Insurance Age - Leading Motor Insurers Driving Online Customers Away

Insurance Age - Leading Motor Insurers Driving Online Customers Away

Many leading motor insurance websites are failing to capitalise on the online sales opportunity by making it too difficult for drivers to get a quote online, according to a new industry benchmark report. Ambiguous forms, a lack of clear information and difficult to follow quote processes are some of the critical errors identified in ‘ Driving Online Sales for Motor Insurance ‘ published today by usability specialists Webcredible.
The report evaluates the websites of 20 UK motor insurers against 20 key usability criteria, awarding each a Web Usability Index rating out of 100[1]. Only half of the motor insurers achieved a score of over 55 in the study. Quin Direct, Hastings Direct and the AA topped the Index with scores of 76, 69 and 69 respectively, providing easy to follow quote processes, consistent formatting and explicit instructions to enable users to easily understand and navigate the website.
However, many big insurance brands languished at the bottom of the league table, including Elephant (53), Endsleigh (43) and The Post Office (43). Swiftcover provided the worst experience, scoring a mere 42 out of 100. The Webcredible report uncovered three critical areas where insurers were putting off web visitors:
1. Failing to set expectations at the start of the quote process As soon as users click to ‘get a quote’, they should be told how long the process will take and if they will need any information they might not know off the top of their head, such as registration number. Failure to do so can lead users to abandon the quote process altogether. Insurers scored badly in both areas, with an average score of 1.2 and 0.3 out of 5 respectively.
2. Telephone number not clearly displayed by 70% of web sites Research has shown that 35% of people that use the internet to research insurance or get a quote actually choose to pay offline. If a website doesn’t clearly provide contact details, they will be preventing this large percentage of internet users from buying a policy from them.
3. Not helping internet users when they encounter an error During the quote process, 40% of insurers did not provide users with a summary of errors or provide explicit instructions on how they should be corrected. If internet users can’t spot their mistakes and, more importantly, work out how to fix them, the only alternative could be to visit another website and try again.
“There are countless car insurance websites all vying for the attention of drivers, so providing a clear, easy to use website can be the critical differentiator,” explained Trenton Moss, managing director, Webcredible.
“Online insurance is an aggressively competitive market but many insurers are failing to meet basic usability standards. For example, 90 per cent of insurers missed the golden rule of setting customer expectations prior to embarking on a quote. This could cost them dearly as drivers give up mid-way through the process and deflect to a competitor’s website out of sheer frustration. By taking steps to design their websites around the needs of their target users, companies can reap significant rewards and increase conversion rates by as much as 100 per cent.”
Webcredible has compiled the Online Motor Insurance Usability Report following user testing and expert reviews of 20 motor insurance websites in March 2007. The report is available to download from the Webcredible website at: www.webcredible.co.uk/insurance .