 510 each from Germany and China.

Do the numbers reflect your experience with your book of clients?

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