This shows a huge disparity between customer expectations and reality with 43% of consumers waiting over two weeks for an insurance claim to be resolved, across multiple insurance lines. 

The research, surveying over 1000 consumers who have bought a policy in the last two years, was conducted in collaboration with CitizenMe. It shows a significant trend towards the adoption of digital first services. Half of those (50%) solely buying from traditional brands would consider buying from a challenger brand. More than a third of respondents (34%) said they already purchase policies from a combination of both traditional insurers such as AXA, Aviva and Allianz and challenger brands, such as Lemonade and WeFox. This rapid adoption is particularly prevalent amongst 18-24 year olds, with 18% solely buying insurance from digital players, in contrast to 0% of 55-64 year olds. 

The research also shows a correlation between good customer service and customer loyalty. - 62% of claimants reporting a “good” or “very good” customer experience said that they remained a customer, and 31% said that they would use the same provider at some point in the future. In comparison, of those that had a “bad” or “very bad” experience, only 19% said they are still a customer and 89% said they would not purchase a policy from the same insurer in the future. 

Commenting on the research findings, Roi Amir, CEO, Sprout.ai said: “Insurance companies should be laser focused on customer experience - as measured by ‘transactional net promoter scores (tNPS)’ - but have traditionally been slow to recognise rapidly evolving consumer expectations, particularly when it comes to the claims process. The relationship between customer service and loyalty is particularly prevalent amongst younger people who are less loyal to traditional insurers and are switching to digital challenger brands. 

Traditional insurance providers hold the lion share of the market for now, but need to focus on automating their claims processes, or risk losing out to digital-first competitors.”

Sprout.ai is revolutionising the traditional claims process, with its innovative, AI-led claim automation solution. Sprout.ai is enabling major insurers across the globe to have a frictionless claims experience, from the moment a claim is received to the final settlement. This approach is transforming the customer experience, reducing the time taken to process a claim from an average of 30 days, to near real-time.