Digital is helping Millennials shop around for auto coverage

Shopping for personal auto insurance has hit a peak, and the increase is caused by new interest from Millennial and Generation Z consumers.

That’s according to TransUnion’s “Auto Insurance Shopping Index,” which found that 21.7% of consumers shopped for personal auto insurance in 2018, versus 20% in 2017. With 44% of their cohorts shopping, Millennials and Generation Z consumers shopped for auto insurance than other ages.

The reason? Digital distribution and marketing seem to be huge drivers to increase shopping for Millennials. According to David Drotos, VP of insurance solutions at TransUnion, “Technology is fueling the experimentation and development of new business models for insurance that cater to the Millennial lifestyle.”

“There’s a ton of resources for insurance information available online today, where Millennials are natively fluent,” Drotos added. “Also, there has been a lot of effort over the past several years around insurance education and ease of use to help demystify insurance.”

Mark McElroy, executive vice president and head of TransUnion’s insurance business unit added that with lower homeownership than other groups, younger customers are more incentivized to shop around for the best auto insurance prices for them.

“Younger consumers often do not yet have home and the need for homeowners insurance,” he says. “As a result, this makes it easier for them to switch carriers when they aren't taking advantage of bundles or other promotions.”

Shopping for auto insurance may have also hit an increase due to maximum use of advertising. In study Auto Insurance Report, 2018’s marketing budgets reached an all time high of $7.5 billion, in 2017 the spending budget was $6.6 billion.

“The future state of digital will need to ensure that the consumer’s advertising preferences are at center of the advertising ecosystem, and also ensure that their data is also being used to create frictionless experiences for insurance shopping and other purchases at their discretion,” says Drotos.

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