Auto Ins Websites Driving Customers Away

Consumers would buy auto insurance on the Internet, but many insurers‘ online quoting systems are steering business away. In a study of 14 leading auto insurance websites, nearly half of the 476 consumers in the test sample reported receiving error messages when they tried to get a quote, and more than a third were put off by the sites asking for personal information that should not be required just to get a quote, such as whether they own or lease their home. "There‘s huge potential for auto insurers to increase sales and lower selling costs by making their websites more shopper-friendly," said Tema Frank, president of Web Mystery Shoppers International Inc. "The differences between the best sites, such as American Family, and the worst were enormous - much bigger than what we typically see in our industry studies."