Auto insurance rates have risen about 40% over the past five years, and home insurance rates are up about 47%. While rates have started to flatten, consumers remain price-sensitive and more willing to switch insurers. Fewer new drivers, slower household formation, and declining bundling also make growth harder for carriers.
For carriers, the question isn’t just how to win customers: How well do you know your customers and prospects, and can your data tell you what you need to know?
That question guided a recent conversation on our webinar with Society of Insurance Research (SIR) featuring:
The panel discussed changing shopping behavior and how better consumer data can support acquisition, retention, and cross-sell. Here are key takeaways from the webinar discussion.
Today’s insurance consumers are approaching coverage decisions differently than in years past. Rising premiums and greater price sensitivity are encouraging more consumers to reevaluate their existing policies, compare carriers, and explore alternative coverage options. At the same time, digital experiences are playing a larger role in the insurance shopping journey. Several trends are reshaping the market:
J.D. Power’s Stephen Crewdson shared that annual auto insurance shopping rates remain above 50%, compared with the low 30% range before the pandemic. Even historically loyal, high-value customers are shopping more, suggesting carriers can no longer rely on past loyalty as an indicator of future retention. Behavioral shifts reinforce the importance for insurers in understanding consumers beyond their existing policies or most recent interactions.
One of the most important implications of changing consumer behavior is the growing value of identifying shopping activity earlier. Increased shopping creates opportunities to acquire customers, but it also puts existing relationships at risk. As Stephen from J.D. Power emphasized, retention and cross-selling are essential parts of the growth equation.
Consumers also differ in what motivates them to switch. Some respond to relatively modest savings, while others place greater value on their relationship with a carrier and the service they expect to receive. Understanding those differences can help insurers tailor acquisition messaging, reinforce the value of existing relationships, and identify relevant opportunities for additional coverage.
By incorporating in-market signals and intent data into their existing data strategies, insurers can gain additional context to:
The opportunity is in the ability to better understand where potential demand is developing and respond with greater relevance.
Consumers interact with insurers through websites, apps, agents, call centers, and advertising. When those interactions remain disconnected, carriers can miss important context about who someone is, their relationship with the company, and what they need.
Identity resolution helps connect those interactions to a recognizable consumer. As InfutorData’s Dan Schwind explained, knowing whether someone is a prospect or an existing policyholder helps carriers determine whether to focus on acquisition or strengthening an established relationship.
Dan described a practical starting point: connect interactions across web forms, apps, and advertising back to a recognizable consumer. That connection helps carriers distinguish a prospective customer from an existing policyholder, informing whether the next interaction should focus on acquisition or strengthening an established relationship.
By connecting fragmented identifiers to a more unified consumer identity, insurers can strengthen the foundation for audience development, analytics, and engagement. When paired with data enrichment, identity resolution can also add valuable demographic, household, property, financial, and lifestyle context to existing consumer records.
Together, these capabilities help insurers build a more complete consumer view to inform marketing and engagement across channels.
Insurance shopping trends are constantly evolving, so the ability to connect identity, consumer attributes, and intent intelligence becomes increasingly valuable across the policyholder lifecycle.
For insurers, a more complete consumer view can support several important objectives:
Rather than relying on individual interactions or incomplete customer records, insurers can bring together multiple layers of intelligence to make more informed marketing decisions.
Risk Information’s Pat Sullivan offered renters as an example of an audience that traditional targeting assumptions may overlook. A renter may have multiple vehicles, children, and a small business—creating coverage needs that homeownership alone would not reveal. Connecting consumer and household insights can help insurers recognize valuable relationships beyond the conventional homeowner profile.
As consumers become more price sensitive, digitally engaged, and willing to explore alternative coverage options, insurers need strategies that reflect how people actually shop.
Market research can help explain broader behavioral trends. Intent intelligence can add visibility into potential shopping activity. Identity resolution and data enrichment can connect those signals to a more complete understanding of the consumer.
Together, these capabilities can help insurers recognize changing needs, improve audience strategies, and create more relevant experiences throughout the customer lifecycle. The biggest takeaway from our webinar with SIR is clear: understanding who consumers are is essential. Recognizing when their needs may be changing creates another opportunity to engage them more effectively.
Stephen shared that J.D. Power’s research identified a seamless experience across channels as the strongest driver of auto insurance customer satisfaction. His example made the stakes clear: when a policyholder files a claim through an app, their agent should know about it before the next conversation.
A connected consumer view becomes more valuable when teams across the organization can use it to respond with relevant, informed service.
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