The BBC’s Rip Off Britain this week featured the story of a family whose suitcases disappeared from hotel reception on the last day of their holiday in Turkey. The cases and their contents, worth £3,000, were not covered in their travel insurance. Another week, another bad headline about insurance.
The problem is widespread
Clearly there’s a correlation between consumers not understanding what they’ve bought, the negative press coverage that results from said discovery, and general mistrust (remember, trust for insurers often comes out lower than banks in polls).
The problem is widespread. Research released on Monday by Travel Insurance Facilities Group confirmed the large extent to which people don’t understand why they’re buying.
The poll found 60% of Londoners thought their policies would cover possessions left unattended on the beach and 34% of consumers in the East thought they wouldn’t have to provide proof of purchase when claiming for a possession.
The understanding gap is by no means isolated to travel insurance, and insurers that don’t clearly explain what is and is not covered don’t make it easy for consumers.
Comments about the case in The Sun were sympathetic, with one reader saying:
“The terms and conditions are usually 10 pages long and would require a solicitor to check them out - common sense would think that if luggage is stolen you should be covered”
Companies who fixate on customer satisfaction will survive and grow
A founding premise at Consumer Intelligence is the belief that companies who fixate on customer satisfaction will survive and grow. Helping customers to understand what they’ve bought avoids nasty surprises such as those that befell the Arrowsmith family in Morocco, is a pillar of achieving that.
Our research continues to show that price is by no means the only factor when it comes to choosing a policy – of the nearly 30% of customers who don’t shop around for a renewal quote on their home insurance, the chief reason is that they like the provider they’re already with. A claims misunderstanding is a sure fire way to lose your customer, and their their friends and family will probably avoid you too.
Insurance as part of a toolkit focused on what customers want
Technology will play an important role in bridging the gap, and in turn how people feel about insurance. Start-up Brolly, an app which will launch later this year, claims it will act as a concierge service, housing all policy information in one place while using AI to tell you if you’re under or over insured as well as finding a better price for the cover you need.
Others are focusing on a connected package, with Neos linking connected home monitoring devices such as leak detectors and motion censors with smart phone notifications with insurance as a backstop. It’s a product designed to use insurance as part of a toolkit focused on what customers want ie. for their home to remain safe.
Launches like these will challenge existing providers to be more upfront and focus on the customer’s needs. Tech launch or industry stalwart, the bar is being raised.
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Consumer Intelligence has been helping insurers for over 10 years to see the world through the eyes of their customers. Contact us to find out how we can help you through a unique combination of consumer insight and competitor analysis find and keep your unique competitive space.
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