Whilst other segments of the financial services industry, such as retail banking, have embraced new business models and implemented new technologies to transform customer experience, innovation has been harder to achieve within motor insurance.
Now the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the situation to a head. Customers are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with their experiences during the pandemic and unhappy about what they perceive to be unfair and inflexible pricing. At the same time, a new breed of innovation-led insurer is disrupting the market and stealing customers with their promise of more engaging communication and fairer products.
By Bits have released a report that examines the measures that the industry needs to take in order to transform itself to better meet the needs of drivers now and in the coming years. This includes better communication and more flexible, usage-based pricing models. At a broader level, the report emphasises the need for senior leaders within insurance firms to re-define how they approach business growth and success, replacing price with customer experience as their guiding principle.
Insurers that focus on meeting and exceeding the expectations of customers, will be able to increase customer retention and remove themselves from the constant race to the bottom on price.
This is the big shift in thinking that is required across the industry and this report sets out the steps that insurers can take in order to future-proof their businesses and take advantage of the opportunities it will undoubtedly bring.
I highly recommend reading the full report.