Gone Shopping: US Auto And Home Insurance Buyers Will Test eBusiness Strategies In 2012

After a record year for claims, a continued poor investment climate, and an economy mired in the doldrums, rates in the US for auto and especially homeowners insurance have no place to go but up. With six quarters of rising premiums being served up by insurers now, consumers are going online to shop for the best insurance deals. It comes as no surprise that price is the primary impetus for switching insurers. But it is surprising that an insurer's newest customers — ones who've been customers for less than a year — are the ones most likely to elope with the competition, sometimes resulting in relationships more fleeting than Kim Kardashian's marriage. This report examines which customers are more likely to be shopping and why, and it outlines five strategies that insurance eBusiness teams can employ to capture and keep customers' attention to prevent them from defecting to the competition.