International research and consulting firm The Customer RespectGroup recently released results from its second quarter 2006 OnlineCustomer Respect Study of Insurance Firms, which measures thecustomer's experience when interacting with his insurance companyonline. The insurance industry scored the lowest with web sitevisitors.

The report's significance comes from the Independent InsuranceAgents and Brokers of America's findings that 85 percent of peoplego online to research before purchasing insurance. The CRG reportanalyzed 52 health care, life and health, and property-casualtyinsurer web sites. Three critical concerns were identified bycustomers when shopping online: site usability, communication, andtrust. According to CRG, the insurance industry scored lowest amongthe 12 industries studied by CRG in the past year in respecting website visitors overall and in every sub-index. The overall averagecustomer rating for insurance firms was 5.1 (out of a possible 10)against the overall average for all companies of 5.7.Property-casualty companies scored an average of 5.3.

Insurance companies need to respond better to online inquiries,the report indicated. Twenty-seven percent of e-mail inquiries werecompletely ignored, more than twice the percentage of the generallist surveyed in the past year. Out of those who did respond, only11 percent of companies consistently sent helpful replies withinone day. Eleven percent did not allow any online contact fromonline customers. CRG's findings from another study show that 48percent of online users equate e-mail responsiveness with overalllevels of customer service. The industry scored just 3.9 out of 10for responsiveness. Web site design was another problem researchersfound in the study; too many sites and inconsistencies innavigation confuse visitors and prevent them from findinginformation. Insurers scored 6.1 against an average of 6.5 for siteusability. The overall "trust" score was reduced by poor scores in"transparency"-- the degree to which policies and practices aremade clear to online customers -- with a score of 4.9 against anaverage of 5.7.

The top-scoring property-casualty insurers were:

Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, www.libertymutual.com

AIG Direct, www.aigdirect.com

The Progressive Corporation, www.progressive.com

AFLAC, www.aflac.com

GEICO, www.geico.com

Kaiser Permanente, www.kaiserpermanente.org