Growth
Re-imagining customer relationshipsEY Global Consumer Insurance Survey 2014
Ireland has bucked the trend as 54% of Irish respondents polled by EY’s Global Consumer Insurance Survey 2014 claimed to have complete or moderate trust in insurance companies. This is compared to 69% of 24,000 people surveyed in 30 countries globally.
Our Irish survey findings are also striking because of the relatively high levels of switching intent they reveal. Focusing on non-life products (where more regular policy decisions occur), 45% of Irish customers surveyed said they were likely to switch in the next 12 months – compared to 26% globally.
Our findings highlight major confidence issues for the industry. This suggests that insurance companies have scope to improve their customer relationships and potentially retention rates. In fact the opportunities are potentially greatest in Ireland where there is most scope for increasing current contact levels. Globally 71% of customers took some action concerning their policy during the last 18 months (perhaps updating an address, asking for information or closing it), whereas in Ireland just 57% had any such interaction.
Based on our findings, when Irish customers contact their insurer they are most likely to do so by phone. However, many Irish customers (13%) currently being contacted through regular mail and by phone would generally prefer to be contacted by email.
Given that the shift to digital contact is only likely to increase, insurers need to take the opportunity to make such contact as powerful as possible. In such ways insurers have the potential to transform the customer’s experience and build stronger relationships.
You can explore the key findings and insights raised by the survey for Ireland and other participating countries via this EY Interactive tool and if you would like to read the full Global report, please click on the link below.
Growth
Re-imagining customer relationshipsEY Global Consumer Insurance Survey 2014