Online Competition Reducing Auto Premiums

Toronto-based kanetix, Canada's online insurance marketplace, compared the average lowest auto insurance premium quoted at www.kanetix.ca in Q2 2007 with the average lowest premium quoted from the same period in 2006, and found that the average lowest price had decreased by almost 17%.

Kanetix brings consumers and insurance companies together in an online environment that compares insurance quotes from a variety of Canadian insurance companies. In addition, kanetix also provides online insurance quotation technology and develops online quotation systems and Web sites for some of Canada's leading insurance providers.
       
A recently released kanetix study comparing the average lowest auto insurance premium quoted online in April, May and June with the average lowest premium quoted from the same period in 2006, found that through www.kanetix.ca, Ontario shoppers are getting online insurance quotes that are 16.9% cheaper than last year.

"Our study shows how drivers who shopped around for their auto insurance really benefited from an insurance marketplace that, for the last little while, has been highly competitive,” explains Gregory Ellis, cofounder of www.kanetix.ca. “With a 16.9% drop in the price of the average lowest quote provided online, year-over-year, it just goes to show that consumers still have a tremendous opportunity to significantly save money on their auto insurance premiums.”

The results of the study correlate with those of another recent report by Customer Respect Group (CRG), Ipswitch, Mass., which ranked online auto insurers. CRG’s 2007 Online Customer Respect Study of the Automobile Insurance Industry study evaluated the Web sites of a representative sample of auto insurance companies. Using a common set of criteria, it analyzed corporate performance from an online customer's perspective.

The report noted how American auto insurers, continually jockeying with each other for online prominence, continue to show a strong commitment to their customers by making sites accessible and usable to many different types of users.

GEICO and Progressive tied for the lead, marking the fourth study in a row in which Progressive came out on top. GEICO rose from its fourth-place showing in the previous report. American Family showed the most improvement overall from the past study.

With North American auto insurers spending an increasing amount of time, money and attention on their Web-based quoting, customer service and overall online presence, the competition between insurers to net online customers will continue to keep premiums down.

Sources: kanetix and INN archives

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