Progressive's web site came out on top in a survey that studiedhow well 22 major auto insurance web sites met the expectations ofthose viewing the sites. Insurers Geico, Liberty Mutual,Nationwide, and MetLife Auto & Home came in second, third,fourth, and fifth, respectively.

The study, which was conducted by the Customer Respect Group(CRG), focused on three areas for analysis: ease of use,responsiveness, and trust (data-handling practices and how wellthey are explained). The report also contains an examination andassessment of the auto insurance-specific features of eachsite.

In coming to their conclusions, CRG compared auto insurance websites against all other industries, noting areas where autoinsurers excelled and where they needed work. Insurance sites ledall other types of web sites in the following categories:

• Twenty-three percent of the web sites provided live chat (vs.18 percent in other industries).
• Forty-five percent used CSS for page layout, helpingaccessibility (vs. 37 percent).
• Sixty-eight percent of text links were recognizable andconsistent (vs. 59 percent).
• Sixty-eight percent of responses to emails arrived within a day(vs. 60 percent).

However, the report stated several weaknesses found on insuranceweb sites that were not as common in other non-insurance websites:

• Thirty-six percent of sites do not have a search facility (vs.20 percent in other industries).
• Fourteen percent of sites did not offer online contact methodsfor site visitors (vs. seven percent).
• Only 47 percent of companies responded to all email inquiries(vs. 74 percent).
• Only nine percent of sites allowed users to “skip navigation,”an accessibility aid (vs.18 percent).
• Eighteen percent of sites contained inconsistent navigationsystems.

While insurers have been making big improvements when it comesto their web sites, it appears there is still a lot more to do,especially in the category of responding to customer e-mailinquiries.