Abstract
Finaccord' s updated and expanded report titled Net Metrics: Consumer Usage of On-Line Aggregators, Brokers and Other Intermediaries in UK Insurance focuses on two fundamental aspects of Internet distribution of insurance products in the UK: general patterns in consumer behaviour in this sphere and dynamics in the rapidly evolving market for on-line aggregators and brokers of insurance products.
With regards to the former issue, the research investigates several core areas including consumer propensity to take out 15 different types of insurance product via the Internet, consumer propensity to use different generic types of web site in this context and the relative importance of 12 key characteristics of web sites of aggregators and brokers of insurance products for encouraging consumer usage to research and / or acquire.
As for the latter, the study offers an updated and detailed benchmarking in terms of consumer awareness, consumer trust and consumer usage to purchase insurance of 70 of the leading webbased aggregators and brokers in the UK including the AA, BeatThatQuote.com, comparethemarket.com, Confused.com, Endsleigh, gocompare.com, moneysupermarket.com, Swinton, Tesco Compare and uSwitch.com.
Table of Contents
0.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Banks and building societies offering current accounts generate the highest volumes of web traffic
- Social networking and video sharing provider sites are very widely used by younger consumers
- Utilisation of the Internet as a distribution interface is surging for certain classes of insurance
- … although is retreating for others as consumers increasingly learn how best to use the medium
- Longevity of Internet usage is an important factor driving likelihood to purchase on-line insurance
- Consumers are focusing on a more limited number of sites to research and purchase insurance
- … and feel more likely to use that of their main bank or building society than any other option
- Most consumers understand the difference between on-line aggregators and on-line brokers
- Usage of on-line aggregators and brokers of insurance drops off slightly in the over 65 age group
- Users of on-line aggregators and brokers are motivated primarily by finding the best price
- Only a minority of consumers state that they are loyal to their main on-line aggregator or broker
- Over 10% of consumers making use of on-line aggregators and brokers question their accuracy
- … although they appear to be satisfied with most aspects of the service that they receive
- Confused.com has overtaken the AA and the RAC in terms of its rating for consumer awareness
- … with other on-line aggregators generally outperforming on-line brokers for this measure
- Only a minority of aggregators and brokers are definitely trusted by more than 10% of consumers
- moneysupermarket.com achieves comparatively high ratings in terms of actual usage to purchase
- On-line aggregation and broking of insurance has not yet been subject to significant consolidation
1.0 INTRODUCTION
- Research rationale
- The updated Net Metrics research incorporates a variety of new analyses of consumer behaviour
- Research sample
- Web-based aggregators and brokers of banking products
- On-line aggregators and brokers of insurance can use a variety of operating models
- … although some of the most successful protagonists possess differentiated approaches
- … and provision of white-labelled searching facilities between competitors is also commonplace
- Who owns whom in on-line aggregation and broking of insurance?
- Finaccord
- Other UK consumer research publications
- UK affinity and partnership marketing publications
- IPT / Tpoll
2.0 MARKET ANALYSIS
- Introduction
- Consumer propensity to visit different types of web site
- Frequency of visits is a key metric in the emerging environment for on-line financial services
- … with banking institutions offering current accounts being well-positioned in this respect
- … and both social networking providers and video sharing providers also scoring highly
- Insurance companies and some traditional affinity partners generate relatively little web traffic
- Over 80% of individuals aged between 16 and 24 visit the sites of social networking providers
- The gap in usage by age group for the web sites of video sharing providers is slightly less acute
- Consumer propensity to purchase via the Internet
- Consumers are most likely to have made on-line acquisitions of books or music
- … with well over a half of respondents having bought insurance via the Internet at least once
- On-line sales of computers and associated peripherals appear to be subject to a decline
- … although use of the Internet as a dist. interface is increasing for most forms of insurance
- Propensity to research and purchase insurance products over the Internet
- Nearly two thirds of those who use the Internet to research insurance also purchase on-line
- There is a clear link between longevity of Internet use and propensity to buy insurance on-line
- Number of quotes solicited prior to purchasing on-line insurance
- Consumers are using a more limited number of web sites to research and purchase insurance
- Likelihood to research or purchase insurance by type of web site
- Consumer propensity to research or purchase insurance varies greatly by type of web site
- Banking entities offering current accounts should make the most of high volumes of web traffic
- Awareness and influence of the on-line insurance aggregation concept
- Most consumers are aware of the difference between on-line aggregation and on-line broking
- … although a surprisingly high proportion assert that they are not influenced by this awareness
- Consumer usage of aggregators or brokers of insurance
- Between 25 and 64, usage of on-line aggregators and brokers of insurance is fairly constant
- Characteristics of effective insurance aggregator and broker web sites
- Over 75% of respondents consider eight characteristics to be either very or quite important
- Personalisation and the availability of exclusive products are the least valued characteristics
- Insurance aggregator or broker web sites used most frequently
- Two competitors are subject to the most frequent usage by almost a half of respondents
- Loyalty towards insurance aggregators and brokers used most frequently
- … although the research is indicative of low rates of loyalty towards even the leading players
- A key challenge for aggregators and brokers will be to maximise the loyalty of their customers
- Accuracy of insurance aggregators and brokers used most frequently
- Over one in ten consumers have concerns over the accuracy of product information provided
- … although the experience does not differ greatly among the leading aggregators and brokers
- Satisfaction with insurance aggregators used most frequently
- On-line aggregation of insurance is set to be reviewed by the Financial Services Authority
- Finaccord' s research facilitates the measurement of consumer satisfaction levels
- … and indicates that the majority are satisfied by the service offered by insurance aggregators
3.0 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
- Introduction
- Consumer awareness of aggregation and broking web sites
- Confused.com surges past the AA in terms of its recognition rating among consumers
- … and moneysupermarket.com and comparethemarket.com have both improved their rating
- …. but well over half of the web brands covered are not recognised by over 75% of respondents
- Consumer trust of aggregation and broking web sites
- Several web brands have achieved a significant rise in their trust rating during the last year
- … although the majority lack the financial resources to genuinely win the trust of consumers
- Consumer usage to purchase of aggregation and broking web sites
- In terms of utilisation to buy insurance, moneysupermarket.com is performing efficiently
- … with both gocompare.com and Tesco Compare also having made significant progress
- Over 20 players register at least a reasonable degree of awareness and trust among consumers
- BUDGET, Insureandgo and moneysupermarket.com perform well in terms of actual utilisation
- The AA' s rating for trust is bolstered by the fact that breakdown recovery is its core business
- Four on-line competitors are likely to be growing at rates well in excess of their rivals
- While Confused.com is strengthening its leadership position in the on-line aggregation market
- … it does not appear that the sector has been subject to much consolidation during the last year
4.0 AGGREGATOR AND BROKER PROFILES
- Introduction
- 4.1 AA
- 4.2 AdviceOnline
- 4.3 A-Plan
- 4.4 Auto Direct
- 4.5 AWD Moneyextra
- 4.6 BeatThatQuote.com
- 4.7 BUDGET
- 4.8 Bullhorn.co.uk
- 4.9 buy.co.uk
- 4.10 comparemoreatDixons.co.uk
- 4.11 comparethemarket.com
- 4.12 ConfidentCover.com
- 4.13 Confused.com
- 4.14 CoverSave
- 4.15 Diamond
- 4.16 Direct Choice
- 4.17 Easy Quote
- 4.18 EasyCover
- 4.19 elephant.co.uk
- 4.20 Endsleigh
- 4.21 Express Insurance
- 4.22 FinanceDaily.co.uk
- 4.23 Find.co.uk
- 4.24 First Insurance
- 4.25 Fool.co.uk
- 4.26 Girl Motor
- 4.27 gocompare.com
- 4.28 Goodinvestor.com
- 4.29 Hastings Direct
- 4.30 insurances.co.uk
- 4.31 insurancewide.com
- 4.32 insure
- 4.33 Insureandgo
- 4.34 Interactive Investor
- 4.35 Its4me
- 4.36 Know Your Money
- 4.37 Ladybird Insurance
- 4.38 masterquote
- 4.39 MoneyExpert
- 4.40 Moneyfacts
- 4.41 MoneyMonkey.co.uk
- 4.42 Moneynet
- 4.43 Moneyquest
- 4.44 MoneySavingExpert
- 4.45 moneysupermarket
- 4.46 Moneyway
- 4.47 Moneywise
- 4.48 Motor Direct
- 4.49 NationalPrice.com
- 4.50 Only Insurance
- 4.51 Peoples Choice
- 4.52 PriceRunner
- 4.53 Q4 Insure
- 4.54 Quoteline Direct
- 4.55 Quotezone
- 4.56 RAC
- 4.57 Reduce My Quote
- 4.58 Screentrade
- 4.59 simplyswitch
- 4.60 Swinton
- 4.61 Tesco Compare
- 4.62 The Insurance Centre
- 4.63 The Thrifty Scot
- 4.64 theidol.com
- 4.65 thisismoney.co.uk
- 4.66 Unravelit
- 4.67 uSwitch.com
- 4.68 webmoney
- 4.69 yesinsurance.co.uk
- 4.70 Your Money
GRAPHICS / TABLES
- Sample breakdown by age group, household income band and geographical location - entire survey
- Sample breakdown by longevity of Internet usage - entire survey
- Aggregators and brokers of banking products covered for the first time in the 2008 research
- Who owns whom in web-based aggregation and broking of banking products in the UK?
- Who owns whom in web-based aggregation and broking of banking products in the UK? (continued)
- Consumer propensity to visit different types of web site, 2008
- Consumer propensity to visit different types of web site, 2008 (data)
- Consumer propensity to visit the web sites of social networking providers, 2008: detailed segmentation (data)
- Consumer propensity to visit the web sites of video sharing providers, 2008: detailed segmentation (data)
- Consumer propensity to purchase assorted goods and services via the Internet, 2008
- Comparison of consumer propensity to purchase assorted goods and services via the Internet, 2006-8 (data)
- % of custs. acquiring different ins. prods. through the Internet - 2007, 2005 and all previous years comp. (data)
- Consumer propensity to research and take out insurance products over the Internet, 2008
- Consumer propensity to research and take out ins. products over the Internet, 2008: detailed segment. (data)
- Number of quotes solicited by consumers prior to taking out ins. products over the Internet, 2006-8 compared
- Number of quotes solicited by cons. prior to taking out ins. products over the Internet, 2006-8 compared (data)
- Consumer likelihood to research or take out insurance products from different types of web site, 2008
- Consumer likelihood to research or take out insurance products from different types of web site, 2008 (data)
- Comparison of consumer propensity to visit and cons. likelihood to search for or take out ins. products, 2008
- Awareness of the difference between on-line insurance aggs. and on-line brokers of insurance, 2008
- Consumer usage of web sites of aggregators or brokers of insurance, 2008 (data)
- Importance of agg. and broker web site characteristics in persuading custs. to take out insurance, 2008
- Imp. of agg. and broker web site characteristics in persuading custs. to take out insurance, 2008 (data)
- Insurance agg. or broker web sites used most frequently by cons. to research or take out ins. products, 2008
- Degree of loyalty engendered by banking aggregators and brokers used most frequently, 2008
- Degree of loyalty engendered by banking aggregators and brokers used most frequently, 2008 (data)
- Perceived accuracy of insurance aggregators and brokers used most frequently, 2008
- Perceived accuracy of insurance aggregators and brokers used most frequently, 2008 (data)
- Cons. satisfaction with agg. web site used most freq. when searching for and / or taking out insurance, 2008
- Cons. satisfaction with agg. used most freq. when searching for and / or taking out insurance, 2008 (data)
- Ranking of web sites of aggregators and brokers of insurance by overall consumer awareness, 2008
- Ranking of web sites of aggregators and brokers of insurance by overall consumer awareness, 2008 (cont.)
- Ranking of web sites of aggregators and brokers of insurance by consumer trust, 2008
- Ranking of web sites of aggregators and brokers of insurance by consumer trust, 2008 (continued)
- Ranking of web sites of aggregators and brokers of insurance by consumer usage to purchase, 2008
- Ranking of web sites of aggregators and brokers of insurance by consumer usage to purchase, 2008 (cont.)
