How insurtechs make comparing coverage easier
A recent Global Consumer Report from ReMark found that 64% of survey respondents increased their life insurance coverage in 2021.
When asked why the most participants cited “no specific event.” The second most commonly cited reason with 19% of respondents was a “recommendation from family and friends.” Coming in third with 14% was “COVID-19 related events.”
Breeze recently published a data-driven report that revolved around the analysis of all the long-term disability insurance quotes that ran through our platform between 2020 and 2021. These were quotes coming from a wide range of everyday consumers.
Just as consumers were seeking more life insurance coverage in 2021, we found similar results for long-term disability insurance. In 2020, the average monthly benefit amount for long-term disability insurance was $2,561. In 2021, this monthly benefit figure jumped to $3,151, which represents a significant 23% year-over-year increase.
Unlike the GCS report, we did not ask why consumers were seeking much more long-term disability insurance coverage in 2021 compared to 2020. However, it’s not unreasonable to ascertain that the reasons were not much different.
For example, COVID-19 led to consumers wanting financial security and peace of mind through supplemental insurance products like life or disability insurance.
Whatever the reasons may be, consumers desire more insurance coverage. Insurtechs have come along at the perfect time to meet this demand. Whether it be disability, pet, life, or auto insurance, online-based insurtechs have made it easier than ever before for consumers, or the agents and brokers representing them, to get quoted for coverage.
What used to be a lengthy process marred down by phone calls, in-person medical exams, and the U.S. Postal Service can now take mere minutes with some basic income and personal information being aided by predictive analytics.
Perhaps this is why consumers have increased their insurance coverage – because it’s so easy to get quoted and change their policy details.
The GCS report found that two of the most common reasons consumers increased their life insurance coverage were for “no reason at all” and from “recommendations from family or friends.”
Maybe they happened to be on an insurtech website, started a new quote for fun, and then realized that a new quote with more insurance coverage actually made more sense for their specific situation. Or maybe they were out to dinner with friends who were talking about how quick and easy it was to get a quote on another insurtechs website.
These are two scenarios that were certainly possible before insurtechs, but they just would have taken a whole lot longer, and that more cumbersome process may have driven consumers away from switching up their coverage.
But now, switching or comparing insurance coverage options is easier than ever before. It can be squeezed into a 30-minute lunch break at work, half of which could still be dedicated to actually eating lunch.
By using predictive analytics and proprietary technologies, insurtechs have simplified and quickened the insurance quoting and application process. Consumers can now have a plethora of coverage options to compare with just a few clicks and can easily update or increase their coverage if the price is right.
It’d be comparable to consumers shopping out of the Sears catalog back in the 1950s to now shopping on Amazon.
With the former, their purchases would perhaps not be ideal, but the best that was available at that time. With the latter, offers can be compared simultaneously, and the optimal product for their situation can be chosen.
And if it turns out to actually not be optimal, going back and comparing again is just one click away. Insurance shopping has never been more consumer-friendly, and insurtechs have played a big role in this development.
