Internet Captures Market Share From Traditional Agents in Purchase of Auto Insurance Policies

May 18,2008 00:00 by NAMIC

comScore, Inc released May 12 results of “The 2008 comScore Online Automobile Insurance Report,” which provides insights into the online auto insurance market and the behaviors and attitudes of auto insurance consumers. The report is based on behavioral data collected from comScore's panel of 1 million U.S. consumers during 2007 and a survey of more than 2,000 U.S. Internet users conducted during the third week of March 2008.

The study revealed that consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet to purchase auto insurance policies. In fact, 15 percent of respondents reported purchasing their current policy online, a 3-percentage-point gain versus the previous year. Meanwhile, the traditional agent channel saw a corresponding decline in market share, decreasing three points to 53 percent of total policies purchased.

Method of Purchasing an Auto Insurance Policy (March 2008)
Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations

Method of Purchase	Percent of Respondents
Method of Purchase	2007	2008	Point Change
With local agent over the phone	16	15	-1
With local agent in person	56	53	-3
Over the phone via toll free number	13	13	0
Other/through work	3	4	1
Online	12	15	3

Source: comScore Auto Insurance Survey, 2008

"Purchasing with a local agent has historically been the dominant method by which people purchased auto insurance," said Kevin Levitt, comScore’s vice president. "While it still remains the primary method, these latest findings show us that the landscape is beginning to change, with more and more consumers turning from traditional, offline channels to the Internet."

Consumers Most Often Turn to the Internet after Seeing an Advertisement

Consumers were also asked what action they would take if they wanted more information after seeing an auto insurance advertisement. Seventy-five percent of respondents indicated that they would turn to the Internet. A notable percentage of consumers said they would either visit the website specified in the ad (26 percent), use search options to find a company website (22 percent), visit the company website (20 percent), or look online at another website to find contact information (8 percent).

Consumer Activity After Seeing an Auto Insurance Advertisement (March 2008)
Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations

Consumer Activity	Percent of Respondents
Consumer Activity	2007	2008	Point Change
Visit a website specified in the ad	29	26	-3
Use a search engine to find a website	14	22	8
Visit the company website to find contact information for a local agent	16	20	4
Call a toll free number in the ad	13	9	-4
Not sure	15	9	-6
Look online at a site other than the company’s for contact information of a local agent	8	8	0
Look offline for contact information of a local agent	6	7	1

Source: comScore Auto Insurance Survey, 2008

Consumers Value an Agent but Still Rely on Internet

The study also found that even consumers who bought a policy through an agent still rely on the Internet to obtain information about auto insurance. Nearly 80 percent of consumers who purchased through an agent said they value having an agent; but of those consumers, nearly 40 percent have received a rate quote online, and 30 percent said they would purchase a policy online in the future.

"It's clear that the Internet channel is integral to the process of purchasing auto insurance -- even for consumers who tend to rely more heavily on their agents," said Levitt.

Additional results from the comScore study will be presented during a live webinar on Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.

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Source: comScore Auto Insurance Solutions