One of the big problems in home insurance is the amount of data that customers have to input online, just to obtain a quote. Often, when trying to compare one broker, or insurer with another, they have to put the same data in two or three times, or go through the same laborious questions via a call centre.
Everyone in the industry is aware of this process and in a move to speed the home insurance application process, cut dropout rates and improve rating inputs for quotes, LexisNexis Risk Solutions has launched its first home insurance application prefill solution – LexisNexis Home Prefill.
Once the customer has validated their personal data including their address, key elements of property information will be dropped into the insurance application, such as details on when the property was built, or the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. This will help cut the number of home insurance application questions – in many cases, the applicant may only be required to validate the information is correct.
The Hood Group will become one of the first companies in the insurance market to use the new data solution.
It is not uncommon for householders to complete up to 70 questions when applying for building and contents insurance. In research, 16% of consumers expressed frustration at having to enter details that they believe the insurance provider should already hold. A further 16% said they struggle to accurately answer certain questions in the application, such as the year the property was built or understanding what constitutes a bathroom versus a downstairs lavatory.
The launch of Home Prefill will help tackle some of these challenges. Not surprisingly, 85% of consumers felt that reducing the number of questions would make the insurance application experience easier.
Jay Borkakoti, Director, Home Insurance, UK and Ireland, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, said “LexisNexis Home Prefill helps simplify the application process for customers whilst ensuring the property information submitted is accurate – helping insurance providers deliver accurate first-time quotes as these will be based on reliable, verified information. It also frees them from the time currently spent on data entry and follow-up calls to validate information, whilst at the same time providing a better customer experience and reduced acquisition costs.”
Simon Hood, CEO at Hood Group, added, “Hood Group and LexisNexis Risk Solutions are leading the way in improving the home insurance process for both the customer’s benefit and for the sector in terms of improved efficiencies. It is exciting and a great demonstration of prefilling key pieces of data at that first point of contact, which may have a significant impact on the entire customer journey.”
LexisNexis Risk Solutions carried out an anonymous survey, the UK Home Insurance Consumer Study, 25 January–1 February 2017. The sample was 1,500 residential homeowners in the UK, who owned their current residence for two years or more, home insurance covering their primary residence, equally or solely responsible for home insurance decisions.
As the quote process continues to move away from traditional phone calls, towards chatbots and online pricing via smartphone, companies which make the whole experience as painless as possible for the consumer will be the ones that thrive in a competitive market.
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