Insurance websites - experience counts
Like air travel, insurance is often seen as a market driven by price - you shop around, and go with the best deal you can find. Online window-shopping has made this much easier. Recent research from Forrester shows that 63% of online adults expect to buy their next motor policy online, so now with a little research, the informed consumer can get a great deal whether it's from the largest provider or the smallest - levelling the playing field.
— Published July 4th, 2006 | by David Moore
However, we’ve just evaluated 20 Irish, British and American car insurance websites for our new report, and when it comes to ease of use, one thing it’s not is a level playing field.
Usability as competitive advantage
More so even than booking flights, getting an insurance quote means lots of interactivity – there are a lot of questions to get through, some complicated and some intrusive.
Your company might have the best deal by far, but if belaguered visitors give up halfway through the quotation process, then it’s not going to help you.
The same Forrester research showed that “31% of quote forms end with a consumer leaving in frustration, without getting a price”.
Our benchmarking showed there’s a wide range of quality among the 20 sites we reviewed, so designing a site that’s actually easy for visitors to use is a major competitive advantage.
Cut to the chase
One of the most common errors included asking too many questions across too many screens. Visitors want to get to a quote quickly, and if you ask unnecessary questions (like ‘how did you hear about us?’, which helps the company, not the visitor), you’re going to upset them.
Stateless with no return
Another crucial mistake was not to make it clear where visitors are in the quote process, and how much further they have to go (i.e. not showing their current ‘state’). Many sites didn’t let people go back either, making it hard to correct a mistake or try a different set of options.
No hard words
There’s a lot of jargon in the insurance business, but it’s crucial to explain things in ways that real people understand, and offer useful help when necessary.
The big reveal
When vistors get to the final price, too often it’s on a page that’s cluttered and lacking in a clear visual hierarchy. Or there’s no way to see what happens to the price when you change some options (like deductibles or particular coverages). Clarity and transparency are crucial here, as is obvious signposting – I’ve got my quote, now what do I do?
Winners and Losers
Some sites (largely US and UK, rather than Irish, it has to be said), did an excellent job – some even provided their competitors’ prices, or adjusted your policy start date automatically to avoid you being out of coverage. Others made getting a quote a painful and confusing process.
Our report includes a user-experience league table, along with best-practice examples and recommendations, and while its findings are obviously of most interest to those in the insurance business, anyone who works with online interactivity could probably pick up a suggestion or two.
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