Survey — People & Purchasing Insurance from Non-Industry Sources

As we all know, several non-insurance companies are now selling insurance. And the trend is growing. Amazon sells insurance. Google sells insurance. Others are circling the industry like sharks and are ready to dive in and participate.

The popularity of doing business digitally is fueling the push. Theory says you can easily write a complicated insurance policy online in a few minutes. Agents know that’s not really a good idea.

Amazon users do not. Neither do those going to Google. And the people using the Internet to purchase complex insurance policies other places do not. That’s unfortunate, but it appears to be reality.

Even PropertyCasualty360.com — the digital arm of National Underwriter — appears to think the advancement of technology makes this a palatable idea.

“Insurers should expect leading tech companies such as Google and Amazon to extend their influence into the sector,” PropertyCasualty360 wrote. “By leveraging their information and analytics to state firms, these companies could create a new stream of digital resources. Carriers can turn to such firms and form partnerships through which nice insurance products can be personalized. Tech companies bring a burst of creativity to the insurance market, setting a new standard in product distribution.”

At the same time, such action has the potential to put a huge hole in the independent agency system.

What do people think of the idea of purchasing important insurance from companies like Amazon and Google? Breeze.com did a survey and looked at how people would react to being offered insurance by Amazon, Facebook and Google. It asked if people would — for example — purchase renters or homeowners insurance from Zillow. Or how about health insurance from CVS? Tesla for auto insurance anyone?

Most of the 1,500 people surveyed trust Amazon but do not trust Facebook or Google for an important insurance purchase.

• 55% said they trust Amazon for an insurance purchase
• Just 46% said the same about Google
• 38% trust Facebook for an insurance purchase

As for specific types of insurance:

• 66% said they’d bag a traditional insurer to buy auto insurance from Tesla, Ford, or Honda
• 34% would not
• 61% of renters and homeowners said they’d buy their insurance from Zillow or a like company
• 39% would not
• 59% noted they’d be interested in looking at CVS or Walgreens for purchasing health insurance
• 41% said they would not and would use traditional health insurers
• 51% would buy disability insurance from an HR company or a payroll company
• 49% would not

Of all the maybe-maybe-not questions asked, consumers were most interested in picking up auto insurance from an automaker.

As for the reality of things, Tesla has been selling an auto insurance product in California since 2019 and since has put one out for consumers in Texas and Illinois. It is looking at expanding into the PIA Western Alliance state of Washington in the very near future.

It also might not be too long before CVS and Walgreens start selling health insurance. CVS just purchased Aetna and both companies are now looking at a product that will bring down health insurance costs.

Walgreens is also getting into the health insurance act.

Source link: Breeze.com — https://bit.ly/3IGhonj