A Populus survey carried out on behalf of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has revealed some interesting information about the percentage of people that shop around for motor insurance. The survey was conducted with in excess of 2,000 people so no doubt provided a good cross section of individuals.
A lot of people prefer to shop around when arranging motor insurance
Apparently, 77% of people taking out motor insurance actually shopped around presumably in the hope that they could obtain the most appropriate level of cover and/or the most competitively priced policy. This does seem a high percentage of customers that are looking at more than one provider that has to be good news for both the customer and the motor insurance industry.
This figure is much higher than the percentage of people that shop around for a mobile phone contract. The survey found that 61% of people looked at various providers when considering taking out a contract for a mobile phone.
Another interesting statistic related to how many different insurers people looked at when considering motor insurance. The survey found that 36% of people looking into motor insurance considered quotes from 5 or more different companies. That compares with 30% who did the same in respect of buildings or contents home insurance, 28% in respect of travel insurance and only 9% of people that were looking at arranging a new mobile phone package.
The survey also examined where people buy insurance products. It was discovered that 36% of people go direct to the provider, the same percentage choose an independent adviser or broker, 11% do so through a building society or bank, 11% use affinity groups, retailers and utilities and 6% do so through other intermediaries and company agents.
This survey just goes to show the competitiveness of the insurance industry. With so many providers, this has to be a good thing from the customer’s perspective. By shopping around as much as people are doing when it comes to motor insurance this should encourage providers to offer competitively priced products.
