Customers favour going online when looking for home insurance

Customers prefer to research home insurance online above any other channel, according to new research.

The study by customer experience benchmarking company Global Reviews found more than half (53%) of consumers who have researched home insurance browse individual insurance sites, 41% use a search engine to find providers and 29% visit a comparison site. But just 22% research over the phone.

Global Reviews asked more than 1,000 home insurance customers how they select their insurance, the role the internet plays in the process and what information and service they would like their provider to offer.

The research also rated the leading websites across the industry to create a benchmark of best practice against different criteria, including customer support, prospective customer information, online application and site utility.

Additionally, the sites of 11 of the UK's leading providers were assessed, including Lloyds TSB, Directline, Churchill and Norwich Union.

Lloyds TSB was found to offer the best overall home insurance site, scoring 52% against Global Reviews' benchmark, followed by Churchill, MoreThan and Norwich Union on 50%.

The AA and Nationwide scored the same as the industry average, 47%, followed by Saga (44%), Zurich (41%) and Kwik Fit (39%).

Global Reviews director Adam Goodvach said, "Home insurance sites put a great emphasis on signing people up, but neglect those who have additional queries."

Published by: Suzanne Bearne

Published 15th May, 2008

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